I recently cured some fresh steely eggs in Borax and some of them turned out as hard as bb's. I dried them until they were tacky and then coated and layered them with Borax in a mason jar. They sat in the fridge for 3 to 4 days where I checked them before they were to go in the freezer. The dime to quarter size clusters were pretty solid. Since freezer burn isn't a factor here I am stumped as to why they cured so hard.
Anybody have any suggestions? HEEEEELP!
Thanks in advance.

Was the mason jar open or closed. I let my eggs sit in zip loc bags for months in the fridge sometimes and they are fine as long as the bag is sealed. Straight borax is all I ever use on my eggs.(air and paper towel dried)

[This message has been edited by smilesforu (edited 01-08-2000).]

Jack, did you already "cure" your eggs with a commercial or homemade recipe before boraxing them? Because if you did, and then "dried them until...tacky;" then boraxing them after could've been overkill.

I finish with borax often. But I do this only when I can't properly monitor the batch while they dry.

I agree with Hohawaiian. Borax can be too much after a Pro-Cure or similar treatment.
With that said, borax is typically very dry. I will sometimes use a spray bottle of water to "mist" the borax to dampen it before it goes onto the eggs. Simply spread out your borax to be <1/2 thick and mist it. If ya mist it too much (You'll know) then just wait a few minutes for it to dry until ya get the right texture.
X

Me again guys. I just used straight Borax to cure the eggs. The mason jars were closed.
I usually cure my eggs in pro cure and then vacuum seal them in mason jars and freeze them. I have never had a problem with freezer burn because of the vacuum seal.
Borax is usually fool proof and that is why I am stumped. Just wanted to cure them in Borax this time to keep the natural color.
??????

Jack, must've been some of the good stuff then.

I've found that borax overdrying is generally caused by borax that is extra fine(when it's more powdery more borax comes in contact with the eggs and causes more drying) or the fact that you're cutting the eggs into too small of pieces (the smaller the bait pieces the more borax will penetrate the eggs). I have the best results when I leave the eggs in larger chunks (3x2 inches) that I can cut down later to match the conditions. I also use a minimum of borax to surround the egg pieces.

I've had the same problem when using a commercial grade borax. Switching to a borax grade made specifically for curing bait solved the problem. I think the grade or moisture content of the borax is the key, and this can be inconsistent when shops buy it bulk and fill there own plastic bags for sale. Pro-cure puts out a borax thats great. It costs a little more, but you know what you're getting and you know it won't burn your eggs.

Jack, I always cure my eggs whole in the skein and then cut them into the right size when I'm ready to fish with them. This probably gives me a little more flexability on the amount of time it takes to dry them to "tackyness" and the chance that they will get too dry is minimized. I usually salt my eggs to get them to dry and cure as well, are you using salt at all or just straight borax?

Duke

Since your eggs are hard you can't really fish them in that condition. Break them up into bait size pieces and wrap them in bait netting. This will allow you to keep them on the hook. If you add some of the small styrofoam balls your eggs will float.

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Marty
www.steelheader.net
marty@steelheader.net

jack
i have been using borax for over 20 years and have had very few problems. the few times i have had my eggs turn into bb's is when i did not allow them to cure. the eggs actually cure while they are in the refrigerator. it sounds like you left em in the frig long enough. if the eggs are not allowed to cure long enough the outer part of the egg cracks during freezing and drys out in the center causing them to turn into bb's. i cut my eggs into bait size pieces and allow them to dry until tacky. i then put them in a bowl of fresh clean borax and coat them completely. next i fill the bottom of my container with a 1/2 inch layer of borax and place the eggs on the layer. i put another layer of borax and another layer of eggs, and so on and so on. at the top i completeley fill the container to the top with borax. allways use fresh borax to coat and to pack with. if you use the borax you coated the eggs with, to pack the eggs, your gonna have problems. cure the eggs in the frig for at least 2-3 days, and then freeze. anyways i hope this helps.

My curing process is virtually identical to Tyee's, and I've had miminal problems - my roe almost always turns out ideally. One thing I've seen some guys do is, instead of using a mixing bowl to coat with borax, they use a small ziplock bag and do a shake-n-bake with 3-4 pieces at a time. I think I use the bowl technique simply out of habit.

Hello:I had some eggs that I screwed up with borax a friend of told me about a brine solution that pro-cure has.The recipe is on the back of the bottle.Make the brine by the recipe and put your eggs in for 45 min. this also worked on my old eggs from the year before.They did turn out nice and I did catch fish with them.Give this a try it really worked.Just allow your eggs to air dry on a screen or something where the air can get around them untill they get to be like you want them.Then go fishing.They'll last a long time after by just keeping them in the fridge.

[This message has been edited by dawhunt (edited 01-19-2000).]