curing roe

[durkin09]

I have some loose roe and was just wondering if anyone had any recipes that they find work well for using right away and freezing. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks. Cheers.

[Tom Chopin]

Just rinse it in the River water if possible and use/freeze. You don't need to get too fancy with it.

I'm sure the guys will add a few recipes but doing nothing seems to work for me.

[smerchly]

I had a little roe given to me and it was "cured" & then frozen . It bounces like a golf ball now and I don't think it's natural ......didn't get a hit on it yesterday at the River . Like Tom said, rinse in the river water & freeze it small zip-lock bags in daily quantities.....say enough for 15 roe bags . I like to wrap them packaged roe bags in another larger bag to help from freezer burn .

[Guest fishstick]

Here's just 1 site that may help you out.

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/resourcecenter/eggs.htm

Or you can find many others just by copying and pasting this into your browser:

curing+fish+roe

Hope it helps.

[GREYHAWK]

Check out Barry Pringle/Aaron Shirley website. They use a very simple recipe of cold tap water, iodized salt and brown sugar - eggs are allowed to sit in brine in the fridge for 8 hours - strain the eggs and fill jars with the golden eggs. These eggs will keep for a very long time in the fridge and they work well when tied into roe bags.

[richardl33]

If you just freeze them without curing them, how long will they last???

[Guest jigmup]

Are they Brown or Salmon??

Salmon eggs, the methods mentioned will do just fine......Brown eggs.....well I do nothing with them, from the fish to the freezer...oh there is one more thing that I do but that's to secret (kidding, i hate guys who think they are to good to share their little secrets).

From the fish to a ziplock (DO NOT STRAIN OR RINSE THE EGGS!) take the eggs home and let them sit in the fridge for 2 days. Seperate into smaller baggies, enough for the next days fishing and freeze. i'm telling you, this works and I can guarantee this will out perform any cure on the market. After you tie the bags...it does not hurt to put a tiny amount of salt in the container and shake.....keeps fresh and prevents them from getting sticky. This only works for Brown eggs...salmon eggs get to soft.

Do it.....you'll have success!

[jwl]

I agree that natural probably works the best,but if the roe is not rinsed..and has any blood and membrane still attached to it..after you cast and drift it a few times, I find it tends to turn all milky white in a short time..then you need to change up to a fresh roe bag every few drifts....some times I like to add a few tbsp of raspberry jello powder..works good if the eggs you are using are really wet..if they are not that wet...disolve some of the jello powder in boiling water..then add some cold water just like you where trying to make extra rubbery jello..when it cools a bit mix some in with the eggs.....as for rinsing the eggs, I saw on a show once where they took all the fresh roe..or skien, then put it inside a stocking (panty hose)..tied it shut on one end with a piece of rope and left it in the water where they where fishing..in that case it was a stream, to rinse the eggs slowly in the current of the natural stream water....I bet it works good to chum up the water at the same time too.

[denis]

Are they Brown or Salmon??

Salmon eggs, the methods mentioned will do just fine......Brown eggs.....well I do nothing with them, from the fish to the freezer...oh there is one more thing that I do but that's to secret (kidding, i hate guys who think they are to good to share their little secrets).

From the fish to a ziplock (DO NOT STRAIN OR RINSE THE EGGS!) take the eggs home and let them sit in the fridge for 2 days. Seperate into smaller baggies, enough for the next days fishing and freeze. i'm telling you, this works and I can guarantee this will out perform any cure on the market. After you tie the bags...it does not hurt to put a tiny amount of salt in the container and shake.....keeps fresh and prevents them from getting sticky. This only works for Brown eggs...salmon eggs get to soft.

Do it.....you'll have success!

roger that words of wisdom for sure

[Guest canadadude]

I cure salmon eggs with a salt bath overnight and brown roe I like to water harden at the site I get them from! When fishing I find the type of roe I use is not as big factor as getting the correct drift and having the bag drift as naturally as possible!! Everybody has there own curing methods but if your bait isn't presented well you don't have a chance! There have been lots of days when know matter what kind of roe I used I got fish after fish because my presentation was dialed in perfect for the drift and of course other days when I just couldn't get it at all!!! Thats why they call it fishing not catching!!!!!!

[joe]

heres one from us .... you can only do this IF you have a good day and managed

a male and a female . rinse eggs of blood etc. in the water from which it was caught

then milt the eggs with the male . rinse again in the same stream lake water

when home spread the eggs out on paper towels to dry 30 min to 1 hour

pack into small jars , we use baby food jars just enough for a days fishing

we have had these eggs last for a long time . years

just freeze and use as you need

naturally hardend water spermed eggs ala joe and pauline

[fish for boots]

I use borax - never had a problem and catch as many fish as anyone else. I think that the majority of how well one makes out is on the presentation. I've seen guys using roe bags the size of golf balls or hot pink/fluorescent bags in clear water situations. I've had more success on scaling down my presentations (hooks, line, bag size) more so than how the eggs were cured. And with borax, they will last forever in the refridgerator.....

