Ottawa Foodies

HELP... Does anyone know how to keep cocktail olives (like the kind shown, stuffed with pimento) from going bad? I have done lots of research on the web and still haven't found the answer. From what I've read todate the olives are not processed per se, but rather jarred fresh and stored in brine (salt water). I find that in no time the olives go bad after I open the jar, and thereby break the vacuum seal. As best as I can describe it, a sort of oily scum starts to build in the brine. As an olive lover I find this very frustrating, I am not able to eat a whole jar quick enough... and it is very disappointing to (a) go for an olive to only find they have started to turn, and (b) to throw out a jar that is only a couple of weeks old and still half full.

I recommend drinking more martinis ;)

I buy as small a jar as possible to avoid this, or buy larger olives packed in oil

Tre - LOL, I should have expected this reply... and it makes so much sense coming from a Foodie who's icon is a Martini Glass. Touche!

Yes I guess I could switch to olives in oil, but I kind of like the flavour of these "pickley" ones in a variety of applications other than just martinis.

you're not draining them, right?

i'm not familiar with these type of olives, but 'oily scum' sort of sounds like the pellicle that forms on dill pickles as they ferment. this could be completely natural and harmless.

i'm willing to take one for the team if you tell me where to buy them and how long it takes for this to happen

Zym - that's exactly what it is. Check out the vats of brined olives at DiRienzo's... it's got the same "film" on top - no worries, eat up!

I find storing them in the fridge helps! ;-)

Seriously though, I keep brined olives for months after opening (I hesitate to say years, but definitely at least six months). On the other hand, I don't often get the pimiento stuffed ones. Maybe it's the pimiento that's going off?

Some amount of oily scum is to be expected, since the olives have a high oil content and oil floats on water. I don't expect this is a problem unless it smells bad or the olives taste off.

I do store them in the fridge, lol. But the icky brine happens anyways. I opened a jar today, so I'll keep you all posted (good thing I put this in the Science category... because I'm thinking it is quickly going to become a Science Experiment).

Zym & Chimichimi - I can't say I'm familiar with the Dill Pickle situation, I assume you are referring to "crocked dill pickles" which also would be in brine and unprocessed?

Fresh Foodie - You may be onto something, with the pimento being the actual culprit as to what "goes off".

The dills I'm referring to are technically "crocked" but I do them in a plastic brewing bucket, not a crock. Yes, they (like sauerkraut) ferment spontaneously because of a bacterium that lives naturally on the fruit. I just give the cukes a light scrub with water to wash off any dirt, and let them ferment. Lots of fruit has the same or similar bacterium living naturally on it in a symbiotic relationship. I'd suggest you get yourself out to DiRienzo's (thanks Chimi) and see if anything there looks familiar. If so, relax.

p.s. once a jar of my dills has been opened, about 2 months later they will start to form a pellicle again. This is natural and harmless - if somewhat disheartening to the uninitiated :-)

FF - good point re: olive oil on the surface, if refrigerated it turns into a semi-solid and looks pretty funky. Let sit at room temp and it will return to normal.

Zym - OK, I think I understand the science now.

Chimichimi - Thanks for the info, I am now planning a road trip to DiRienzo's to compare notes. And your right, it looks pretty funky when it comes out of the fridge. What I really want to make sure is it is still ok to eat vs pitch. There has got to me an "Olive Expert" out there somewheres on the web or otherwise who can give me a definitive answer.

if it's brown, drink it down

if it's black, send it back

I would assume that the pimento stuffed olives would actually be more prone to having oil float on the top because they are cut open to add the pimento. A jar usually will sit in my fridge for about 6 weeks, and I usually only toss out the last dozen or so olives.

Food & Think I absolutely love olives and have never had them in the fridge long enough to go funky :-) Although I would second tre's comment (and fellow martini lover!) to drink more martinis LOL! Not sure if this would interest you but alot of stores now have olive bars and you can buy just a small amount of olives if you only want a few. My favourite place to shop for olives is the House of Cheese in the Byward market. It is owned by a Lebanese man who sells all sorts of Middle Eastern delicacies like fatayer, tabouli, hummus, etc. They also carry tons of olives and although I don't recall any pimento stuffed ones you can sometimes get ones stuffed with garlic or almonds.

I believe Unico also makes a great cocktail olive that's stuffed with jalapeno.

"Not sure if this would interest you but alot of stores now have olive bars and you can buy just a small amount of olives if you only want a few."

A friend who worked at Loblaws once warned me to stay away from the olive bar and I have heeded those words of advice ever since.

I've actually gone through the process of curing my own olives from fresh (about once a year you can get fresh green un-pickled/brined olives from Farmboy). After cracking them (or "x"ing them with a knife) you soak them in water for 2-3 weeks, changing the water every day (this is to help draw out the bitterness from the olives). I have noticed during this time that a "scum" does indeed form on the water and sides of the container from the oils and juices that are released from the olives. Even diligently changing the water every day does not prevent the conatainer from getting "scummy". I can imagine that after the olives are placed in brine/pickle that this would continue to occur. Sounds normal to me...unless the olives smell or taste "off" or are REALLY old I wouldn't worry too much.

