ben475 wrote: ↑Sun May 24, 2020 8:56 pm
so this salting trick, is it as simple as just throwing a bit of table salt into a bag of bait cubes? does it take some time to cure?
Yep, as simple as that. Kind of.
Salt is salt but it comes in different coarseness , from very fine "table salt" right through to coarse rock salt. You don't "salt" it like you are seasoning it to eat it. You put heaps and heaps of salt on them (if you look at Kenle's photo), so much so, that you have to shake it off once it has done its toughening thing.
SteveoTheTiger wrote: ↑Sun May 24, 2020 10:34 am
The salt draws out the moisture and makes the meat tougher. Just like curing fish to eat.
I don't use coarse rock salt, mainly because it doesn't coat the flesh very comprehensively. It causes small divots in the flesh from drawing out the moisture at the point of contact. A less coarse salt, coats the flesh evenly and draws out the moisture evenly. Table salt is good (and fine). A slightly coarser than table salt is Cooking Salt, and that's what I use and the choice (when you buy it in a bulk bag) to salt a block of Pillies.
You are going to have to set it up (if you have heaps to do) that the moisture that is drawn out of the chunks, can be drained off. In a rag "bag" on a plastic grate works well, or use plenty and plenty of salt, which would absorb/hold the moisture just due to sheer volume of salt.
Chunks can be salted as they are. I salt a Tuna steak whole, it still toughens up BUT keeping it as a steak, you can cut off strips/cubes as you desire. Cutting fresh Tuna steaks into cubes/strips can be difficult as the "flacky" flesh falls apart but not when it has been toughened up with salting.
What ever salted bait you don't use, and you want to keep for another time, you can put it in the freezer BUT with the salt shaken off but not totally cleaned off (otherwise it'll turn to jerky tuff if you keep it in a lot of salt for a longer time).
It doesn't take long to toughen up, depending on the size AND also on how tough you want the bait (it does darken the tougher/longer you salt).
From half a day to a day (to eliminate mushiness) to a couple of days (2-3 for bigger whole pieces) is normally enough.
Thanks to Kenle letting us know about Mackerel, I'm going to Salt Slimy Mackerel whole, to then use as whole, or cutlets, or fillet and/or cube. That (for the consistency that I'm after) I think would take about 3-5 days
Cheers, Bugs