Curing Steelhead Eggs
Egg preparation:
Step one - bleed your fish.
Bleeding helps prevent blood from being left within the egg skeins.
The roe should be fresh. (Ideally cured within 24 hours.)
If there is any delay the eggs should be placed on ice and refrigerated as
soon as possible.
Never freeze uncured eggs as this breaks down the membranes and tissues making them useless.
Have a clean surface to prepare your eggs on. I use a cutting board that sees nothing but my eggs and use clean paper towels under them. I want no outside contamination either bacterial or chemical affecting the quality of my bait.
Surgical gloves are also a good idea to prevent contamination. Sometimes you may find some free blood on the eggs. This should be rinsed off just prior to curing after rinsing drain well and blot any excess water away.
After the clean up process has been completed butterfly the skeins prior to brining.
As you can see the egg skeins to the right are almost entirely free of blood.
Discard any eggs that have clotted blood inside the skeins.
Even well bled fish can have some blood left in the major blood vessels which should be removed.
This can be accomplished by laying the skeins out on paper towels then use a pair of small scissors to make cuts in the visible veins every three to four inches. Use a small spoon to gently work the blood to the cuts and blot it away.
Basic brine:
1 cup sugar
1 cup non iodized salt
2 cups borax
8 cups filtered or distilled water
This basic recipe may be reduced to make smaller amounts of brine. Add the water and dry ingredients together in a stainless steel pan. Bring to a boil making sure to stir several times during the heating process. After the chemicals are dissolved add one of the commercial bait dyes or cures such as PRO-Cure. I prefer a red or orange color for steelhead.
Add approximately 3 table spoons for 8 cups of brine, mix thoroughly. (Use care with this dye as it is extremely staining on anything you cannot bleach.)
Allow the brine to cool to luke warm temperatures before adding your prepared eggs.
Use enough brine to cover the eggs.
Brining will take between 7 to 15 minutes, stir gently several times with gloved hands. Egg skeins will become noticeably tougher as the eggs cure. Do not leave them in the brine too long or the eggs will lose to much internal moisture and become hard.
Drain and place on several layers of paper towels to dry. I use elevated screens to place my eggs on. A fan will speed up the drying process. (Use plastic coated butcher paper under the screens to help prevent staining of the surrounding surfaces.)
Dry eggs to touch on one side then turn and repeat process. Drying time will be approximately 1 ½ hr on first side and between 1 and 1 ½ hr on second side. (drying time may be varied to egg texture preferences)
After eggs have been dried, place them in an air tight container with a couple of paper towels under them. allow moisture to even out for several days then bag in usable amounts and freeze.
Bait oil or scent may be added to the brine or at the time of usage if desired.
Cured Roe may be vacuum packed and frozen for up to several years. Date the packages.
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