Steelhead egg cure

[Dan Christopher]

Ingredients
1 and 1/4 cups 20 mule team borax
1/4 cup of white table sugar
1 box of Jell-O Cherry, raspberry, strawberry, lime? Your choice.



With your eggs already cut in to bait sized pieces, spread them out on a piece of wax paper. Thoroughly mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl. Generously sprinkle mixture over the eggs. Let the eggs sit at room temperature for about 24 hours, rotating them a couple times throughout that time. After 24 hours you can package them up as is, or rinse them off to remove the hardened crust. If you chose to rinse them, you will need to let them dry again after words until they start to get tacky again. Store them in a vacuum sealed jar or a zip lock bag. If you don't have a vacuum sealer you can put the eggs in a jar, add a match stick end into the eggs, light the match and close the lid. This will remove most of the oxygen from the jar.

This is a soft egg cure. If you want a harder egg without the crust add non iodized salt in place of the sugar. That will harden the egg a bit and let you cast them more. This is a nice egg cure with good color. Nice to have in you Steelhead egg arsenal.

[WhiteBuffalo]

Is this recipe and process better than that which may be purchased in premix? If so I'm game.

GWB

[Dan Christopher]

Most of the premix store bought cures on the market are chemical cures for salmon. Steelhead are not big fans of chemicals or chemical cures. For Steelhead you are better off with a borax based cure.

I will be posting more egg cures in days, weeks and months to come. But for now remember, Salmon chemical cures, Steelhead borax cures without the chemicals.

P.S
For $6.00 LB , Scott Amerman also makes a some real good egg cures for both Salmon and Steelhead in orange and red if you don't want the fuss. It just never hurts to have a couple of different mix's ready if the fish are not biting one. [e-mail]
Make sure you tell him I sent you. ;D

[shakerfish]

So Dan, You don't use any salt in your cure unless you want to make the eggs harder? I thought the salt was for preservation. So they would not rot or get frezzer burned! I guess I learn something new everyday! Thanx! ...shakerfish!.....

[Dan Christopher]

The sugar is a hardener, while salt draws the moister out of the egg and makes the membrane tougher. Yes, salt is a preservative as well, but they last plenty long in the freezer with the sugar and a vacuum packer.
If I am drifting the bottom I like a harder longer lasting egg. Bobber or boondoggling, a softer egg.

[fisherman357]

hi on that cure it prolly wouldn't hurt to throw some sort of steelhead sent in there would it? that way you have a good sent in there, may some mikes, glo sent milkin egg sent?
tite lines
chris

[Dan Christopher]

I dont add any scents to my eggs in the jar. iIdont want them all smelling of the same scent. I will add other scents on the baits as I am fishing them some times, but not to all the baits in the jar.

One exeption to that is I am playing with potskie's egg necture in some cures. No final results yet. Hint hint

[fisherman357]

lol...right.. what about koolaide do you add any of that ever to get a lil darker or lighter color in ur eggs or no?
chris

[Dan Christopher]

Actually , yes. some times.

[fisherman357]

yeah cuz i got that egg cure book by:scot haugan. and it has a grip of good stuff in there and i thought that koolaide was a very good idea.
tite lines
chris

[Humppy King]

Any body have a good cure for single egg's

[fisherman357]

nope but get the egg cure book by scott haugen it has like three or four in it.
tite lines
chris