09-01-2003, 11:58 AM
First thing I like to do with skeins is to pat them dry with a paper towel, either split them open or cut into chunks and lay them out on wax paper on a cookie sheet for drying. Either I will put them out in the garage overnight if it is cool enough, or place in the fridge if it is not.
Do not over dry to where the eggs get somewhat caramelized.
After drying, you can either store them uncured, or do my curing process. I like to use non-iodized salt, borax, and about 1/3 strength cure, but there are all sorts of good recipes and it pays to experiment. Make sure that if you are curing that you work the cure in between the "leaflets" of the skein.
Next, proper storage is essential for long freezer life. There are many ways to do this, but the key component is to make sure that it is completely air tight. I either will
use a vacuum packer or I will put enough skein into a plastic ziplock bag for about a day's fishing, squeeze out as much air as possible by immersing the bag in water (careful not to get water into the bag) then zip it. Next I wrap the bag with aluminum foil to make it airproof as even the thinner plastic bags will breathe air a little.
Then I wrap the package in paper to protect the aluminum foil from tearing, as it easily does when frozen. The I identify the package, ie king skein, borax/cure (or uncured,etc) and date it. This helps to rotate your stock.
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keep rolling them in Borax until they are somewhat dry. Then put the eggs, borax and all in wax paper and place them in a mason jar. Just before sealing the lid, light the top of the wax paper with a lighter and put the lid on. The flame will quickly remove all oxygen and seal the lid down tight. Now put in the freezer until ready for use. They will keep this way for a year or more.
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Heres what I do. Write it down so you can use it in the future. When you get a skein that you want to tie into bags from a salmon... I only do this on salmon skein. Take the skein and a spoon and drag it across the skein making the eggs seperate out into single eggs or as close as possible. Ok for every quart of spawn I take a quater cup of kosher salt and a quater cup of sugar and mix it up with some orange atlas die just for color.. maybe a teaspoon of it at most. Mix it all together and place in the fridge for 15 minutes or so then take it back out and rinse the mixture off. Add a small amount of water back into the eggs which they will soak back up and your ready to tie them.
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Method #1 borax
When removing roe from a fish keep away from water. A quick rinse is ok to remove blood but will require a drying process to remove the extra moisture. Never freeze eggs in water for later use. Always cure roe as soon as possible. Roe will keep in a refrigerator sealed in Ziploc bag for up to a week before curing, but I recommend curing as soon as possible for better quality.Place roe in paper towels over night to drain Unwrap and place on news paper in skeins Cover with borax (get into seams of skeins) To have colored eggs mix in a small package of sugar free Jell-O (Optional step) or buy Procure instead of borax. Dry food coloring can be added to the dry powder to get desired shades. Cut Into bait size pieces Cover in borax Spread out individual baits on newspaper Let air dry until crust has appeared on one side Flip over baits until the form crust on top side again Place in container and cover with fresh borax Freeze or place in refrigerator up to two months To thaw roe place in microwave for one minute (No longer or you will cook your eggs) Your ready to fish
Method #2 sodium sulfite
This method doesn't require drying. Produces red colored eggs. cut bait into fishing size clusters place in bag with sodium sulfite (purchase a any photo shop) shake until all clusters are covered place a layer of sodium sulfite on bottom of container alternate layers between clusters and sodium sulfite until container is full. refrigerate until ready to use
Method #3 sugar, salt, borax
This mixture also doesn't require drying. Mix equal parts salt, sugar, and borax to create mixture. Eggs will not reabsorb juice with this method so don't let them over cure in refrigerator. The salt is what toughens the eggs. If you want to tougher clusters leave in refrigerator overnight. Then roll in a dry borax (for easier handling) and place in freezer.cut bait into fishing size clusters place in bag with mixture shake until all clusters are covered If you choose to not coat before placing in container... alternate layers between clusters and salt, sugar, borax mixture until container is full. Place in refrigerator place a layer of the mixture on bottom of container over night or until cured to firmness desired After the eggs are of desired firmness .....Roll (shake in bag) in a straight borax before freezing. This will help reduce the stickiness from the sugar in the cure and mess on the river/lake. Freeze until ready to use
Brine for firming eggs
Mix a brine that consist of one part sugar to 4 parts salt (cup) in a gallon of water. Stir brine until all dissolves. The eggs when cured will be firm not shriveled or rubbery. You can then go to one of the other methods to finish the clusters to your liking.
Dried eggs
Place eggs on wax paper one layer deep and allow to air dry until rock hard or dried up. Store in air tight container until ready to prepare for trip. Tie the eggs up into roe bags and rinse thoroughly in water the day before you plan to fish. Place in refrigerator over night. Eggs will be reconstituted the next day and ready for use.
another cure
I just finished making about a dozen spawn bags. I cured some steelhead spawn last spring for the first time. I got the recipe off one of the fishing pages. It works great. I just kept them in a seal jar in the meat tray of the frig.
1/2 cup of sugar 1/2 cup of salt [font "Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica"]
dissolve in a cup of water. put the eggs in and let it stand for about 1 - 1/2 hours. drain and store. I mixed the stuff in a zip loc bag. I also used warm water to dissolve the sugar and salt.
Egg Cure [left]Dissolve 1 cup borax, 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar in a quart of water. May require heating to fully dissolve solids. Then when mixture is luke warm, place eggs in solution and allow to brine for 1 hr to 1 1/2 hrs. Remove eggs and allow to air dry until tacky. For colored eggs add a food coloring or cake dye to the mix. This makes for some tough eggs and colored egg snot when the eggs wash away.[/left][/font]
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Do not over dry to where the eggs get somewhat caramelized.
