the fastest way to remove bitterness of olives

One of the characteristics of fresh olives is their bitter and pungent taste. Olives are a simple and very tasty fruit that can be used both alongside meals and in various recipes. If you’ve ever prepared freshly picked olives, you must have immediately encountered their intense bitterness after tasting them. At first glance, it might seem that this bitterness indicates that the olives are spoiled; however, this is not the case. In fact, the sweet, salty, or pickled olives you buy in cans at the market have had their bitterness removed beforehand.

So why are fresh olives bitter, and how can we eliminate this bitterness at home to enjoy a jar of delicious olives? To remove the bitterness from olives, you can use both the traditional method of repeatedly washing them with cold water and soaking them in a lye solution or sweetening them with lye. Lye, also known as caustic soda or sodium hydroxide, is a strong alkaline substance widely used in both industrial and household applications.

The Reason for the Bitterness of Fresh Olives

Although many people think of olives as vegetables, technically, olives are a type of drupe fruit, with the pit taking up more volume than the flesh. This fruit is rich in oleuropein, a compound that contributes to its high bitterness. The time of olive harvest and the type of tree significantly affect their bitterness, sugar content, and oil. However, this fruit can be eaten both unripe and cooked, provided it is properly processed to remove the bitterness. You can use two methods, old and new, to eliminate the bitterness of olives at home.

read more: Sweetening olives with Caustic soda

How to Remove the Bitterness from Olives?

Eliminating the bitterness of freshly picked olives is quite simple, and depending on how much time and patience you have, you can choose one of the home methods to solve this problem:

Removing Bitterness from Olives with Cold Water

This home method, which is a traditional way of eliminating bitterness from olives, is somewhat time-consuming. To remove the bitterness from olives with cold water, place the olives in a pot and fill it with cold water until the surface of the olives is completely covered.

Then, change the water twice a day (morning and evening) for two weeks. During this time, the bitterness of the olives will gradually decrease, and eventually, when you taste one of the olives, there will be no bitterness left.

Once the bitterness is removed, you can either keep them in brine to further reduce their bitterness or enjoy them with pickles or other methods. Although removing the bitterness from olives with salt isn’t the quickest method, it is one of the most natural, best, and least risky ways to eliminate the bitterness.

Removing Bitterness from Olives with Lye

Using food-grade lye, you can eliminate the bitterness of olives in a much shorter time. This method is only suitable for completely healthy olives (without spoilage) and should be performed with caution. When purchasing lye to remove the bitterness from olives, note that food-grade lye is priced differently than industrial lye and is usually produced in coarse grades.

For this method, dissolve 20 grams of food-grade lye in 1 liter of cold water for every kilogram of olives, and wait for the heat of the solution to dissipate and cool completely, as combining lye with water generates heat.

During this time, you can wash the olives. Once the solution has cooled, immerse the olives in it and let them soak for 8 to 10 hours. Afterward, immediately transfer the olives to cold water and for three consecutive days, change the water in the pot with cold water twice a day.

Keep in mind that while food-grade lye has very few risks, improper use can lead to side effects. To avoid the side effects of lye in olives, it’s best to always follow the usage instructions for this alkaline substance carefully.

How to Store Olives at Home After Removing Bitterness

 

One thing to consider when preparing materials to remove the bitterness from olives is choosing the best manufacturer of caustic soda. The more reputable and recognized the manufacturer of food-grade lye, the better the quality of the product. After sweetening the olives with cold water or lye solution, you can consume them immediately or store them so they remain usable for one year. But how can you store olives for a long time after removing the bitterness?

1. Storing Olives in Brine

It doesn’t matter if your olives are green or black; you can store them in sterilized jars with a brine solution. To make the brine solution, first boil the water and, after it cools, add salt. For every kilogram of olives, mix 1 liter of water with 100 grams of salt, and if you want to add a pleasant aroma, you can include a bay leaf. With this mixture, your olives will stay firm and delicious for one year.

2. Storing Olives with Salt

In ancient times, olives were often stored for long periods with just salt. To preserve the olives using this traditional method, first wash the healthy olives in cold water and allow them to air dry. Then, layer some olives in a large container and cover the surface with a layer of coarse salt. Continue layering in this manner and let the olives rest in the container for 10 days.

After 10 days, wash the olives under running water and allow them to air dry again. Then, you can place them in clean jars and season them to your taste.

3. Storing Olives with Oil

This method is excellent for preserving black olives, which have a shorter shelf life. After buying food-grade sodium hydroxide and removing the bitterness from the olives with this substance, first drain them and cover them with coarse salt, letting them rest for 10 days. Afterward, clean the olives and flavor them with a mixture of garlic, hot pepper, and oregano. After seasoning the olives, pack them in clean jars and fill them to the top with oil.

4. Storing Olives with Lemon

This storage method is ideal for freshly picked green olives that have had their bitterness removed. First, prepare a brine solution by mixing 100 grams of salt in each liter of water and set it aside. Cut a small edge off the freshly picked olives and place them in a sterilized jar. In this jar, you can add lemon slices, garlic, bay leaves, mint, thyme, rosemary, or any desired flavors. Then fill the jar with the brine and seal it tightly. To ensure the flavors infuse into the olives, invert the jar every 10 days. After about two months, your olives will be ready to eat.

last word

Freshly picked olives have a bitter and pungent taste due to the presence of a compound called oleuropein. To eliminate the bitterness of olives at home, you have two options: the traditional solution using brine, which takes about two weeks, and the relatively new method using lye, which takes about 2 to 4 days. After sweetening the olives with cold water or lye, you can store them in brine, coarse salt, oil, or lemon for a longer period.

Frequently Asked Questions about Removing Bitterness from Olives

1. How can I remove the bitterness from olives in less than 2 days?
   To remove the bitterness from olives, soak them in a lye solution for 2 days, stirring every 8 hours. After the water turns brown, drain it and wash the olives.
2. What methods exist for removing the bitterness from olives?
   There are two short-term and long-term methods. You can use lye to remove bitterness in 2 to 4 days or utilize storage methods such as brine, salt, oil, and lemon, which take longer than 2 to 4 weeks.