Why are my salt cured egg yolks still wet?

Question

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?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

Everything I have read has the eggs going into cheesecloth and drying an additional few days to a week before being able to grate. Simply place the eggs in the cheesecloth using some string or kitchen twine to separate the eggs and keep the cloth closed, hang and let dry!