How to Cure Salmon Roe and Never Get Freezer or Borax Burn

After many, many years of practice, trial, and error I have finally developed a bullet proof process for creating A-grade roe that avoids freezer burn and borax burn.

ROE curing process:
Procure of choice, let it soak/marinate for 24 hours in a Ziploc in the fridge, take out of bag and plop onto paper towel (minimal patting), then get a big bag of fresh borax and thoroughly shake each skein individually in the bag, this takes off all the excess moisture and outcomes a nice shake n’ baked skein with moist pink borax attached to it. I then place as many of these skeins as possible into a plastic jar trying to minimize air space (don’t use glass, I’ve had everyone break that I brought fishing with me). Sometimes, I sprinkle just a little extra dusting of borax in the jar or on each of the skein, just for good measure, but I think I only do this when I think the roe was a little wetter than I would have liked. You want moist, but neither wet nor dry roe.

When fishing, I take the whole jar with me, but then bring a separate zip lock with some borax (not much though) in it for the day of fishing. To my pleasant surprise, the roe can sit in the jar all day unused without any additional borax and still does not get gooey. I know this because sometimes I bring multiple jars and don’t end up using one. The vigorous shakes pre-freeze do very well to stop this process from occurring.

This article would not have been made possible without the years of mentorship I’ve recieved from the Roe Kid. While this recipe deviates from his, I / this recipe would not be of the caliber without him.

-Blade Kid