Trying out new things and discovering ways to preserve your favorite snack or side dish is always a fun thing to do. Likewise, people usually wonder can olives be dehydrated? Dehydrated olives would serve as perfect snacks or dressing for your salads! If you, too, are wondering if it is possible to dehydrate olives, then read below.
In this article, you will find answers to all your queries related to the dehydration of olives.
Yes, you can easily dehydrate olives. Start by cutting them into tiny pieces. Remember to start the dehydration at higher temperatures then gradually decrease the temperature. You should know that your olives have been dehydrated properly once they break instead of bending.
Just like you do with mushrooms and kiwi, make sure that you cut the olives into pieces before proceeding with dehydration. This will ensure that your olives dry out quicker.
How to dehydrate olives?
There are 3 methods that you can employ to dehydrate olives. We have discussed all the methods below in detail for your ease!
Before you proceed to dehydrate olives, you need to prepare them. The steps below will help you prepare your olives for dehydration.
- If you have plucked olives fresh out of the tree, you need to wash them thoroughly and then remove stems on each of them along with pitting them.
- Submerge your pitted olives in boiling water for up to 3 minutes and drain the water.
- Now, you need to cure them by letting them sit in brine water for around 3 years.
- Once you have cured them, drain the brine water and dry them to extract as much moisture as possible.
Now, as you have prepped the olives, you can proceed to dehydration.
Method 1: Dehydrating olives in a dehydrator
This is a super-easy method that will aid you in dehydrating olive within no time!
Step: 1 Slicing the olives
- Slice olives into thin rounds; make sure to slice them thinly for proper dehydration.
- You can also chop your olives for quick dehydration, but make sure you slice them evenly.
Step: 2 Placing olives in the dehydrator
- Arrange your prepared and chopped olives on a tray in a single layer. This will ensure even dehydration.
- Turn on the dehydrator and set the temperature to 125 F.
- Now place the tray in the dehydrator and let them dehydrate for 4-6 hours.
- In case you are looking forward to dehydrating recently picked olives, you will need to dehydrate them for 3-4 days. Make sure to check these olives at least once a day.
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Method 2: Dehydrating olives in an oven
This is a simple method; however, you need to stay vigilant in order to avoid burning olives.
Step: 1 Slicing the olives
- Cut the olives into thin rounds but make sure each round is evenly sized.
- You can opt for chopping olives as well.
Step: 2 Placing olives in the oven
- Preheat your oven at 250 F; if you feel that the temperature is excessively hot, you can lower the temperature.
- Now lay your chopped or sliced olives on a baking sheet and make sure to line it with parchment paper, or else olives will stick to the baking sheet and burn. Moreover, keep in mind to lay the olives in a single layer to ensure even dehydration.
- Lastly, place your olives in the oven and let them dehydrate for 3-5 hours. Keep in mind to check them from time to time.
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Method 3: Freeze drying olives
Freeze-drying refers to extracting all the moisture in an excessively cold environment. Some people prefer freeze-drying in a specialized machine; however, that machine is quite costly. Hence, we will teach you 2 alternate methods that will help you freeze-dry olives.
Freeze drying olives using freezer
Making use of your home freezer will help you dehydrate olives. However, it is time-consuming and requires an empty freezer for a long period.
- Thinly slice your olives, making sure that each piece is similar in size; this will ensure that each piece takes the same amount of time to dehydrate.
- Now lay them onto a baking sheet and place them in the freezer.
- Try setting the freezer’s temperature as low as possible.
- If you want to yield the best results, try not opening your freezer for around a week or two while the olives are dehydrating.
Freeze drying olives using dry ice
If you cannot empty your freezer to use it for freeze-drying olives, you can always employ an alternate method: using dry ice for dehydration of olives. Although this method is a little complicated, once you get the hang of it, you can easily get the job done within no time.
- Grab some tough heavy-duty gloves for yourself. These will ensure that you are not harmed in any way.
- Now you need to arrange a spacious container that needs to be twice the size of your baking tray on which you already laid your chopped olives.
- Put the baking tray at the bottom of the container and cover it completely with dry ice.
- Make sure that you cover the container only with dry ice and nothing else so that the moisture can easily escape out.
- Once all the dry ice has evaporated, which usually takes a day, you will come across sufficiently dried olives.
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How to rehydrate olives?
To rehydrate olives, you need to blanch them in boiling water until you see that desired moisture has returned. Once you have blanched the olives, toss them into olive oil and cook for a few minutes.
How long do dehydrated olives last?
Dehydrated olives can last up to 1-2 years without spoilage.
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Related FAQs on dehydrating olives!
Are dehydrated olives good for you?
Yes, dried olives serve as perfect emergency food. Moreover, dried olives are rich in fiber, sodium, iron, and vitamin E. All these are micronutrients that do wonders for your health.
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What can I do with dried olives?
You can store dried olives in a jar and place them in your pantry. You can make use of dried olives by serving them as an appetizer or with a cheeseboard. You can even use them to enhance pasta, a Farro salad, or stew.
How do I make semi-dried olives?
Firstly, wash the olives properly. Then, dry them and lay them on a baking tray in a single layer, without overlap, to ensure even dehydration. Lastly, place that baking tray in the oven and set the temperature at 50 C until you see that the olives have shriveled and not completely dried up. This will take up to 2-6 hours.
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Wrapping up our thoughts on dehydrating olives!
Now, you can conveniently dehydrate olives and store them as an emergency snack for dressing in various dishes. You can employ any of the tactics mentioned above, and you will get the job done perfectly. However, before proceeding with dehydration, you need to cure olives with brine water. Once that’s done, you are good to go!
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