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- When you're shucking your oysters,
there are a few things that you should pay attention to.
Number one is having the right equipment.
I've seen people use butter knives, steak knives
and screwdrivers while opening oysters
but that will ultimately lead to accidents.
What you want to use is a knife
that is specifically designed for opening oysters.
Here's a knife that I like to use in most situations.
It's made by Dexter Russell
and it has a four-inch blade and it's pretty narrow.
I like using this knife because it's easy to grip
and feels pretty stable in my hand.
It's also very versatile for all different kinds of oysters.
Next, you should find a nice stable surface to work off of,
one that doesn't slip.
A wooden cutting board is perfect
or if you want, use a large pizza pan.
I personally like to use
this specially designed oyster shucking board.
What I like about it
is that it has this groove in the middle
that helps keep your oyster stable
while you can put your palm here to protect it.
You'll also want to have a kitchen towel on hand,
one that you don't mind getting wet or kind of smelly.
You'll also need a plate to put your shucked oysters on
if you're going to present them to other people.
Having a small dish of water
also helps to keep your oyster knife clean.
When you're shucking,
you can occasionally dip it in the water
to remove any mud or grit.
Ice is also a pretty good thing to have on hand
to keep your oysters cool but it's not absolutely necessary
if you decide to eat your oysters right then and there.
Crushed ice is better than cubed ice
because it helps keep the oysters secure.
Step one is to clean your oyster.
If you see mud or grit on your shell,
just use a small vegetable brush and scrub it off.
You can rinse this in tap water
but don't soak them in tap water.
The technique that I'm going to use
in shucking these oysters is called the tabletop method.
That means that you're going to place the oysters
on a flat surface and shuck on the table.
Another method to do this
is to shuck an oyster in your hand.
You've probably seen the pros do it
but it's actually not very good for beginners
because a lot of accidents can happen.
If you choose to try to do this,
what you want is to have the blade parallel to your hand
and not into your hand.
If you're going to shuck in your hand,
it's always a good idea to wear a glove.
Don't risk just shucking barehanded.
Step two is to place your oyster on a flat surface.
Step three is to shimmy your knife blade into the hinge.
The hinge is right here at the tip of this oyster
where the top and bottom shells connect.
You're going to wiggle your knife in to the hinge
using a little bit of force.
You know that it's set when you can raise your oyster knife
and the oyster comes with you
and it doesn't really move anywhere.
So then, after this,
twist your oyster knife as if you were opening a doorknob.
So, like this.
And you're going to hear that pop,
which means the top shell and the bottom shell
have been disconnected.
When you're opening your oyster,
do not do this up and down motion
because it can actually break the top part of the shell.
So, step four is to use your knife
and lift the edge as much as possible.
You're going to feel like the oyster
is still stuck to the top shell
because of the adductor muscle.
If you can look in there,
the meat is still stuck onto the top shell.
So, what you want to do is you take your knife blade
and you scrape along the top shell
to cut that adductor muscle.
Like so.
So, once you cut the adductor muscle,
you can take off the top shell
and you're left with a really nice oyster body
in the bottom shell.
Make sure that you try to retain
as much oyster liquid as possible.
This is going to be really important
during the oyster tasting.
So, step five is removing the top shell
that you just severed and putting it aside.
Then you are left with this oyster
and now you just remove any grit or mud out of the shell.
And this is where a bowl of water can come in handy
to rinse off your oyster knife.
Step six is to cut the bottom adductor muscle.
You slide your knife across the bottom of the shell like so.
This is going to cut that muscle
and separate the oyster from its shell.
Now it's just kind of like hanging out.
Some shuckers will actually turn the meat over
inside the shell, so that the bottom belly is showing up.
This is handy if you've made noticeable cuts into your meat
and you want to make sure
your oysters look plump and pretty.
Lastly, you're going to still have
clear oyster liquid inside the shell.
If the liquid is cloudy, it can mean two things.
Number one is the oyster is spawning
or number two is you actually cut through the heart
and the oyster blood is mixing with the sea water.
Either way, it's actually still okay to eat,
although a spawning oyster may not taste very good,
oyster blood is totally fine to consume.
If you're shucking for a party,
here are a few ways to present your newly opened oysters.
The first thing is using your top shell
and place it down as kind of a stand
and putting your oysters on it like so.
That way you can actually see both the meat
and the top shell, which gives it a nice effect.
You can also put your oysters on a bed of ice.
Lastly, you can also use one of these half shellers
or another kind of oyster plate to put your oysters on.
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- [Narrator] Thanks for watching.
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