Why are olives cured with lye?

Lye, as scary as it may seem, speeds up the process of removing the bitterness from the olives, because it is incredibly alkalizing, which without it, would take a weeks.

Are all olives treated with lye?

Most Spanish table olives are cured at least in part with lye, but their process is far different than that used in to make the hideous Lindsay olive.

Are kalamata olives cured in lye?

The fastest way to cure olives is the lye-cure method. Lye helps to remove olive bitterness faster and you can taste olives in a couple of weeks after soaking them in lye and adding brine afterward.

Can you brine olives in stainless steel?

Always use fresh, hard and unbruised fruit. olives and taint the flavour. Make sure your containers for brining are clean, unchipped and made from non-reactive materials: glass, stainless steel, enamelware, stoneware, porcelain, earthenware, terracotta or plastic.

Is lye in olives bad for you?

Bottom line: Raw, pure lye will burn the hell out of you, but it is not a systemic poison. That means that even if you eat an olive that still has a lot of lye in it—as I did—all you will taste is a nasty soapy flavor.

Can lye be used in food?

Food. Lyes are used to cure many types of food, including the traditional Nordic lutefisk, olives (making them less bitter), canned mandarin oranges, hominy, lye rolls, century eggs, pretzels, bagels, and the traditional Turkish pumpkin dessert Kabak tatlısı (creating a hard crust while the inside remains soft).

Is there lye in black olives?

If you’ve recently eaten a can of black olives — the kind with a rubbery texture and almost no taste — it was almost certainly processed using lye. “99\% of black, canned olives are debittered with lye, ” California Olive Growers Council representative Adin Hester told Mic.

What are the healthiest olives?

Olive experts prefer Kalamata olives as they are the healthiest olives found on earth. They are generally bigger than the usual black olives and have a plumper shape. Despite their size and deep dark-purple color, they are usually categorized as Greek black table olives.

Can you eat olives off the tree?

Are olives edible off the branch? While olives are edible straight from the tree, they are intensely bitter. Olives contain oleuropein and phenolic compounds, which must be removed or, at least, reduced to make the olive palatable.

How do you prepare olives straight from the tree?

Combine 1 part salt to 10 parts water and pour over the olives in a bowl or pot. Weigh them down with a plate and let sit for 1 week. Drain the olives and repeat the brining process for another week. Do this two more times so they brine for about a month or so.