Are lye cured olives bad for you?

Are lye cured olives bad for you?

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. If you eat a bunch of them, the alkaline pH in the olives will counteract your stomach acid and it might give you indigestion. That’s all, and that’s a worst-case scenario.

Why do you soak olives in 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 organic olives soaked in lye?

How table olives are cured for consumption and the tricks to pick the best types. Technically, all olives can become table olives, but the size of the fruit and their variety decide their suitability.

What is lye made of?

Lye, or sodium hydroxide, is a chemical made from salt. Yep, ordinary salt. A system similar to electroplating is used to change the salt to lye.

What is the difference between food-grade lye and regular lye?

Because food-grade lye comes in contact with food (even though it cannot safely be ingested, any more than the other kind), food-grade lye is at a considerably higher level of purity than other types of lye.

Can you eat olives from 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.

Is lye a natural ingredient?

Lye isn’t organic, but it is one of the allowable non-organic ingredients included in USDA organic standards since their inception. Lye, after all, is also known as caustic soda, and soap made from lye is what frontier women made in cauldrons that was great on clothes but murder on skin.

Is lye organic?

Is lye the same as baking soda?

Lye is a stronger alkaline than baking soda or sodium bicarbonate, with a pH reading ranging from around 13 to 14. Its base of sodium hydroxide is created commercially by the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution, as well as reacting calcium hydroxide with sodium carbonate, according to the FDA.

Is lye in food bad for you?

Lye can be toxic in high concentrations, but is also commonly used for curing foods like lutefisk. Most bakers use food-grade lye, which is the chemical equivalent of drain cleaner, but is produced and packaged in a clean, regulated way.

How much Lye do you use to clean olives?

Usually, two lye baths are enough for the small Mission olives seen in specialty produce stores. If one more bath is necessary, soak in a fresh lye solution of 5 quarts cold water mixed with 5 tablespoons lye for 12 more hours; then drain and rinse with cold water.

How long do you soak olives in caustic soda?

Note that you need very little caustic soda: 3 tablespoons of soda is enough for 10 liters of water. You must leave the olives to soak for about 8-10 hours for the soda to take effect and completely remove the bitterness from the olives. After this time, you must remove the water and rinse the olives with water.

How do you cure olives?

When curing olives, there are endless ways to prepare them and they’re all delicious. In addition, you must first remove the bitterness that they have when they’re first picked from the olive tree and this task can be accomplished in two ways: by soaking the olives and changing their water or by using caustic soda, more commonly known as lye.

How do you make brine for olives?

In a clean glass, ceramic, or food-grade plastic container, make the brine by combining 5 quarts cold water with 5 tablespoons sea salt and soaking the olives for at least a day. The olives are now ready to be transferred to pint jars for storage in the refrigerator for up to one year.