After drying, you can either store them uncured, or do my curing process. I like to use non-iodized salt, borax, and about 1/3 strength cure, but there are all sorts of good recipes and it pays to experiment. Make sure that if you are curing that you work the cure in between the "leaflets" of the skein.
Next, proper storage is essential for long freezer life. There are many ways to do this, but the key component is to make sure that it is completely air tight. I either will
use a vacuum packer or I will put enough skein into a plastic ziplock bag for about a day's fishing, squeeze out as much air as possible by immersing the bag in water (careful not to get water into the bag) then zip it. Next I wrap the bag with aluminum foil to make it airproof as even the thinner plastic bags will breathe air a little.
Then I wrap the package in paper to protect the aluminum foil from tearing, as it easily does when frozen. The I identify the package, ie king skein, borax/cure (or uncured,etc) and date it. This helps to rotate your stock.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
keep rolling them in Borax until they are somewhat dry. Then put the eggs, borax and all in wax paper and place them in a mason jar. Just before sealing the lid, light the top of the wax paper with a lighter and put the lid on. The flame will quickly remove all oxygen and seal the lid down tight. Now put in the freezer until ready for use. They will keep this way for a year or more.
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Heres what I do. Write it down so you can use it in the future. When you get a skein that you want to tie into bags from a salmon... I only do this on salmon skein. Take the skein and a spoon and drag it across the skein making the eggs seperate out into single eggs or as close as possible. Ok for every quart of spawn I take a quater cup of kosher salt and a quater cup of sugar and mix it up with some orange atlas die just for color.. maybe a teaspoon of it at most. Mix it all together and place in the fridge for 15 minutes or so then take it back out and rinse the mixture off. Add a small amount of water back into the eggs which they will soak back up and your ready to tie them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Method #1 borax
When removing roe from a fish keep away from water. A quick rinse is ok to remove blood but will require a drying process to remove the extra moisture. Never freeze eggs in water for later use. Always cure roe as soon as possible. Roe will keep in a refrigerator sealed in Ziploc bag for up to a week before curing, but I recommend curing as soon as possible for better quality.Place roe in paper towels over night to drain Unwrap and place on news paper in skeins Cover with borax (get into seams of skeins) To have colored eggs mix in a small package of sugar free Jell-O (Optional step) or buy Procure instead of borax. Dry food coloring can be added to the dry powder to get desired shades. Cut Into bait size pieces Cover in borax Spread out individual baits on newspaper Let air dry until crust has appeared on one side Flip over baits until the form crust on top side again Place in container and cover with fresh borax Freeze or place in refrigerator up to two months To thaw roe place in microwave for one minute (No longer or you will cook your eggs) Your ready to fish
Method #2 sodium sulfite
This method doesn't require drying. Produces red colored eggs. cut bait into fishing size clusters place in bag with sodium sulfite (purchase a any photo shop) shake until all clusters are covered place a layer of sodium sulfite on bottom of container alternate layers between clusters and sodium sulfite until container is full. refrigerate until ready to use
Method #3 sugar, salt, borax
This mixture also doesn't require drying. Mix equal parts salt, sugar, and borax to create mixture. Eggs will not reabsorb juice with this method so don't let them over cure in refrigerator. The salt is what toughens the eggs. If you want to tougher clusters leave in refrigerator overnight. Then roll in a dry borax (for easier handling) and place in freezer.cut bait into fishing size clusters place in bag with mixture shake until all clusters are covered If you choose to not coat before placing in container... alternate layers between clusters and salt, sugar, borax mixture until container is full. Place in refrigerator place a layer of the mixture on bottom of container over night or until cured to firmness desired After the eggs are of desired firmness .....Roll (shake in bag) in a straight borax before freezing. This will help reduce the stickiness from the sugar in the cure and mess on the river/lake. Freeze until ready to use
Brine for firming eggs
Mix a brine that consist of one part sugar to 4 parts salt (cup) in a gallon of water. Stir brine until all dissolves. The eggs when cured will be firm not shriveled or rubbery. You can then go to one of the other methods to finish the clusters to your liking.
Dried eggs
Place eggs on wax paper one layer deep and allow to air dry until rock hard or dried up. Store in air tight container until ready to prepare for trip. Tie the eggs up into roe bags and rinse thoroughly in water the day before you plan to fish. Place in refrigerator over night. Eggs will be reconstituted the next day and ready for use.
another cure
I just finished making about a dozen spawn bags. I cured some steelhead spawn last spring for the first time. I got the recipe off one of the fishing pages. It works great. I just kept them in a seal jar in the meat tray of the frig.
1/2 cup of sugar 1/2 cup of salt [font "Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica"]
dissolve in a cup of water. put the eggs in and let it stand for about 1 - 1/2 hours. drain and store. I mixed the stuff in a zip loc bag. I also used warm water to dissolve the sugar and salt.
Egg Cure [left]Dissolve 1 cup borax, 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar in a quart of water. May require heating to fully dissolve solids. Then when mixture is luke warm, place eggs in solution and allow to brine for 1 hr to 1 1/2 hrs. Remove eggs and allow to air dry until tacky. For colored eggs add a food coloring or cake dye to the mix. This makes for some tough eggs and colored egg snot when the eggs wash away.[/left][/font]
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