Autumn is olive harvest time, this recipe can be used for green or black olives. A vintage #65 Fowlers Bottle is ideal for olive preserving and we have customised lids and airlocks available which means making homemade olives is a breeze!
Ingredients
Water (filtered, spring or tank water i.e. non chlorinated)
Sea Salt
Dill Seeds
2 Cloves garlic
2 sticks celery
2 Red Chillies (optional)
Method
In a jug add 125 g salt to 1 litre water & 1 tbs vinegar and stir until salt dissolves. Place a fresh, uncooked egg into the solution, the egg should rise to the surface with a section of the eggshell rising above the water of a diameter of approx. 2cm. Keep adding salt and dissolve until this occurs.
Wash and drain olives, in non-chlorinated water, remove any blemished or bruised olives. Pack olives into Fowlers #65 or # 31 Fowlers Bottle, add celery, chilli, seeds and garlic. Pour over salt solution. Add a weight so that the olives are fully submerged in the brine.
Add ring, Fowlers fermenting lid and airlock, seal with clip and allow olives to stand in a cool, dark place for 3-6 months.
The olives may be eaten directly from the brine, however if too salty stand in fresh non-chlorinated water overnight, then drain.
For long term storage preserve your olives in your Simple Natural Preserving Kit for 60 minutes. i.e. Remove from brine, allow to stand in fresh non-chlorinated water if required, rinse, dry, split, add preserved lemon (optional) and olive oil leaving a 10 cm headspace from the top of the bottle. Seal with ring lid and clip and process as per your preserver type.