I'll be following

this one 

lol , yeh lots of opinions on this im sure bradz

iv only been doing our own olives for the last 3 years, so im no expert but iv been bloody happy with the results to date

this year iv had 3 x 2 gallon[9 litre ]buckets of them and im half way finnished

i just pick them , when doing this i put a soft blanket or cooler bag type container on the ground under the teee , this stops the olives from bruising when dropped into the container from above , or you could use some type of hip container when you pick them as well

anyway , once picked , i wash them , remove all leaves and other shite from them ,sort them into 3 categorys , green , neapolitan [half black & green ] & black put them into speperate buckets then fill em up with clean cold water, i change the water every night for about 10-14 nights , it depends on the olives and how they ''taste ''to me , as i try one or two of them for biiterness from each bucket after about 10 days ,
the different colours seem to lose bitterness at different rates when in the water bath , depending on the colour , not size or shape etc

once i think there ready [between 10-14 days /rinses ] i then sterilise some large jars and lids ,wash and drain well the olives then pack the olives into each jar, almost to the top , then when all jars are done , peel and slice about 1 clove of garlic per jar &one small birdseye chilli cut in half, put this in each jar as well as a few black peppercorns , then mix up a sea salt brine , [sea salt flakes mixed with cold water ] to taste for saltiness , i dont like it too salty , it should float a raw egg just imo , then top each jar up with brine leaving about a cm at the top of each jar , then finally top off with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil into the jar to fill it to the brim, screw on the lids , set aside in a cool spot/cupboard for about 6-8 weeks before you eat them

this has worked well for me , the longer you leave them , the better they taste, the extra virgin olive oil seems to make abig difference to the flavour of the finnished olives over time in the jars compared to other oils , if you dont like too much chilli , cut it down by half as these are quite toey , &use fresh peeled italian or russian garlic sliced not the chinnese stuff or pre minced if you want the best garlic flavour

some people cut the olives, others use lemon , greek recipes may use some vinegar ,as well
i just go the above,
hard bit is waiting till there ready ,

with cheese ,sliced tomato , salami and crusty bread , there bloody good & have lasted over a year in the jars without refrigeration , once open , put em in the fridge

hope it helps hezzy

 That looks like a good method Hezzy.

I'll report back in 6-8 weeks.

pick green ones put in 20litre bucket wash them then add 100grams of salt for every litre of water ,chillies bay leaves,2 cups od vinegar make sure they are all submerged close with lid , forget about them for 2 months then open check re do the brinesame as first, add small quantity of oil just so it seals ,all up ready in 3/4 months keeps for 12-14 months.... other way is slit olives wash them 1-2 days 50-50 water & vinegar bay leaves chillies oregano if you like, again 100 grams of salt per litre taste within 3 weeks add more salt if req. ready within 6-8 weeks {i do 1x20litre bucket the ones just on the turn}  black ones can be mushy unless you cure them with salt , last few years did 3x20 litre buckets{ green ones }that keeps me going until the next batch is ready.hope that helps certainly works for me

all ours are now in jars, should be ready by the end of may to sample the first batches

last batch of black olives we did we tried a different method

we did the water change for 12days , then drained of the water and filled the bucket full of white vinegar, till it covered the olives, left them to soak like this for 48 hours, then drained them , dried them off, and lay the olives out on trays , sprinkle with sea salt, leave like that for another 24 hours,

then brush off all thr salt, and jar them up , mix up a brine as follows ,
1 litre of water, 350 ml of vinegar, i tablespoon of salt & 1 tablespoon of sugar,

pour this into the jars packed with olives, seal and leave for 45 days in a cupboard out of the sunlight ,

hezzy

No idea, but i think i have a stack of olives you can trial haha

 Hey I do olives every year, the way I do them is after you pick th put a slice with a knife long ways down to the pip, it takes a while but worth it, then soak in fresh water changing it Dailey for 7 days, then make a brine with 1/3 of a cup salt to every litre of water, bring to the boil make sure all salt dissolves ,sterilise the jars, fill 2/3 full with olives, pore over cooled brine, then top jars up with olive oil, to make a seal then store in a dark cupboard for 4-5 weeks then enjoy. Once they're ready I like to add fresh garlic ,herbs , vinegar, chilli ect .

hope this help

cheers kurt 

Mine is about the same as dizzy's. Exept I make a small slice in each with a beer bottle top. The slightly jagged cut (and an excuse to drink a stubby) seem to do the trick with mine. Brine IMO should be just saltier than seawater. If not enough salt you get a "fungal" or other growth on the top, which is Juk. Oil (olive) stops this to an extent, but salt does it better. I try to leave as little air above the mix as possible. Jummy chillie-garlic olives.

This is what I am trying....

Place black and green olives in a 20 litre bucket of water and change the water every day for the next 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, place the olives in another bowl filled with vinegar.

Allow to marinate in vinegar for 2 days. Remove the olives from the vinegar and place them on a tray. Cover the olives with coarse salt. Allow the olives to sit in salt for 1 further day. Brush off the excess salt. The olives are then ready to be added to the brine solution.

Brine solution

For every litre of water add approximately 250-400 ml of vinegar. Add a handful of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Stir vigorously.

place as many olives in the sterilised jars or bottles and pour brine solution to the top of the rim so that no air is allowed in the jar or bottle. Screw the lid on tightly and allow to stand in a dark cupboard for a further 45 days. Label and date your jars and keep them in a dark pantry.

I'll let you know how they go