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Marino Crinella's Home Cured Olives

What you need

  1. Freshly picked olives (yellowish-green)
  2. Lye
  3. Water

How to make it

  1. Pick the olives and rinse.
  2. Soak olives in a solution of water and lye containing 2 oz of lye for each gallon of water. The olives should be covered.
  3. The next day rinse the olives until the lye is gone and soak in water for 24 hours.
  4. Rinse the olives and soak in a solution of 4 oz of salt to each gallon of water for a week and rinse.
  5. Soak the olives in 6 oz of salt to each gallon of water, soak another week and rinse.
  6. Finally put the olives in a solution of 8 oz of salt to each gallon of water and put into sterilized jars and follow directions for canning for longer storage, or just put the olives into the refrigerator for short term.

You might get a white salt residue on the top, just remove it with a spoon, it does no harm. Or you can pour some olive oil on the top which will prevent air from oxidizing the brine. Lye is also called sodium hydroxide. Follow the directions carefully for its use. It can burn if it gets on your skin.

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