BTW, we buy the massive jars of pimento stuffed olives at Costco and Superstore. They are the unico brand and we have an open jar for months and they never go off.

Ok I've now undertaken the Cocktail Olive Experiment. I am going to keep notes on the bottle I just opened and I'll keep you all posted. LOL

TRE - I`ve never actually calculated how long the olives last, but I know for sure I rarely get to the bottom of a jar... like you I always end up tossing some out. This time however I will have a record.

Pasta Lover - I do purchase from time to time an assortment of olives such as those you`ve mentioned. The garlic ones are to die for! My dilema however is specific to the cocktail olives stuffed with pimento... they have a distinctive different flavour because they are preserved in brine not olive oil (more like a pickle). Hopefully my science experiment will reveal some new ideas on how I might get them to last longer (failing that, I guess I`ll be drinking more martinis, LOL).

Ollie - I hear you. I am very particular about where I purchase open deli items from (like those olive carts).

Food is Hot - Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! Thanks for your input, I`m guessing that unless they really look bad, or smell bad, they are probably alright, I just find the scum off-putting to my sensitivities I suppose.

Zym - Interesting, do you keep them in the fridge?

Yes, in the fridge. BTW, any jar we open we write on it with a sharpie when we opened it. Very handy.

Zym - I've always labeled things that are "fresh" like cold cuts, and stuff that goes into the freezer, but haven't done so in the past for jarred items because either they get used up very quickly or are the kind of stuff that doesn't go off before they get used (like mustard). I do think though that after this discussion that it is worthwhile to have a system such as yours for jars etc.

I have found if you don't put your fingers in or introduce any bateria (i.e. eating them off the fork one is fishing them out with)they keep longer.

Oh that could be it! I'm pretty safety conscious (I was going to say "anal" but that doesn't seem the right term for a food discussion) so I only use very clean utensils for anything that will go back into the fridge. Might explain why my olives keep for so long.

I must say though, that I accessed a very old jar of sliced green olives the other day to top a little plate of nachos. There was a bit of a scum and they tasted more.. I don't know.. olivey than usual. Too strong, really. Is that what you mean when you say they go "off", Food&Think?

Kali & Fresh Foodie - I am super careful about food safety, so I always use a clean utensil (never my fingers), and I'm the kind of gal who would never think of double dipping. So that isn't it. I'm beginning to think the scum is a natural occurance because of the "oil" in the olives, that combined with the coldness of the fridge, and voila you have a sort of floating scum. Anyways, the "science experiment" is now well underway, and I'm keeping notes this time round... I'll keep you all posted.

Olive Experiment Conclusion

The jar of cocktail olives was opened on JUNE 26, 2008.
Olives were consumed several times over the next four weeks or so.
I last ate olives out of the jar about 10 days ago, and all was fine.
Yesterday, I opened the jar, and discovered "the oily scum" and the "floaty white bits"... it didn't look very appetizing.
Thankfully there was only 3 or 4 olives left in the jar, so at least this time I didn't chuck a half-full jar.

CONCLUSION

1) I now have an approximate timeframe to work with... it looks like an opened bottle of Cocktail Olives in the fridge will last 4 to 5 weeks.

2) Deterioration of the olives is slower if the olives remain "uncontaminated" by foreign objects (only 100% clean utensils - absolutely no fingers in the jar).

3) There probably really isn't anything "WRONG" with the olives... the oily scum is just a natural occurence from the unprocessed olives (they are only in brine).... The white scum is probably harmless as well, and just some of the "oily scum" congeling due to the cold temp of the fridge.

4) None the less, I find the appearance of the scum still unappealing, and therefore will continue to pitch out the remaining olives from any jar I discover it in.

:-(

Thanks everyone for all their input... and suggestions. Now that I have a timeframe I guess I'll just have to keep that in mind whenever I open a new jar. So perhaps Tre is right in order to cut down on waste, I'll just have to take up drinking dirty martinis.

;-)

Which just goes to prove, that there is always a way to turn a frown into a smile, sometimes all that is needed is a little alcohol. LOL

Great experiment, F&T!

And no dirty martinis, only clean! ;)

That's strange, I never have this problem, although I do go through olives fairly quickly. I buy Unico olives, but have also bought Sable & Ross (I think that's the brand) vermouth-soaked olives -- in either case, I haven't experienced the issue you describe. It could also be because I drink dirty martinis, so the brine is depleted at the same rate as the olives are... not sure if that would make a difference.

Marno, I'm guessing you hit the nail on the head there. Since oil floats on water, pouring off a little of the brine (e.g. for a dirty martini) would effectively skim off the scum.

F&T, nice experiment! Of course you really should drink the scum and let us know if you fall ill. ;-)