Olive Brine Weight

[muzzlet]

My grocery store has a great olive bar that costs $8.99 a pound. I am addicted to these black Cirignola olives. I used to drain the brine from the olives in the container, but they would dry out after a couple of days. So, I started adding some more brine to the container.

Of course, now it weighed more because of the heavier liquid, so it cost more. I bought some today and weighed the olives with and without the brine. It was almost half the weight!! Meaning, it would have cost me about $3.50, instead of $7.00 had I drained the brine off first.

So, now what do I do? Keep this last batch of brine at home, and just keep refilling with the drained olives from the store? I assume because of the high salt content, it would be safe as long as it's kept refrigerated. Could I store the drained olives in plain salt water instead? Tho I imagine it would be hard to get the concentration right, and plain water would probably affect the taste. So, what would you do?
Thanks!!!

 

[Lizannd]

What a good idea to keep the brine. If the store will

not let you weigh the olives, then add the brine then I would save the brine. I buy my olives from a small ethnic grocery store. They have us get the olives with a little brine, then weigh the container and then we go and add more brine.