I want to try a differant egg cure than Procure or Shure Strike. Tired of the mess. Tried Borax, but my eggs keep getting sucked dry. I got some ideas off back threads and was wandering, #1 How do you like Bob's cure in the Tackle Tips section? #2 Can I put eggs in borax after they are cured and cubed to eliminate the mess?

I use 3 or 4 different cures for steelhead, and I always cut them into quarter sized pieces and roll them in borax (either natural or orange) the night before I fish. This eliminates alot of the mess and the eggs seem to be more effective for me. I don't worry about it for chinook because they seem to like all of the juice and scent, but steelhead are more sight oriented.

HT

I have tried Bob's egg cure and I have not even packed the eggs in borax. I pack them in the Glad plastic freezer boxes that you find in the plastic section in the grocery stores. I pack them in fairly tight and freeze them up. No problems yet, not so sure how they hold up over any length of time though.

The main thing that I have noticed about Bob's cure is drying time. He suggest's that you set the eggs to dry on newspaper. I have modified that by using a large shallow styrene or rubbermaid container and stretch a large piece of cheese cloth over the top. You can easily hold the cheese cloth in place with one or two bungee cords depending on the size of the container.

Drain the skiens in a collander or sieve to remove most of the juices after curing.

After curing the eggs place the skiens membrane side up on the cheese cloth, cover with a paper towel and let dry until they get to the proper feel. I do all this out in an unheated garage and it takes about 12 to 14 hours drying time. You will know what this feel is when you try to break them up into baits. You should be able to do this without breaking individule eggs open. If you notice some dampness between the folds let them dry some more. You can pack them in fine ground borax if you want, however I don't.

One other thing I might add, I was having a hard time getting all the ingredients to dissovle completely so I increased the water measurements from 4 cups to five cups. If you want to add any scent to the cooled mixture do it just before you add the eggs.

This may sound like a lot of work, it really only takes about 45 minutes. Just boil, cool the mixture and cure the eggs. The rest is just drying time.

My experience is that eggs cured with Bob's recipe are less messy than most other methods that I've tried. I also prefer cheesecloth over newspaper for drying. If you're really trying to get away from the mess you might try Powerbait egg clusters.

Ron

You can roll them in borax if you wish, just remember that borax is a drying agent and if you pack them in too much when the eggs are already quite dry and store them for a long time, they will turn out hard as BB's.

Something else egg curers should keep in mind ... the granule sizes you get from bulk borax seem to be smaller than what you get in the 20 mule team box and (I'm guessing here ... could be formulation too) seem to dry eggs more. Stick with one type if you want consistent results!

I tried Bob's recipe recently, and was a little surprised at the results. I'd cut my eggs into small clusters, but upon putting them into the cooled brine, found that they got hard very quickly. Your instructions mentioned that single eggs should sit no more than 10 minutes, but these small clusters were already shriveled and tough in about 7 minutes.

I thought they were ruined, but decided to still finish the process. As they dried to tackiness, they seemed to get slightly bigger and soften up. Anyone else experience this? I followed the recipe exactly, except that I didn't use any dye.

Thoughts?

I use an easier modification of Bobs cure. I do the 1:1:1 qt. o water/cup o suger/cup o borax, but I don't bother with the boiling or cooling. I use cold water and you have to stir until all salt and sugar are dissolved; the borax won't dissolve completely. I split my skeins down the middle, briefly rinse, and put in brine for half hr. During the soak, I frequently stir the water to keep the borax mixed in the solution, otherwise it sinks to the bottom. After soaking, I rinse and pat dry on paper towels for a few minutes, I then put in shallow tupperware pan, cover airtight (or close), and put in the fridge overnight. Make sure you cover or the fridge will dry the daylights out of them. In the morning there ready to use or borax. I don't cut into bait sized chunks. I borax whole, half, or quartered skeins, depending upon the size.

I don't use dye, except for white King eggs, which are very very pale. Steelhead eggs come out a translucent orange that milk good and look great. Personally I like the orange, but if you like red, go for the dye. Most importantly, they catch fish without a lot of hassle!

PS SeaDeep, the eggs get smaller and "puckered" looking because of the salty brine. After removed and rinsed, they reabsorb moisture in the surrounding air. Thats what gives them that translucent look. If you didn't like how yours came out, try brining whole skeins; don't cut them up.

[ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: obsessed ]