Beluga Caviar Production
Now a days Commercial growing and harvesting of caviar have become popular due to overfishing in the wild. Around the world, sturgeon is raised to produce caviar using aquaculture.
Exploiting sturgeon for caviar production is costly, because it takes many years for female sturgeons to reproduce. Included in the cost is also the selection process of selecting females for caviar production. The gender can be decided after 3 years of farming. During this period both male and female sturgeons are reared and after selection, males are harvested.
Small biopsies are also taken to visually observe the beluga egg quality, including color and size. The color of the eggs in each fish varies, and there is no way to predict it. When ready for harvesting, the beluga sturgeon will contain tens of thousands of eggs. At seven years of age, only about 10% to 20% of fish are typically ready for harvesting. Fish that are not yet ready are added back into the tank for another year of growth.
During the next processing step, the fish are purged in clean water tanks. This step is important to remove off-flavors. It is also important that the fish are not stressed at this or any stage of their growth. If the fish are stressed, they will reabsorb their eggs and need to go back into the growth chambers for another year or two to produce them again.
It is at this stage that the processing methods overlap for commercial fresh and farmed caviar. The fish are rapidly stunned, and the two ovaries are removed by a process called “stripping” that extracts the caviar through an incision in the fish wall.
The very fragile eggs are then chilled and gently removed by hand from the membrane by rubbing the eggs against a mesh screen. The tissue is then removed for composting. The eggs are next rinsed repeatedly with cold water to wash away impurities, broken eggs, and membrane residues. Additional removal of crushed eggs and impurities is achieved by manual removal, using tweezers. The pure eggs are then poured into a fine mesh colander to remove the water.
The beluga caviar is then weighed carefully and salted. Very fine salt is used in the process, and its addition is critical for optimal flavor and shelf life of the caviar. Lightly salted caviar is called “Malossol” and has a salt content of less than 5%. Most high-quality caviar contains less than 3% salt. Caviar with a salt content up to 8% is called salted caviar or semi-preserved caviar, and its flavor is less fresh.
The caviar is then chilled to allow it to absorb the salt for six minutes to several hours, after which it is drained again using a colander to remove water. After draining, it is dried further by carefully blotting it using a towel.
Now the caviar is ready for packing. Lacquer-lined tins are commonly used and are hand-filled and pressed gently to remove air. Air causes oxidation and spoilage during storage. The tins are then sealed tightly
Caviar is perishable and requires refrigerated storage.
Beluga Caviar Wholesale
True Beluga Caviar (Huso Huso) sustainably produced by Sturgeon Aquafarms in Iran. SAAEE COLLECTION is one of the great aquafarms in Iran which has met all the conditions and get Iran Fish and Veterinary Service approval. Saaee Sturgeon Aquafarms as pioneer beluga caviar wholesale supplier is founded in 2006 with the intent to provide Beluga, Sevruga and Sterlet sturgeon for the world market. Soon after starting caviar production, our focus quickly expanded, CITES as the only company currently in possession of these critically endangered species in this hemisphere, we have a unique position not only in the Iran but globally, due to our successful rearing and extraction methods. Our focus has now grown to include efforts to export caviar to all around the world, the transfer of technology through joint international agreements and the development of successful captive rearing techniques for these unique species.
Our SAAEE unique CAVIAR businesses are driven by a shared desire to provide you with quality, fresh, and safe produce. But we’re not just a wholesaler and supplier – as passionate fish experts, we share our unrivalled industry knowledge with our customers and seek to inspire your menus.