Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Kever on November 19, 2017, 08:04:05 AM
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Over half my vacuum sealed roe didn't fare well since last fall. Pro cure packed in borax. Thinking about storing in jars this year. Any tips?
Anybody use the store bought roe from Berry's?
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Lots of old threads on this site. Do a search for "roe" or something similar and there will be info to read until your eyes fall out.
I've tried a few different methods. What works best for me is to store the cured roe in sealed (just screwed tight) mason jars in the deep freezer. The night before fishing I'll take a jar out and put it in the fridge. In the morning I'll dump the jar into a plastic container I use to hold roe while fishing. Any roe left over goes back in the mason jar when I get home. I top up/add borax if there is any exposed roe. IMO any roe that is not covered in borax will get freezer burned. If I'm going out again the next day I'll just leave the container in the fridge. Any more than a day I'll pop it back in the freezer. I've thawed/froze the same roe more than 5 times and the remainder of it was still fine and caught fish no problem.
Borax does protect your roe from freezer burn, and prevents it from sticking together. But it does dry it out. I never keep any more roe in the fall than I feel I can use up before next fall. Any roe that has not been used up from last year by the following year's fall/winter fishery is usually a bit too dried up for my liking, and unfortunately gets tossed.
I tried the vacuum seal method and did not like it as the unused roe from the day needs to be re-sealed. Pain in the buttocks. Plus if the roe is packed in borax I don't think the freezer burn will get to it anyway, so IMO it is unnecessary to further vac seal it. Some guys toss a lit match in the jar with their roe to suck up the remaining air. I don't bother with this as I feel the borax protects it adequately.
Lastly I will add I'm a believer in curing fresh roe ASAP, then freeze it. I've tried to freeze fresh skiens and then later thaw and cure them. I did not like the result. IMO the uncured roe gets damaged if it is frozen and not cured.
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^Pretty much agree with all of the above^
I wholeheartedly award the member with the name "Spawnsack" the label of "Very proficient in egg handling and curing procedures". (And so he should be with that name)
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Excellent info, thanks.
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^Pretty much agree with all of the above^
I wholeheartedly award the member with the name "Spawnsack" the label of "Very proficient in egg handling and curing procedures". (And so he should be with that name)
LOL! Thanks man. I am know as being a leading authority on sacks if you catch my drift. ;)
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freezer burn is the result of evaporation from the frozen organic material. Water evaporates even at below freezing temperatures. If the roe is exposed to air in the bag or jar then burn is likely. Burn happens more quickly at higher temperatures particularly if there has been a thaw in the freezer. So make sure the freezer is as cold as possible. Recommended temperature is -18C. Use containers or bags designed for freezer storage. Back in the day my mother froze fish in a container filled with water so none of the skin or flesh was exposed to air though that likely wouldn't work with roe. Burn is also more likely to occur the longer the item is frozen. Borax cures are usually only good for a few months. In my experience roe cured with with sulphite and or sugar as well as borax is unlikely to experience burn.
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I store my roe in plastic containers. I put a piece of paper towel on top before putting on the lid and freezing.
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I store my roe in plastic containers. I put a piece of paper towel on top before putting on the lid and freezing.
I use paper towel as well . With a fresh batch of skeins I would roll them up in paper towel put them in a freezer bag . I’ve had them that way until the following season and they came out great , no burn , good to go .
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Really I'll have to try this. Makes sense
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berry's roe is absolutely terrible, i wrap my roe tighly in saran wrap then place in a freezer bag with a bit of borax squeeze the air out and freeze for long term storage but otherwise i keep all my roe in freezer bags in the fridge for up to a month or two with no issues.
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I've never had problems with Berry's procured roe.
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Over half my vacuum sealed roe didn't fare well since last fall.
Can you elaborate on what you observed? Vacuum packing should be an excellent way to store roe, so maybe troubleshooting your freezing process might pay off. I have no qualms about using roe I’ve vacuum packed away and frozen in previous years so it makes me think there is room for improvement in your process…
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I find freezing before vacuum sealing is key to not crush the berries.
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...... In my experience roe cured with with sulphite and or sugar as well as borax is unlikely to experience burn.
There you go, RalphH WAS one of us.
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I find freezing before vacuum sealing is key to not crush the berries.
Over the course for a couple of years, I tried freezing before vacuum packing but still wound up slightly gooey when thawed. Certainly would have been a ton gooier had I not frozen first though.
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You may have identified the main issue. I did freeze some roe before vac packing, that must have been the stuff that turned out well.
Other issues might have been too much cure (burning) or letting it thaw on the counter for too long.
Still think I'm going to try the jar method, although chances of harvesting more berries this year look slim.
Can you elaborate on what you observed? Vacuum packing should be an excellent way to store roe, so maybe troubleshooting your freezing process might pay off. I have no qualms about using roe I’ve vacuum packed away and frozen in previous years so it makes me think there is room for improvement in your process…
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Also break the vacuum seal when you take it out to thaw.
I leave sulphite cured roe in the garage thawed for a few days at a time when I’m on my set off. Just don’t leave lots of borax with it or it will suck the life out of it
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Also break the vacuum seal when you take it out to thaw.
I leave sulphite cured roe in the garage thawed for a few days at a time when I’m on my set off. Just don’t leave lots of borax with it or it will suck the life out of it
I've noticed that too. Good point. Borax is great stuff but it may dry your roe out more than you'd like. After mine thaws from the freezer I'll dump most of the borax out into a container. I'm cheap so I'll save it. After I'm done fishing that roe if there is some left over I use that borax to dump back in the container to make sure it's covered/protected in the freezer.
Another tip I've heard: keep your bait and roe especially in the deep freeze, not fridge freezer. I've heard that the auto defrost on the fridge freezer is not the best for bait longevity. They say the deep freeze, as long as it does not have auto defrost, is better as it stays at a consistent temp. Not warming up and cooling down repeatedly like the auto defrost kind. I've never tested this theory, I just keep it in the deep freeze.