Preparation:
Fresh cured olives from olive trees.
If you’re sure it is an olive and it came off an olive tree you can cure it and consume it.
You've never had any olive like fresh cured and its so easy. You're going to use lye, its absolutely safe, The lye cooks the olives and the salt water leaches out the lye by 6-7 days as you change the solution daily until the lye is leached out.
The lye label says poison or something to that effect but its totally safe if you leach the lye out as described, lye is used commercially to cure olives so this is not some sort of home spun invention.
There are all kinds of olives and the size varies, shapes do too, the olives shouldn't be black these over ripe. The olives should be green and a bit on the yellow-green side, these olives are like eating butter or olive oil.
In California olives are picked commercially about Sep15-Nov10,trees you see as part of landscapes are edible olives, or just ask someone who knows.
Do not use a metal pot because the lye will corrode it. Plastic containers only!!!
This must be done in a plastic container only!!
Dissolves lye in a plastic container with warm water or cold ,stir until it is dissolved in a big enough container to hold the olives.
Add the raw olives to the lye and add enough cold water to submerge or cover the olives.
Let the olives set in the solution for 8-12 hrs. or until you see the lye has penetrated all the way to the pit of the olive, you might need to add a little more dissolved lye to achieve penetration, cut an olive with a knife to check the penetration, if the olive flesh and the bone look pale the lye has penetrated.
The longer you let the olives set in the lye the more cooked or softer they become. Once you see the lye has penetrated, drain liquid, this is for best texture.
Once penetration is complete drain lye solution, cover with water and add three tablespoons of salt, stir until dissolved, let set 24 hours, repeat this procedure 5-6 days and then 1 more day with fresh water until all the lye is leached out. When you taste the olives you'll know if they need any more leaching or lye removing.
This is totally safe as long as all the lye is removed you’ll love them! they're very tasty.
This recipe is just a guideline, exercise common sense. This recipe is for 1 gallon and 5 gallon batches procedures are the same.
1 gal Ripe fresh olives
3-4 T. Red Devil (Lye) in all supermarkets
3 T. Table Salt
Tap Water ,enough to cover olives, ,water must be changed every day.
5 gal . Ripe Olives
1/2 cup. Red Devil Lye
1/2 cup. Table Salt
Enough water to cover olives each time you drain olives over the seven days.
Object: cook olives with lye, leach lye 5-6 days with salt water, drain, repeat 5-6 days that easy, ready to eat, any olive is good for curing as long as it is an olive, just want to reassure you of process |
