Hi and great video, could you either let us know the salt grain size or a weight (in lieu of the volume based measurement) measurement for the recipe? Ie the % of salt brine. Many thanks,
Thanks, I'm glad you like the video. I've always used fine grain salt as it's the most soluble. I've never used weight to measure salt as it needs to be scooped up to use, I just use a measuring cup! Don't get too fussy with measurements when curing, it's really not that critical, however be accurate when mixing the brine when you jar your olives. I hope this helps.
I had the pleasure of tasting these very olives in Scotty’s chilli and garlic flavour and they were easily the best I’ve had. Scotty has perfected his craft, this method is a winner!!
Your recipe is 👌 just had a taste of the first batch I made following your guide and the olives are amazing!! Definitely different and better than store bought
I'm very glad your olives have turned out so well ! Experiment with flavours when you jar them, chilli & garlic, red wine & garlic, ginger & lime are all yum!
Absolutely brilliant practical advice. Method very similar to traditional home method used by Greek families from olive growing areas in the Peloponnese. Scrumptious result. Thanx 😁❣️❣️
I have been trialing olives for yrs.. And this is the best method I have seen. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I have a bunch I'm bringing at the moment can't wait to give your way ago.
Thanks for the great video. I'm currently trying this method for the first time (after failing last year using a slightly different method). I bought an olive pitter and pitted them as you've suggested, but one thing I've noticed is that where the pit has been pushed out the back of the olive, the surrounding skin has become what I can only describe as 'plasticky'. Do you know why this would be, or if there is something I can do to prevent it?
All this extraordinary, inspiring, and impressive effort, only to stick a plastic measuring cup with salt, water, and vinegar in a microwave. How is such an oversight possible? Plastic compounds with your olives, anyone?
Awesome video mate, search forever over the net and came across this gem of a video. Jarred olives tonight with 1/2 tsp mixed heards, tsp chilli flakes and a dash of fresh garlic. Only thing i have concerned is the salt . We had approx 4L of olives with 5L water and 500g salt after a taste the bitterness was gone was a tad salt. Rinsed twice, let it sit in fresh water for two hours and rinsed again was much bettter 😊
Thanks for the feedback & glad you found it helpful. The day of jarring I’ll rinse twice & let them sit in straight water for an hour or two, a mild brine mix for the jars is the key. Enjoy!
I read further down in comments and the salt brining makes sense! Fill 10L bucket with olives, cover with water and add salt. So if I had 5L of olives I'd halve the salt to 3/4 cup. Bloody legend mate!
One of the more beautiful experiences life has given me was working for farmers in a Cretian Village. Harvesting olives in the hill's and citrus fruits in the valley. Dipping bread into the actual first pressing at the local olive oil factory is such a clear memory 50 years later. I yearn to buy oil that delicious. Every house hold was proud of their own prepared olives and home made cheese.
My crop is so big this year I can barely look at another olive but once I’ve finished I will be ever so popular! It warms my heart to think my video took you back to such fond memories, thank you for your enchanting reflection. Good, wholesome food is a delight which can transport us to a meaningful place and time, yet be a constant if we keep it alive. Thank you for watching my video and sharing your story.
Do you have problem with fruit fly in your olives. We do. We did hang bottles of a natural mixture but did not keep this going. I have to check each one.
I use Apple Cider Vinegar, a good mother one. Last year mine were amazing. I will give one a go. I did them without cutting and pitting and of course this takes much longer, similar ratios but more salt, but I like this one. Can you tell me do you use cooking salt. You forgot to mention this. I would not use table salt as that is stripped of all the goodness and bleached. I also find it hard for all the salt to melt into the water, it doesn't. I would love your thoughts on this please. I also put my jars in bucket of water for a few hours and the labels come off. To sterilise I put in dishwater then close the lids as soon as I take them out. Thank you
Thanks for taking an interest in my video. My understanding, the on only real difference between table salt & cooking salt is that table salt is more refined, some table salt may contain anti-caking agents or iodine. The finer the salt the better it will dissolve, cooking salt being coarser will require lots of stirring to get it into solution. I’m lucky to have a friend in commercial food manufacturing who can get me 25kg bags of iodised superfine salt for around 15 bucks. That’s a good tip on the jars, I do much the same thing. I have used apple cider wine vinegar and it works well but prefer the taste of white & red wine vinegar, my favourite brand is Moro. We do have fruit fly in Western Australia but it don’t seem to be an issue here with olive trees. The lure traps you are doing is a good solution if it’s working for you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Thank you for this very informative video. I'm very new to the whole olive curing. Three years ago my neighbor gave an Arbequina Olive tree and today I noticed the tree is loaded with olives🫒 They won't be ready till October/November, but I'll be ready when it's time to cure them. I live in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Love the recipe. I have been following it closely. Started in October.I am almost ready to Jar the olives, however I keep getting some mold like residue floating on the top of the bucket. I have repeatedly rinsed the olives and washed the bucket and lid with soap and water each time I change the water. What do you recommend?
I'd say too much air is getting to them, a bucket with a sealable lid is best but you can put a bin liner over the bucket & seal off with some elastic cord. Your olives should be okay if you rinse well before going into the jars. All the best with it!
Love the recipe. I have been following it closely. Started in October.I am almost ready to Jar the olives, however I keep getting some mold like residue floating on the top of the bucket. I have repeatedly rinsed the olives and washed the bucket and lid with soap and water each time I change the water. What do you recommend?
For decades we cured our olives with lye but the last few years they just haven't done well and we just gave up. Your video has given me hope and I'm looking forward to next fall's harvest. Thank you.
Thank you for this video! Regarding your "1.5 cups salt per 10 litre bucket of olives," can you please clarify whether you mean to add 1.5 cups of salt to a 10 litre bucket filled with olives, or half-filled with olives, or? For example, it looks like your buckets are about 1/3 filled with olives, and 2/3 filled with water. Are you adding 1.5 cups of salt to that? Really appreciate your help. The reason I'm asking is because after changing the brine solution 3x the first week and then 1x/week for three weeks after, my olives still taste VERY salty (I'll add that I slit them, did not pit them). Maybe the red wine vinegar takes most of that away? Apologies for all the questions!
Thanks for your question, the salt ratio is not critical during the curing process as long as there’s plenty of it and it’s changed regularly which is why I was not too specific, I do get occasional questions about this and have clarified it in the clip’s description. You will rinse your olives well before jarring them so they will not be too salty. The brine measurements for the jars is precisely mentioned in the video, this is the important bit! I don’t like olives overly salty, my brine mix for the final stage is about as low as you can make it, yet still preserving your olives with the help of the vinegar. I hope this helps! Thanks for watching.
If you get the lids on while the liquid is warm to hot I've found the jars seal fine. Some recycled jars may not seal properly, just make sure you eat those first. The olive oil barrier at the top also helps protect the contents.
