Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: mdc8427 on August 19, 2013, 09:54:47 AM
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My Old lady just got into canning ( beans, jams ect ..) And i thought to myself is there a way to seal roe into a mason jar just like you would do food. i would think the heat from the processing ( heating of the jar and so on) would destory the eggs.. Thoughts????????? 8)
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As far as the curing process is concerned.....air doesn't effect the roe after it has been cured as no bacteria can grow (if it has been cured properly). So i don't think that storing in a vacuum sealed mason jar would help make it last longer, and i agree i think the heating would weaken the integrity of the roe.
My thoughts, best way would be to vacuum seal the roe with a little borax and then freezer. Also makes it easy to only take out small portions at at time.....unless you used the teeny tiny mason jars.
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i think roe in mason small mason jars is a great idea. i was planning on doing that with the next fish i catch. i wouldnt worry about the whole heating up part but just roe with borax then seal it so no air gets in. i bet it would stay good for a a lot longer
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Ya in theory its a good idea, get small jars for some single eggs and so on, but ya i think ill try the vacume seal route and try the jar thing wont be for a bit but ill post my findings.
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I put all my cured roe I jars. Cover the top of them with a generous amount of borax, put the lids of the jar in hot water. Have the lid rings ready to go. Twist a small piece of wax paper into a candle shape and stick it in the borax. Make sure there is a gap between the borax and the top of the jar (you need some air space. Too much or too little and it doesn't work). Take the lid out of the hot water and dry it off. Before it cools light the wax paper candle. While it is lit, quickly put the lid on and secure it with the lid ring. The candle will extinguish but will have heated up the air trapped in the jar (the borax provides a buffer so the roe doesn't get ruined). The air cools and creates a vacuum and seals the jar.
I have had roes in the freezer for over two years and it came out fine when I used this process.
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Light match throw in jar. Screw lid on fast and it will burn out sealing the jar.
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Light match throw in jar. Screw lid on fast and it will burn out sealing the jar.
Too simple, let them do it the hard way lol.
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Just a quick tip in case anyone is vacuum sealing their roe for the first time. It works much better if you freeze your cured roe first, and then vacuum seal it. Otherwise, some of the eggs will get crushed as the machine is pulling the air out of the bag.
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My Grandfather showed me the jar method with a small piece of paper and fire method.
Just light paper and screw on lid. The flame removes the oxygen and then put in the fridge.
Grandpa been using that method for 50yrs. He always had great roe.
Simple and easy.
Rando
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No I wouldn't store roe in glass jars.
Jars are not as flexible to arrange.
Plus glass is breakable.
I use plastic bags and clear foil and my roe keeps well for 2 years.
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No I wouldn't store roe in glass jars.
Jars are not as flexible to arrange.
Plus glass is breakable.
I use plastic bags and clear foil and my roe keeps well for 2 years.
Flexible to arrange? You sound like my wife! Besides, that's what the fridge/freezer in the garage is for.
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Flexible to arrange? You sound like my wife! Besides, that's what the fridge/freezer in the garage is for.
Fridge freezer? Such a limited amount of storage lol I have my own deep freeze for bait.
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Fridge freezer? Such a limited amount of storage lol I have my own deep freeze for bait.
I am aware it is still the little leagues-Problem I have is the garage has to many toys and no room for both a beer fridge and a deep freeze. Had to compromise for a two in one. ;)
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Yea. That's the way I preserve row. Put cured roe in jar. Place a piece of paper on top of roe. Light the paper, and screw the lid as paper is burning. The flame of course will go out When all the oxygen is burnt off. Then I place in the refrigerator. I never freeze roe, it destroys the eggs.
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Yea. That's the way I preserve row. Put cured roe in jar. Place a piece of paper on top of roe. Light the paper, and screw the lid as paper is burning. The flame of course will go out When all the oxygen is burnt off. Then I place in the refrigerator. I never freeze roe, it destroys the eggs.
I have stuff that has been in the freezer for two seasons now and its still the same as the day it was frozen. Do it right and it lasts as long as you need without going to crap.
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Fridge freezer? Such a limited amount of storage lol I have my own deep freeze for bait.
ha,ha yes not everyone is that lucky.
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Roe in the freezer for 2 seasons? Your not fishing enough.
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Roe in the freezer for 2 seasons? Your not fishing enough.
Well that; and I get a lot of roe.
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Roe in the freezer for 2 seasons? Your not fishing enough.
I guide for a few months of the year and fish daily-After that I go back to my real job and only manage to fish my three days off most weeks. I couldn't possibly fish more unless I went on EI!!
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I guide for a few months of the year and fish daily-After that I go back to my real job and only manage to fish my three days off most weeks. I couldn't possibly fish more unless I went on EI!!
Or guide year round ;D
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Well I've never used frozen roe that was as good as unfrozen roe. Freezing roe breaks the eggs. Sure it works, but it doesn't compare to unfrozen roe. Try it , you'll like it.
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Well I've never used frozen roe that was as good as unfrozen roe. Freezing roe breaks the eggs. Sure it works, but it doesn't compare to unfrozen roe. Try it , you'll like it.
