How to Keep Kalamata Olives.

Kalamata olives are best enjoyed all year round and preserving them is the way to go. Brining and curing are a couple ways to preserve the meat. In this blog I will teach you how to store Kalamata olives, to save their taste and quality.

Choose and Prepare the Olives

To begin you have to pick the right olives. Go for olives that are fresh and ripe with no blemish or break point of decay show. Rinse olives with cold water to get rid of the dirt or debris.

Method 1: Brining

Olives have been preserved for ages in the old time brinning. It’s a process of soaking the olives in salt water solution to remove the bitterness and the flavour.

Ingredients:

• Fresh Kalamata olives
• Water
• Sea salt

Instructions:

• Prepare Brine: Mix 1 cup of sea salt in 4 cups of water in a large bowl.
• Soak Olives: Rinse olives and then place into the brine. The olives should be completely covered. Cover and let rest for 4 to 8 hours.
• Fermentation: Refrigerate and allow the olives to ferment in the brine 2-4 weeks. Plus, the sugars will soften and the bitterness will be lessened.
• Change Brine: Drain the old brine after the first fermentation period, then top off with a fresh brine made in the same ratio of salt to water. This will keep olives good.
• Continue Fermentation: The olives should ferment for another 4-6 weeks. Check the flavor and texture periodically, by taste.
• Store: Put them into jars with a fresh brine when they are ready, and keep in a cool dark place or in the fridge.

Method 2: Dry Curing Kalamata Olives

Olives are preserved by dry curing, as well. This way of making olives comprises of putting the olives in salt and it extracts the moisture out of them and the flavor sharpening with it.

Ingredients:

• Fresh Kalamata olives
• Sea salt

Instructions:

• Prepare Olives: Wash fresh olives under cold water.
• Layer with Salt: Add sea salt into a large bowl making the bottom a layer of said salt. Now add a layer of olives on top of salt. And cover the olives with another layer of sea salt.
• Repeat Layers: Layer the olives and salt, continue to do so until you have used all the olives.
• Cover and Store: Cover with a lid or cover with plastic wrap. Store in a cool dark place.
• Curing Process: Allow the olives to cure in the salt 4-6 weeks. Whenever you have the opportunity, shake the container so the salt will be evenly distributed.
• Rinse and Store: After the curing period, rinse olives under cold water, to benefit from excess salt. Keep in jars with olive oil, or brine solution.

Method 3: Lye Curing Kalamata Olives

Curing olives with lye is a faster way, but lye is a caustic substance, one you’d want to handle carefully.

Ingredients:

• Fresh Kalamata olives
• Food-grade lye
• Water
• Sea salt

Instructions:

• Prepare Lye Solution: Place one tablespoon of food grade lye into a gallon of water and stir until dissolved. Stir until the lye has dissolved.
• Soak Olives: Then pour the rinsed olives into the lye solution. The olives should be fully covered. Cover and allow the olives to sit for 12 – 24 hours.
• Rinse Olives: If you soak, rinse the olives under cold water, then drain the lye solution off and dry the olives. Rinse the makeup off the palm of the hand a few times.
• Soak in Water: Drain the olives to a clean container and refill it with new water. After 3 5 days, change the water daily to remove residual lye.
• Brine Solution: When you remove the lye, prepare a brine solution of 1 cup of sea salt in 4 cups of water. Pour the olives into the brine solution, and store them.

Storing Cured Kalamata Olives

Keeping your olives good depends a lot upon storage. Cured olives will keep for some time in airtight containers, either with brine or with olive oil. To extend shelf life refrigerate or store in a cool dark place. Olives that correctly cured, will last for months.

Conclusion

It’s fun to cure Kalamata olives and you can eat them all year round. Whether you brine, dry cure or lye cure your olives, the end result is delicious olive that can be used in multiple dishes. Do this and your olives are good to go and ready for whenever you need them.

Kalamata Olive FAQs

1. How long do opened cured Kalamata olives keep?

Store in airtight containers, with brine or olive oil, in a cool dark place or refrigerated, and properly cured Kalamata olives should keep for months.

2. Can you make salted goods using table salt instead of sea salt?

For brining or curing olives when the salt you use has additives in it, it may affect the flavor and the process of the curing.

3. How can Kalamata olives be cured?

How you cure Kalamata olives is up to you, and the amount of time you have. Traditionally, the best way to enhance the natural flavor is to brine, dry curing gives a stronger flavor, and lye curing is faster, but needs more care.

4. When my Kalamata olives are ready to eat?

Ferment or cure the olives until they are ready, then taste your olives to check to see if the flavor and texture is right. When the olives get to a taste and softness you’ll enjoy, they’re ready to eat.

5. Can the brine be used for olives again?

Don’t use that brine again. It becomes contaminated and spoils over time. Never make a brine for olives that has been used before.