Wash and sort the olives: Give your olives a good rinse under tap water. While you're at it, keep an eye out for any damaged ones or those with holes. Toss these out.
Crack the olives: Take a mallet, the flat end of a jar, or even a stone, and gently tap each olive. You want to crack them just enough to see a bit of the flesh, but not so hard that you damage the pit. And, from our own experience, it's best to do this by hand, one olive at a time. There are gadgets out there that promise to make this step quicker, but we tried one and it was a letdown. A lot of our olives got squished instead of cracked.
Keep the pits in the olives. This isn't just about texture – the pits help keep that classic olive taste. Olives can lose flavor if they're pitted before the brining process.
An alternative way: Instead of cracking, you could make a small cut on each olive with a sharp knife. We find olives stay firmer when cracked, but this is up to you.
Soak the olives in water: Put your cracked olives in a big jar and fill it with cold water. To make sure the olives stay under the water, put something heavy on top, like a small plate or grape leaves (that's what folks do back home).
Change the water: Do this once a day for about 10 days. After this time, try an olive. If it's still bitter, keep changing the water for a few more days.
Make the brine:To get the mix right, fill a container with water, add salt, and stir.
Brine the olives:Once your brine is ready, pour it into the jar with the olives (make sure you've drained the soaking water). The olives should be completely covered.To keep air out, put a piece of cheesecloth over the olives, then put the lid on. In about a week, they'll be ready to eat! They might look a little different – a change in color is normal.
Optional flavor addition: Before you add the brine, you can put in some extra flavors. Think about adding rosemary, thyme, lemon peel, or chili.
Notes
Crack Carefully: When you crack the olives, be gentle. You don't want to hurt the pit inside.
Keep Pits: Don't take the pits out. They help keep the olives tasty.
Change Water: If you're soaking the olives to remove bitterness, remember to change the water every day.
Make Enough Brine: If you have more olives, you can make more brine. Just use the same ratio of salt to water.
Seal Tight: When you put the olives in brine, make sure the jar is closed tight. This keeps air out.
Don't Use Hands: After opening the jar, use a spoon to take out olives. Touching them with your hands can bring in germs and spoil the brine.
Store Right: Keep the jar in a cool, dark place. They keep well for a year.
The nutrition facts are assumed for canned olives.
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