Today we talk about how to make olives in brine at home. It’s an easy preparation, to be done exclusively with freshly picked olives, which will allow us to preserve this extraordinary food for a long time and to enjoy them later as we like. After the brining period, in fact, we can season or stuff them according to our taste with garlic, bay leaves, chili pepper, oregano, lemon, etc….We can create delicious finger foods to accompany aperitifs or serve them at buffets and as starters.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 60 Days
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall
Ingredients
- freshly picked olives
- fine salt
- water
Tools
- Jar (with airtight lid)
- weights
Preparation
I haven’t provided exact measurements for olives and salt, because we need to calculate 100 grams of fine salt for each liter of water we use for the brine.
The number of glass jars with airtight lids and the weights to use depends on their capacity and the number of olives you have available.
The first crucial step to do, after picking the olives and discarding the damaged or rotten ones and various leaves, is to soak them (for 24 hours if the olives are very small; or 48 hours if they are large like the ones in the photo). The water should be changed every 12 hours. During this time, the olives will lose some of the bitterness and excess acidity that characterizes them at this stage, making them palatable and tasty in the end.
Let’s move on to the brine
1) We sterilize both the containers and the lids that we will use for the olive preserve.
2) The process to make the brine is quick and very easy. We wash the olives thoroughly, remove the damaged, spoiled ones, and any leaves, as they could ruin the final taste of the olives.
3) After washing them, we can also sort them by size, separating the smaller ones from the larger ones, as they have different maturation times in the brine.
We prepare the brine by dissolving (as mentioned above), 100 grams of fine salt for each liter of water we will use. It may seem like an excessive amount of salt but I assure you it is not; moreover, part of the salt absorbed during the brining period will be lost as I will explain in the following steps.
4) We fill the containers with olives, pour brine until they are completely covered, add the weight (which is used to keep the olives below the level of the brine), and close tightly. The brine must not touch the lid.
5) We continue until all ingredients are used up. During the resting period, in a dark and dry place, the jars should be gently rotated at least a couple of times a day, to ensure the brine distributes evenly (in this case, the brine will touch the underside of the lid, but it will only be for a few seconds). It will take about 2 months to enjoy our homemade olives in brine.
6) After the resting period, we discard the brine and, for 24 hours, the olives should be kept in fresh water, which must be changed several times, to remove the excess salt. The olives are now ready to be eaten plain, seasoned or used in cooking to create tasty first courses, main courses, side dishes, tapenade, etc..
