So You Want the Inside Scoop on How one of the Best Cures Eggs?

By: Dave Manners

In the last month I’ve made a change to the Kitchen Sink, which is an egg cure many in the Northwest use. I’ve been using that cure for salmon for almost a decade now. I wasn’t going to tell you guys about my new discoveries because I hate giving away my best secrets, but Pautzke told me if me if I didn’t, I wasn’t getting samples this year.

This blog details my kitchen sink cure with a few new tweaks. And you can bet this is the exact recipe. I cure two smaller freezers worth of roe a year, easily a couple hundred pounds of eggs. This recipe works if you follow the steps and don’t leave anything out.

However, before you try this it’s important to decide what type of egg you want for salmon. There are two kinds of eggs. There’s a wet and dry egg. I prefer the wet egg for salmon specifically. This cure doesn’t give you soupy eggs, but they do have a lot of wetness in them and do leach out a big scent trail. This is more effective all the time, but especially in higher, dirty water. The truth is if you don’t have a lot of eggs a dry egg might be better (for you only) because it last longer, but a wet egg is always better. And, if you have lot of eggs it’s the right thing to do.

Let’s get to it, here’s the New Kitchen Sink Egg Cure

1. Skein Preparation

Take the skeins out and let them air dry for a couple of hours. It helps them cure up better. It’s just what we do. It helps absorb the cure and scents more efficiently when you start out dry. This recipe covers a formula for two skeins.

2. Keep Bloodlines Clear

We all know this. It’s imperative we all cut bloodline out of the skein.

Then cut into bait size pieces. Back when the fish were bigger I’d use my larger wads, and we are going back a decade. But with the average size smaller these days I’ve backed down to golf ball size. Some think a golf ball is too big, and sometimes I’ll use smaller, but I’m not afraid to make an impression.

Don’t be afraid to run a big bait because the fish is going to see it. In clear water I’ll run a smaller bait, maybe a bit smaller than a golf ball, but after a storm you better be using a golf ball.

3. The Scent Secret is Coming Out

Take Shrimp Fire Gel and lather the inside of a gallon Ziploc. This adds more scent into the bag and trust me, it works or I wouldn’t be doing it. And yes I’m applying it with a glove.

4. Liquify the Shrimp Fire Gel

After lathering the inside of the bag take a spoonful of Shrimp Fire Gel and heat it up with a torch (or microwave) until it liquifies and pour it on top of the eggs. Then mix them up. When liquified you get shrimp scent through everything. Shrimp has always been to the go-to scent for salmon (why do you think Liquid Krill & Fire Power have been so popular the last decade) and you aren’t going to find a better scent out there than Shrimp Fire Gel. I’ve been a huge fan of this scent since it came out several years ago. I’m a believer and my clients will tell you I use it every day.

I know a lot of you are going to ask why I’m doing this. And more so if it’s important to add scent to your egg cures. You sure don’t have to, but I do. And we catch more fish because of it. Normally when I’m running eggs, I team them with tuna or sand shrimp, but sometimes you can’t get them. When the shrimp pumper isn’t pumping shrimp you have to improvise. Or if you are in an area where you don’t get any sand shrimp you have to find another way to give this appeal to the salmon.

Honestly, we discovered this by accident this year. We were messing around because we were blown out for a while and we couldn’t get shrimp. We used Shrimp Fire Gel instead, because of all the shrimp scents on the market (and you guys know I use them all, even from competitors) Shrimp Fire Gel matches the real shrimp scent closest. If you live somewhere else and herring, sardine, anchovy, anise, krill, etc, is better scent for you simply substitute that flavor of Fire Gel here. Use what you are most confident it.

 

5. Add Skeins to Bag

Place eggs into a gallon Ziploc and it’s time to add your egg cure.

6. Sulfite First

Where you are colors my differ, but I always use Red Fire Cure. I add about half a cup for two skeins.

7. Now It’s Time for Borax

After adding Fire Cure I add Red BorX O Fire – half a cup. By adding these two colors it makes the crazy red egg I’m looking for. It comes out a different color red than if you were just to use BorX O Fire or Fire Cure. I believe it’s the BorX O Fire keeps them firm.  The borax also helps with the milking. The borax produces way more of that white cloud in the water than just the Fire Cure.

8. Bring the Power

Next, I’ll add 1 tablespoon of Fire Power. We all know why I do this. This is pure krill powder. More shrimp scent. We’ve been doing it for a decade and continue to because it works. The more shrimp the better.

9. Pour Some Sugar on Me

Salmon like a sweet egg, just like the steelhead do. I add a cup here. Pautzke used to put more sugar in the cure, but had to back off years ago because of clumping so I add more sugar. Sugar won’t hurt you.

10. Add the Northwest’s Oldest Scent

Pautzke Nectar is where I get my wet egg from. When you mix Red Nectar in with everything it acts as the mixing agent. It mixes your entire concoction. If you live in the Northwest you know how valuable Nectar is. You are putting pure egg juice into your eggs. The eggs absorb it. The salmon want it.

11. More Red, It Pays Off

The last liquid I add into the New Kitchen Sink is a quarter cup of Red Fire Brine. Don’t use a ton of this, at least not with this recipe. Fire Brine is my agent for color and curing. It helps the ingredients pass through the egg. Read this sentence again. It’s important to getting the perfect egg every time.

12. Do The Mixing

Mix all this magic in the Ziploc by moving baits around for 5 minutes. You want every fold of the skein to get some action.

13. The Work is Almost Over

Flatten the eggs out in the bag and remove the air. Reseal and flip the bag every hour for at least three hours. Then flip it two or three times a day for two days. They are now ready to fish.

Editor’s Note: Big Dave Manners is a legend in the PNW and Alaska. The owner of Big Dave’s Fishing Adventures, Manners has appeared on most TV and radio shows that focus on salmon and steelhead. He resides in Tillamook, Oregon. To learn more please visit https://bigdavesfishing.com.