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I've been trying to cure egg yolks in salt. They've been in it for 2 weeks now, but they are still too wet. At this stage they look more like a very thick paste than something I could actually grate on top of pasta. They are clearly not losing enough moisture. It's the first time I attempt this, and, hence, I used 1kg of this salt for only 5 yolks.

The salt is already hardening, and I still have 2 yolks in there. I don't think leaving it for longer will change the outcome. I had to throw 2 away after 1 week because I uncovered them and found them to be too wet. Then, I had to throw away another one on the following week because it was also still too wet.

What am I doing wrong?

rumtscho
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Gabriel C
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1 Answers1

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You’re worrying too much about whether they look wet. And you probably shouldn’t have thrown away the other ones.

Egg yolks are never going to completely dry out in salt. They will reach an osmotic balance with the saturated salt solution and that’s it. If you want to dry them further you’ll need to do it in a dehydrator or low oven.

Incidentally, even after that they’ll look “wet”, because they contain oil.

Sneftel
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  • Right, but shouldn't I get a consistency that is hard enough to grate just with salt? Something similar to candied fruit? The consistency I got just sticks to the grater. – Gabriel C Jul 31 '22 at 09:43
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    No, not in my experience. Further drying is needed after salting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a recipe that calls for them to be grated straight out of the salt. – Sneftel Jul 31 '22 at 10:20
  • Well I've just learned about salt cured egg yolks. Not gonna pretend I know anything about them, but looking at [google images](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=salt%20cured%20egg%20yolks) they do tend to illustrate something that's hard enough to grate or even slice thinly. Maybe they are somehow cooked beforehand? I don't know – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Aug 01 '22 at 13:47
  • @DuarteFarrajotaRamos no need for you to guess. There’s plenty of recipes out there. – Sneftel Aug 01 '22 at 16:11