Bollocks! Freezing cured roe does not break the eggs. I used to keep my roe in the fridge in borax but I found that the borax kept drying out the roe until it was hard like sour keys and basicially needed to be tossed. Was chatting with a guide at the beginning of this season and his advice was keep it in the FREEZER unless you are going out the next morning, then take it out the night before. At the end of the day put it BACK in the freezer. I did this with all my roe this season and it was always very fresh looking and caught more fish than when I kept it in the fridge.
However I've found with single egg sacks (salt water hardened) the WILL burst in the freezer. I spend hours tying up sacks last steelhead season only to have half of them burst in the freezer >:( I found they keep fine in the fridge even for several months.
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Freezing roe does break the eggs . You may have good roe , but unfrozen roe is far superior, I've used roe for over 50 years. You just have to burn off the oxygen and seal the jar.
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Freezing roe does break the eggs . You may have good roe , but unfrozen roe is far superior, I've used roe for over 50 years. You just have to burn off the oxygen and seal the jar.
Well...I am not going to dispute the fact the fresh/unfrozen roe is desirable over frozen and thawed roe. The same goers for food that I eat such as fresh steak over frozen and thawed steak. And I am always up for trying/learning something new so I will give the method a shot of not freezing it an storing it in a jar in the fridge with the air removed.
However I do not agree with the statement that freezing roe breaks the eggs. I fished some roe the other day that was in the freezer for over a month incased in borax in a tupperware and it was totally fine, the eggs were nice and juicy, and it caught many fish.
I will agree that freezing UNCURED roe not incased in borax will cause the eggs to burst. I can attest to this as last year I spend hours tieing up single egg roe sacka and then freezing them (stupid I didn't know) and 9/10 of them burst and were ruined >:( However for my experience roe that is cured and frozen esp incased in borax wil not burst.
Anyone else have an opinion on this?
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I also fished some roe yesterday morning that had been in the freezer for about a month and a half and had the same results, eggs were fine and caught a few wilds with it. Never had a problem with freezing roe.
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I also fished some roe yesterday morning that had been in the freezer for about a month and a half and had the same results, eggs were fine and caught a few wilds with it. Never had a problem with freezing roe.
X2
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Freezing roe does break the eggs . You may have good roe , but unfrozen roe is far superior, I've used roe for over 50 years. You just have to burn off the oxygen and seal the jar.
:P
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I have stored my roe in freezer bags thus far and havent really had an issue. last batch I did was six skeins of coho (brined) in one freezer bag and almost a full box of borax. or one skein(brined) in a small freezer bag with borax and all bags in a bigger freezer bag for organization. just the way I do it, stayed away from mason jars.
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I have a vacuum sealer with a jar attachment. I think for my next batch I'm not going to store it in borax, I found that it dried it out too much.
I also follow Pautzke's instructions and cure in fridge for 3 days, so that may have something to do with it being over dry. They fish great the first day out of freezer but any longer than that and the eggs get too dry for my liking. I think I prefer goopy eggs.
I thought re-freezing was a no no, maybe spawn is right and unused roe in borax in the fridge was causing it to dry out. I'll try re-freezing unused roe.
The best results I got was when I cut pieces into loonie/twoonie size, shake and bake in borax, put in jars and vacuum sealed without additional borax. I also bought a small chest freezer and it is way colder than my fridge freezer, so anything stored for a long time will go in the chest freezer. But if I knew I was going to use eggs within 2 weeks, i would just leave them in fridge. Did that last year and it worked out great.
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Curing in fire cure I only leave it a day at most, then dry on racks for 10 hours or so and into borax, not too dry at all eggs look good fish even better and keep in the fridge for months.
I've never used jars though, I use big Tupperware containers usually get about 6-8 skeins in each one, whole bottom shelf is full of roe in my fridge.
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All my flies fit in a box in a pocket of my vest, they keep there for years. :-P
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It doesn't matter what container the roe is in ,nobody should be stealing roe and even if it is in jars. :o
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"Stealing roe"
Huh?
Hope that was a typo ???
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This was the thread I was looking for!I'm storing my coho roe in a jar cured and mixed with borax.I've vacuumed sealed a few pink skeins.I'm trying the mason jar trick. I watched a vid on youtube screaming reels dude he doesn't seal jars with the fire inside just screws lid on tight.I was wondering if I should seal the jar with match etc? this is my first time using a jar I like the method.I plan on using this roe in the jar for Steelhead been in the jar 2 weeks still looks good not too dried out.
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i wouldn't worry about the match unless storing it for long periods of time. like years. if your planning to fish it steelhead season i think your ok. i put borax in the bottom of the jar, put the skeins in and then fill it up to the top with borax. pack it down a lightly with my hand and seal it. make sure you use appropriate size jars so you have use a ton of borax.
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Ok thanks the jar I'm using is a good size for the amount of roe and borax is a good level.I know it seals cause I've been checking the roe periodically to make sure its not getting to dry to being first time using the jar method.Its seals great cause the seal pops! thx I'll leave in the fridge the way it is.
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one thing i have to add. this is after i have already cured the roe with borax. i personally don't use any cures.
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If you seal it with a match and paper before you screw the lid on it burns off the oxygen. If there's no oxygen, then the eggs won't deteriorate. If the lid pops , after you screw it down , then it's a sign the jar is sealed, which will keep out any more air.
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I'm using pro cures Redd hot double stuff.