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[BigFisher]

I recently cured some roe and placed it in the freezer in a small plastic container. Its been 3 days now and the cured roe has not frozen, is this normal, does cured roe not freeze? 

[Fish Assassin]

Cured roe most certainly freeze. You sure you put it in the freezer and not the fridge ?

[BIG T]

Mine is all frozen

[Fish Assassin]

I hope you didn't cure it with anti freeze

[BigFisher]

Freezer for 3 days. I took the container out and touched the surface of the roe and it was still soft, not rock hard?

[Fish Assassin]

What did you cure it with ?

[BigFisher]

Brown suga, salt, H2O, Pro cure, borax.

[Fish Assassin]

Should freeze. The only thing I could think of is perhaps your freezer.

[TrophyHunter]

that is normal, mine does the same thing.. it makes sense you just cured it in salt right??  what do you use to melt snow ?
it will never freeze rock hard and will always stay a little soft ..

[bentrod]

You're probably allright.  I would however put it in as small of a container as possible and air tight.  Then take a small piece of waxed paper, place it on top and light it then screw down the lid.  This will burn out the rest of the oxygen and your roe will last longer frozen. 

[BigFisher]

Another question, My roe seems to have been cured. cured it for 10 hours, and it doesnt look like its texture, feel, and taste has changed in any way (before cure). Iv been using the roe in roe sacks and after a few cast the roe gets washed down and eggs lose there colour fast and pop easy. Well I gave this whole curing process a go, and I feel I have done something wrong, Im pretty sure I know what it is. But what id like to know is, how well does properly cured roe stay on the hook, average amount of casts. Does the roe hold its shape and look consistantly? If you guys could gave me a rough idea of the process you use to cure roe that be good, when i did a batch of cured roe the whole cure mixture just seemed to settle on the bottom of the bucket and not diffuse evenly into the water. Just need some info, and once I get another fish her eggs will be the treat for another.

Time to go Fishing...

[Gooey]

Did you start with FRESH roe?  Roe that was frozen before curing usually oozes alot and the egg membranes are weak.  I don't know if you were following a recipe but I usually cure me eggs overnight in the firdge...there are 2 main processes in curing eggs: the juicing and then the reabsorbtion.  I read an article years ago that stated it takes 48 hours to cure the eggs right.  That may be for that specific dye as I find overnight in the fridge is plenty for Procure. 

Another important step after the juicing and reabsorbtion is straining and letting the eggs air dry a little.  Once they are tacky, and they have toughened up a bit, thats when I roll them in borax.

You said not much staining or coloring occure?  Did you cut the roe up into small chunks so the dye could sink in?  If you cured the skien whole, I could see the eggs not getting any color, being damaged by freezing (becaus ethey didnt cure), and this would also contribute to roe that wount stay on the hook long.

PS - Only water hardened eggs are hard to pop, skeined roe will has fragile eggs.  Those store bought roe sacks that are impossible to pop, those eggs where hardened in fresh water.  A chemical reaction changes the shell of each egg making them incredibly strong.  Please note that while I haven't tried it myself, I have been told that only single eggs are mature enuff and thus can be water hardened.