The New Awesome Egg Cure That You’ve Never Tried

I’ve been curing eggs for roughly 30 years and I’ve changed the way I cure eggs an endless amount of times. Up until a few years ago I always used powder cures. Meanwhile, after playing with wet brines, like Fire Brine, my egg curing process has changed dramatically. This season, nevertheless, it changed a ton, but I’ve found a recipe I plan to stick with.

The process I use it much different than most. However, it’s yielding a perfect egg that’s catching fish daily, even when conditions aren’t favorable. Rather than using one product I’m mixing several products I like and creating a cure I’m confident in. I’m now getting a consistent egg every time.

bogueeggcurefinal

While some may think I’m crazy I’m using a blender to mix my wet cure. The blender is a vehicle to mix my scent, dye and cure and ensures that all contents blend together to create consistency.

Keep in mind, I’m only using one cure in the first part of this process and that’s the Fire Brine. The rest of these products I’m using are designed for color or scent. I want a fairly firm egg that will stay on the hook and not fade. That’s part of the reason why I add the dye. The Fire Dye helps the egg keep its color longer. The Liquid Krill provides a scent and I’ve always used the Nectar because it super charges the eggs with more egg scent.

This process is actually simpler than when I used powder cure exclusively. It’s easier to get the same amount of egg cure in your eggs every time when you are using wet brine. A powder cure is more challenging to get the same amount on your eggs every time.

Let’s dig into how I now cure my eggs. You’ll need the following contents:

Container (size depends on the number of skeins you are curing)

Ziploc Bags

Fire Brine (Red)

Nectar (Red)

Liquid Krill

Fire Dye (Red)

BorX O Fire (Natural & Red)

 

The Blended/Powder Cure

Step 1:

Take Fire Dye (1/3 bottle), Liquid Krill (three squirts), Red Nectar (quarter bottle) and Fire Brine (full bottle) and pour it into a blender. Turn the blender on for 30 seconds and mix contents. The above formula is based on curing 10 skeins. If you are doing fewer you can scale back the amount of each of these liquids.

bogueeggcure1

bogueeggcure2

bogueeggcure3

Step 2:

Butterfly open eggs, place them in the container and pour the now mixed liquid fish catch formula out of the blender and into container. Make sure to submerge your eggs in the liquid. As long as the eggs are covered in the slurry of juice you can be assured you have the correct amount.

bogueeggcure4

bogueeggcure5

Step 3:

Set in fridge overnight.

bogueeggcure6

Step 4:

In the morning I take these eggs out and lay them on a screen. This allows them to air dry. I’ll let them dry for half a day.

bogueeggcure7

Step 5:

Grab a bottle of Natural and Red BorX O Fire. Pour both into a Ziploc and mix them. I’m fishing on the Sacramento River in California. If you are fishing somewhere else and red, pink or orange work better, go ahead and use that color. This formula works best for me, however.

bogueeggcure9

Step 6:

Take the mixed BorX O Fire and dust the skeins liberally. I do this while they are resting on the screen still. However, you can do this while they are in a container as well. That’s personal preference. The Borx O Fire is used to firm up the eggs and I like the krill that’s in the BorX O Fire. Most salmon are big krill eaters.

bogueeggcure8

Step 7:

Wrap the skeins individually in paper towels and place them in the fridge. This is to capture any other moisture from the eggs. They are ready to fish.

bogueeggcure10

Editor’s Note: Veteran guide Mike Bogue operates Mike Bogue Guide Service in Northern California for several decades. For more information on his guided Sacramento River salmon trips please visit http://www.mikebogue.com. You can also download his new App at the App Store. Search for Mike Bogue.