My black olives turned out well
I did a salt cure (sometimes called a dry cure) of my black and nearly black olives this year, and as I look at them all pretty in their big glass jar, I must say they turned out well. Since I had to piece together a way of doing them, I thought I'd share it here.
Separated black and nearly black olives from the others. Rinsed the black ones in tap water and layered them in rock salt and kosher salt (maybe 3 parts rock to 1 part kosher) in a food-grade plastic bucket. The next day took the second batch and layered them in a Tupperware bowl. Did this on November 11. Covered both containers with towels.
I waited for a day or two, and then for the next 3 and a half weeks, I sort of stirred and tilted the containers so I could drain them every day without spilling out the olives, and redistributed the salt so it touched all the olives. It didn't seem crucial to drain out every little drop of the liquid, but I did as best I could. I started tasting them on the seventh day, and boy, were they still bitter. But yesterday (25 days after starting) I rinsed and tasted one, and it tasted good.
On December 6, I sifted the olives out of the salt, rinsed them, and dunked them in boiling water for about 30 seconds, spread them out in a single layer on 3 cookie sheets covered with towels or paper towels, and let them dry overnight. The next day, I put the olives in a big shallow bowl and spooned tablespoons of olive oil over them. I stirred a lot and rubbed them so the oil got into their nooks and crannies, then put them into a big glass jar with some thyme sprigs from my garden, which I will keep an eye on to see they don't go bad.
I also did some green olives in a brine cure, which are still not good to eat; I'll report later if they turn out good.
