Olive oil

[mendoman]

I had a chance to pick over 267kg  pounds of olives from trees around where I live.  They were just covered in olives.  With the help of 4 people we got 34 liters.  Taste great and they didn't go to waste.  After the cost of the crush and press (Italy) it cost about 1.50 euro/liter.  Great fun and we may go after some more this weekend.

[jacksonvasey]

That's pretty cool! How are you storing it so it doesn't go off? Or will you all use it fast enough that it's not an issue?

[mendoman]

You can store it in metal tins or dark glass bottles.  Cool and dark places will protect the olive oil from going bad.  I just keep a half liter bottle on the counter for everyday use.  Today I picked enough for another 2 liters.

[Jack]

Is pressing the olives into oil the best way to preserve all of them? I know table olives need to be fermented/brined/cured before you can them and eat them, but I don't know the pros and cons -- if it's more trouble than it's worth, or less lucrative than pressing, or what.

[Jeremy E.]

Whats a kg pound? lol. I'm just going to assume you meant kilograms, but then realized we're mainly Americans so added pounds.

[mendoman]

Yes that's kilograms, I always say kilograms here in Italy and then must convert to pounds for all the Americans to understand how much weight is at stake.  As for the other question about the best way to preserve olives, olive oil seems to be the easiest way to take the best part from a olive. Its very cheap here to get olives converted into oil here.