Frequently asked Questions about curing your own olives.

Compiled from our Curing Blog, as previously answered by Maurice Penna, co-owner of M&CP Farms

We wish you the best in your home curing experience.

Curing Fresh Olives FAQ

• Where do I get lye?

• How do I Cure Green Olives with Lye?

• Can I store the olives awhile before I start curing them?

• What kind of salt can I use?

• If I want de-pitted olives, do I de-pit them before or after curing?

• How do you make the olive black instead of green?

• How long can one store lye cured olives? How long can one store salt cured?

• I purchased a 10 # box of manzanilla olives from you last year which was great but when I got them the olives were all slightly bruised. This only got more apparent during curing. Was the bruising caused by the shipping and is there any guaranty this won't be the case this year?

• I received the Sevillano olives from you two days ago. They were beautiful, thanks! I washed them, cut each one, and put them to soak in water, per the Partida recipe. I have changed the water each day. I have a few questions:
  1.) Instead of striking each olive (Cracking the Olive vs Slicing) [because it seemed to bruise them, maybe I did it too hard], I sliced them with a knife. Will this work OK?
  2.) I noticed that the Partida recipe consists of 10 days' soaking in water [changed each day], then at least 4 days in brine. Will this be enough time to soften the olives?
  I ask because right now the olives are quite hard. I have tried home-cured olives that were 'crunchy' and I wondered if it were because they were not cured long enough [I was not very fond of the crunchy consistency.] thanks for your comments, ciao

• Where do I get Lye?.... here's a link to an article from University of California, Cooperative Extension, Tulare County.
• How do I Cure Green Olives with Lye?.... Here's a link to an article from University of California Cooperative Extension, 1720 S. Maple, Fresno, CA 93702.
  We also have a lye cure posted on our Recipes page, as well as others and a link to the "Greek" or salt cure for ripe black olives.
  Don't cure black olives with lye.
• Can I store Fresh Olives?... We do our best to get our fresh olives to you at the peak of their maturity. Since olives are a fresh fruit, we recommend that you start to process them as soon as possible after receiving them. Please start planning and ordering supplies for your method of curing before ordering.
• What kind of salt can I use?... In some curing recipes the salt called for is "table" salt, but Kosher or pickling salt can be substituted.
• Do I de-pit them before or after curing?... You want to finish curing your olives prior to pitting. raw olives do not pit well and bruise badly.
• How do you make the olive black instead of green?... You can darken your green olives to some degree if you are using the lye process.. this can happen by leaving the olives exposed to air for several hours each day during the rinsing process. You will not be able to get the dark black color of a California black ripe with out using ferrous gluconate.
• How long can one store lye cured olives? How long can one store salt cured?... Salt cured olives can be stored for many years, the key is to dry them sufficiently so there is inadequate moisture to support spoilage organisms, then at time of usage the olive can be blanched in boiling water and retossed with olive oil for use. The lye processed olive can last for 6 to 9 months in the refrigerator, but the enzyme activity will eventually cause softening of the tissue and impart an unpleasent smell. This can be taken care of by making a 1% vinegar brine, 1 part of 5% vinegar to 4 parts water.
• I purchased a 10 # box of manzanilla olives...how do I avoid getting some bruised fruit?... Manzanilla olives do not pick and sort as clean as sevillano olives. If you require less blemish I would suggest the sevillano. You could also leave the olives exposed to air during the rinsing process for an hour each day and this will darken the olives masking the blemishes.
• Cracking the Olive vs Slicing (and crisp or soft)?... Cracking the olives or slicing them is done so the bitterness will leech out into the water that you are changing daily. Some preperations involve cracking so the pit can be removed. As far as discoloration, this will happen with cutting and more so with cracking.
  This olive will remain crisp unless you use an olive with higher maturity. (The method discussed was the Partida cure, mentioned on our recipes page.)
• Be sure to check out our Recipes page for a couple of different ways to cure Fresh Olives.  We encourage customers to submit any new curing recipes to share here.