[jwl]

"Water spermed eggs ala Joe and Pauline". .pssst don't eat breakfast at their house..pass it on or at least don't ask what's in the "secret sauce"

[Guest fishstick]

Okay....a question from an inexperienced roe guy.... I know how to use it, just never had the chance to obtain or cure any.

Has anyone ever tried any other roe than salmon or trout? Is it possible? Would salmon and trout pass on it?Or do most species spawn before they are in season? Or is it just not plausible because other species roe are too small?

So many questions, but applicable I think.

If you don't ask....you'll never know.

[joe]

hey jack ..... no dinner for YOU !! i saw the look that smerchly

gave me when i told him about how we cure our roe

but i have been doing this for many years now . between the milt and

water hardening the eggs . they stay HARD and the color dont wash out

when drifting as they say as natural as possible

and im still using some roe from three years ago , no smell and still works

bows last week just loved it . so spank that fishs monkey

[smerchly]

Hope that's NOT how you harden your chicken eggs Joe . ha ! It's almost impossible to "cure" ....or preserve the natural smell & texture of roe by using a preservative such as salt , borax & sugar . When inserting a hook into the roe bag one egg usually gets pierced ,thus releasing some of the fluid from an egg, especially the larger salmon eggs, which helps leave a scent trail which entices ( or fools) the fish into thinking it's a fresh dinner ! That's my thesis & I think I'm losing it trying to outsmart a dumb fish ......

[joe]

well bill i didnt hear any complaints about the tater salad

ever get the urge to swim up stream

[kevin]

Do nothing to your eggs. Roll them around in paper towel until the moisture is off of them, and freeze. If you can find roe that works better than this method, i'll give you 20 bucks.

[jwl]

to go back a bit to Fishstick's last post...I just skimmed through a bunch of old outdoor magazines that I have..and stumbled upon an article for curing roe...all the method's mentioned in this thread so far..where pretty much what has been mentioned already.......as for Joe & Paulines method..it says for best results...dim the lights, and put on some back ground music...chicka...chicka..mow mow...chicka wha wha oh to get back to your question...it suggests also trying sucker roe, if you can get it in the spring..the article claims it's just as effective as trout or salmon roe..suggests not to cure it, leave it natural

[joe]

hey jack .... whats more NATURAL than our cure

and yes we do dim the lights , gives it a more

romantic feel gotta show those eggs

some love, so they treat you right

and for sucker eggs we know a guy that uses them

all the time on the saugeen and he does very well !!

joe and pauline

[smerchly]

That's a new one for me ......"romantically enhanced roe" But I think it's illegal to use ,since the eggs are then fertilized thus tranforming into a new state called a fish ! We are not allowed to use trout or salmon for bait ! But fertile sucker roe is ok . We must read the fine print ........Whatch what you put on those taters Joe

[joe]

hey bill .... just checking to see if you follow these threads

just hellmans and spiced up a bit . NO special sauce

but again we agree that natural is best . hey next time we hook up

for some perch i"ll bring the little BBQ droooool

jack your a hoot bud , like us YOU have a weird sense of humor

chicka ... chicka... boom boom

joe and pauline

[smerchly]

heres one from us .... you can only do this IF you have a good day and managed

a male and a female . rinse eggs of blood etc. in the water from which it was caught

then milt the eggs with the male . rinse again in the same stream lake water

when home spread the eggs out on paper towels to dry 30 min to 1 hour

pack into small jars , we use baby food jars just enough for a days fishing

we have had these eggs last for a long time . years

just freeze and use as you need

naturally hardend water spermed eggs ala joe and pauline

Hey Joe......deja vu ! .... I got me some salmon roe today & just finished doing the curing thing on some of it and nothing to the other 25% except the natural water wash for an hour and baggied it up in the cold fridge outside ...... didn't have a male to spermatize it but maybe you can........ Now I need to make up some bags & try my luck soon !

Holy Moly .....this is last yrs. roe recipes ....didn't want to bring up the whole thing !!!! Just the one post ! So don't be confused ........

But ......on the other hand.......I see that on average , for every post , the views run 50 to 1 reply , so we have a lot of readers ........

[chromermo]

Guys curing roe is plain and simple. Don't need any chemicals. Just rinse them in river, get rid of the blood. Fill up the bag with river water and place it in the fridge for a couple of days until harden enough. The eggs will bounce like a beach ball LOL. Let them air dry and pack them in small ziplock bags. That's all. The roe will last a good couple years frozen if properly sealed.

My tw cents

MO

[smerchly]

Your method is the one I would prefer to try Chromermo......looks like you like to fish steelies & would have plenty of experience using roe . I have both the borax/salt/sugar roe and some natural roe that sat in lake water for over an hour & I'll try them both out . When salmon & trout drop their eggs , it is exposed to the stream water and hardens naturally , & the other fish feed from it in that state . The other part is to store the eggs properly in the fridge or freezer .