Olives Home-made

[Jon in Albany]

I had mine in a container that was about 6 inches in diameter and maybe a foot high. I had a bowl holding the cabbage down and enough brine to cover everything by a few inches. I also put a piece of cheese cloth over the top. When I skimmed, twice I think, I took some of the brine but left everything submerged. I let it go for about 10 days. The recipe I was following called for 2 weeks, but work got in the way of leaving it that long. Plus, we had some nice weather and I could open up the windows if the kids complained too much...I did get a few, "What's that smell?!?" questions.

Right out of the brine, it tasted like sauerkraut slaw. Very tasty, but still a little crunch to it and not exactly what you think of when think sauerkraut. I put the sauerkraut in a jar, boiled the brine and the put it on top once the brine came to room temperature, submerging the sauerkraut again. Then I stored it in the fridge.

For the Ruebens, I cooked the sauerkraut in some of the brine and some apple cider vinegar. Out of the pot, it tasted like very good sauerkraut.

If I was making it again, I would use a brine from the start. This recipe just called for salt and cabbage. It's a weight ratio. Let that sit for 2 days then top off with water if needed. I needed to add water.

I have never bought one, but the Sausage Maker in Buffalo, NY has fermenting crocks. I have purchased other things from them. Here's a link to the crock page. Their pots start at $65.

Fermentation Pots or Fermenting Pots - The Sausage Maker, Inc.

Jon

[dmun]

An article in The Atlantic today on the olive curing subject: Lye: it's not just for pretzels anymore.

Interestingly, the author states that there's no difference between food-grade and hardware store lye.

I've been on the lookout for olive trees in New Jersey, without much luck so far.

[Karangi Dude]

Hey Dino,
When I cure olives I use a plastic bucket / pale and drill some 1/4 inch holes in the bottom then place the pale inside another pale so the bottom sits a few inches above the outer pale. I then wash the olives in fresh water and drain.Then mix the olives with salt about 2 to 1 olives to salt by weight then put them in the container with the holes in it and cover with a china plate. Every 2 days there will be liquid in the outer pale this needs to be discarded, the olives washed and start over again. After several cycles taste the olives they will start to taste sweet when they are ready or to your liking wash them and put them in small zip lock freezer bags and pop them in the freezer they last for months. When you are ready to use them, thaw out and add your favorite dressing they will take up the flavor in a couple of days the tase really GOOD
regards DOUG

[Dino_Pizza]

Doug, never thought about freezing them but I'll try a batch like that to see how it works. I've already "dressed" mine up so I can't do these but I'll pick some more.

My olives taste great. 1 jar had a bit too much vinegar so I poured half the liquid out and topped off with brine water only. It should dilute that batch in week or so. My cousin just picked a small bushel of green olives and he said he puts them right into the brine mix (after cracking-smashing the olive with a flat rock) and changes out,-rinses out the olives 3 times, every 3 days and then they're ready. I did a 10 day water only rinse then 2 week brine. I also put 1 'slit' in each olive so it would take longer to get the bitter out but I think they look better.

Dmun, interesting about the Lye, but it makes sense. It's only for leaching out the bitterness. However, unless your going pro, Lye isn't necessary and I think best avoided. It may scrub the olives flavor out too much if not watched. But I really don't know.

My Sauerkraut is a week old and smells and tastes super. I've not had to skim anything off it...yet. I'm going to plan a Reuben sandwich dinner this week. Thanks for the link Jon. That $65 price is good. The krauts success got me to buy some nice Japanese cucumbers and I've started fermenting them in another jar. I read that adding grape leaves to pickle brine adds tannins that keep the pickles crisp as they cure. It was also a nice way to hold them down, just under my rock weight. We'll see. I've left them whole so they may take 2 weeks.

thanks, Dino

[asimenia]

We keep our olives in olive oil in Greece - not brine.

[Lburou]

Originally Posted by texassourdough

I look forward to hearing how it goes, Dino. I have three olive trees and this year I have my first (and I do mean first for I have ONLY ONE) olive and it is just about ready to pick. Next year all three trees should bear and I will FINALLY be able to make olives.

Alas, one olive is sort of unusable!
Jay

One olive, but the promise of a tree full in a year or two.

We had three year old peach and apple trees with their first crop this year. One apple and a couple dozen good peaches from three different peach trees.....I am excited about the future years for these wonderful fruits. I share your anticipation for the coming year's crop

Mediteranian/Greek olives add a lot to the taste of a pizza! All olives are not equal though...godspeed Dino_Pizza!

[C5dad]

My olive experiment did not go too well - Kalamata style. Following the recipe on line, they came out wayyyyyyy to salty. Next time fresh water every couple of days for the first week or so, then salt solution.

[roobqn]

Would you be able to soak the olives in fresh water to help remove the saltiness?

When we make pastrami, we soak a store bought corned beef for several hours to overnight to help remove the saltiness. Just don't know if that is an option with olives. Maybe wouldn't hurt to try it on a handfull.

[C5dad]

I tried 1 week in fresh water to no avail. I was thinking to let it sit for another week - why not it was over a month at that point, but I needed the SS vessel for sauce making - gotta keep the chillins happy.

[Dino_Pizza]

I also saw one recipe on-line that started the initial soaking in a brine solution and immediately thought that was wrong. I know there are different ways to do things but I thought it would be too salty by the time you leached out the bitterness (initially).

Soaking in water sounds like a good idea, might as well make it a water/vinegar 50-50 mix and throw out the mix and refresh it once a week for a month. Inexpensive white or cider or red vinegar should be fine.

PS asiminia: I've transferred a small jar of my olives to oil only. So far they're still delicious.