How to Reduce the Saltiness of Overly Salty Olives

Salt is added to olives to reduce their bitterness and keep them from spoiling for months. In brined olives, salt has penetrated throughout the flesh; dry-cured black olives are even saltier. When olives are placed in cold water, salt moves from the area where it is more concentrated to the area where it is less concentrated—that is, from the olives into the water. This movement slows as the water becomes salty, so changing the water is much more effective than leaving the olives in a single container for a long time.

First, rinse the olives under running water to remove any surface brine or salt crystals. Then place them in a wide container and add enough cold water to cover them comfortably. Change the water every 3–4 hours. Two or three changes are often enough for green and cracked olives; dry-cured, tray-style olives may need to soak overnight. Scored or cracked olives release their salt faster because water reaches the flesh beneath the skin.

Decide by tasting. Taste an olive after each water change, and stop soaking when the saltiness on your tongue has dropped to a pleasant level. Do not use hot water: it softens the olive flesh, wrinkles the skin, and draws the olive’s own aroma into the water. If olives soak for too long, they lose flavor along with the salt, leaving them watery and bland. The goal is to balance the salt, not remove it completely. If olives have been desalted too much, soaking them in lightly salted water for a few hours can restore some of their flavor.

Desalted olives no longer keep as well as they did before. Salt was what preserved them, and once its level is reduced, the olives become more prone to spoilage. So soak only as many olives as you will eat within a few days. Drain and dry them, place them in a sealed jar, cover them with enough olive oil, and refrigerate; consume within one week. Keep the remaining olives in their brine or salt without desalting them. You can add thyme, lemon peel, or Turkish red pepper flakes to the olive oil in the jar; these additions give the less-salty olives another layer of flavor.

Olives usually do not need to be desalted if they will be used in a dish. In an olive salad, baked dish, or bread dough, the salt in the olives counts toward the dish’s salt, so reduce the recipe’s salt accordingly. In a dish with olives, adjust the salt by tasting after adding them. You can also balance breakfast olives with the foods served alongside them: unsalted lor cheese, tomatoes, and cucumbers soften the salty taste in your mouth. Plain bread and strong brewed tea do the same.