Old roe

[dsukh]

Hey, I have a question regarding some old skein.

I have a friend who went salmon fishing for the first time back in early September. He took home a hen since it was his first and was really excited to cure the roe and fish the runs.

Long story short, he's never been out since. I asked him if he even cured the roe and he said no. If the skeins were frozen since that day do you think it'll still be good to use? If it is I might take it out of his freezer and cure it to use. Don't want to waste it.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[FISHIN'king]

some of it will be fine.. though some will have gone bad

 

[rocheleauc]

It's fine. I've used stuff I froze last year and it's still good. The stinkier the better. Save it for when the water is dirty.

 

[salmotrutta]

If it's been frozen the whole time, it won't have gone bad. It'll be messy but you won't even have to cure it. You can put it right on your hook due to the membrane, or tie it up into roe bags. But only thaw what you plan to use that day.

 

[dsukh]

It's fine. I've used stuff I froze last year and it's still good. The stinkier the better. Save it for when the water is dirty.

Thanks CJR for your input! Are yours uncured too?

 

[rocheleauc]

Thanks CJR for your input! Are yours uncured too?

I only use hatchery roe now for the most part so yes it's cured.

I have skeins from last year that I still use from time to time that are uncured.

 

[dsukh]

If it's been frozen the whole time, it won't have gone bad. It'll be messy but you won't even have to cure it. You can put it right on your hook due to the membrane, or tie it up into roe bags. But only thaw what you plan to use that day.

Problem is he frozed the entire skein without cutting it up or curing it, so it'll be hard to just thaw the amount I need. If you guys think it'll still good to be used (been frozen since day 1), I'll take it out of his freezer tonight, cure it, and tie them up for my next outing..

 

[salmotrutta]

Problem is he frozed the entire skein without cutting it up or curing it, so it'll be hard to just thaw the amount I need. If you guys think it'll still good to be used (been frozen since day 1), I'll take it out of his freezer tonight, cure it, and tie them up for my next outing..

I've never cured skein with the membrane, only skein eggs that I picked off the membrane. So I can't give you much guidance here, but I'm sure a cure will give it more life, whether you use a commercial cure or smother it in salt.

I have eggs in my fridge that I've added nothing but salt to, and they've been good for a very long time now. Been doing some experimenting with different cures, observing outcomes and how long they last.

 

[dsukh]

Thanks for the insight guys.

I guess I'll take it the skeins off him and defrost them. If they smell off I'll toss them. If not, I'll try to cure them and see how they play

 

[Klamp]

Thaw in the fridge, don't power thaw it on the counter. You can use a small amount of nitrite if you can find it to help distribute the liquid a bit so it doesn't get mushy. I get frozen stuff fairly often and use the nitrite to 'fix them' and don't bother with commercial cures on old skeins/eggs.

 

[dsukh]

Thaw in the fridge, don't power thaw it on the counter. You can use a small amount of nitrite if you can find it to help distribute the liquid a bit so it doesn't get mushy. I get frozen stuff fairly often and use the nitrite to 'fix them' and don't bother with commercial cures on old skeins/eggs.

Nitrite? Where would I get this? lol.

 

[dsukh]

Guys,

I want to rinse the roe, but don't have any distilled water with me. Is it okay to use bottled water? or filtered water off your tap?

 

[salmotrutta]

Guys,

I want to rinse the roe, but don't have any distilled water with me. Is it okay to use bottled water? or filtered water off your tap?

Bottled is fine, even tap if you have nothing else is fine.

 

[Klamp]

Nitrite? Where would I get this? lol.

It's kind of an obscure thing, but when you do find it you'll notice it all over the place. Just google 'pink salt' for your location and see what comes up. It's used for curing meat, i buy it buy the pale and decided to try it on some roe last year. I was happy with the results.

 

[Knuguy]

Thanks for the insight guys.

I guess I'll take it the skeins off him and defrost them. If they smell off I'll toss them. If not, I'll try to cure them and see how they play

I think you'd better give it all to me, just in case it's gone bad! :-D

 

[dsukh]

Thanks all for the help! The fact that some members are asking for the roe makes me believe that this will be a success! haha.

Let you guys know how it goes in a few days.

 

[chrome247]

I've never cured skein with the membrane, only skein eggs that I picked off the membrane.

forget about picking the eggs off..... if you want to scrape an entire skein in five minutes gently roll it over a tennis or badminton racquet, then use your choice of cure. Works amazing, uncured chinny skein is way too much of a mess for me.

 

[chrome247]

heres what it looks like after being air dried with borax.... bone dry when tying and outfishes loose eggs all day every day, especially in slower, colder water.

 

[dsukh]

forget about picking the eggs off..... if you want to scrape an entire skein in five minutes gently roll it over a tennis or badminton racquet, then use your choice of cure. Works amazing, uncured chinny skein is way too much of a mess for me.

Sure wish I read that earlier.....
Never picked egg off skein before... so an hour later...



Put them in salt and sugar mixture, now I have this in the fridge.



Never tried this cure, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Plus it's the only thing I had at home and didn't feel like just air drying the roe since the skeins been frozen for so long already + i didn't have distilled water to properly rinse the roe so I used bottled water.

We'll see how it turns out..

heres what it looks like after being air dried with borax.... bone dry when tying and outfishes loose eggs all day every day, especially in slower, colder water.

That looks great. I'll try that next time when I get some borax. I only processed half the skein tonight since I wasn't sure how it would turn out after thawing. I'm lucky that my friend separate the skein in two bags when he dropped it in the freezer!

 

[Brian]

The nice thing about curing with borax is that your eggs last soo much longer...