Lynne's Country Kitchen
lynnescountrykitchen.net

The oyster is a bivalve mollusk - also called a shellfish because it lives in a two-part shell. The shell is joined at one end by a hinge, and can be closed by the oyster's powerful adductor muscle (the dark spots on the inside of an empty shell are the points to which the ends of this muscle adhered).

Oysters can snap their shells closed with lightning speed and with the power of a vise. To open a live oyster, you must insert a knife blade between the shells and sever the adductor muscle, then remove the meat. This is called "shucking." Firmness, color and other qualities of the meat are affected by various factors such as water, food availability and sexual maturity. Flavors and textures of oyster meats may range from sweet, buttery and slightly salty, to rich-flavored, briny and slightly metallic.

Oysters in the shell should be alive. If they gape and do not close quickly in handling, discard them, as well as those with broken shells.

To open oysters, provide yourself with a strainer and a bowl in which to catch the juices. Later you may pour the strained liquor over the oyster before serving it on the bottom half-shell - bedded down in coarse salt if served hot or on cracked ice if cold. When preparing oysters in a sauce, add the oyster liquor to it.

Now, back to the actual opening of the shells. Hold a well-scrubbed oyster, deep shell down, in a folded napkin in the palm of one hand, working over a strainer with a bowl underneath it. Insert the edge of the oyster knife into the hinge of the shells. Turn the knife to pry and lift the upper shell enough to cut through the hinge muscle. Then run the knife between the shells to open.

Until you develop a knack, shucking is not easy. Should you grow slightly desparate, you may be willing to sacrifice some flavor for convenience. If so, place the oysters in a 400 degree oven for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on size, drop them briefly into ice water and drain. They should open easily.

However you open an oyster, complete the release of the flesh from the shell by using a knife, and examine each oyster with your fingers to be sure no bit of shell is adhering to t. If you are using the oysters off the shell, drop them into a strainer, reserving the rest of the juice. If the oysters are sandy, you may rinse them in a separate bowl, allowing 1/2 cup cold water to each quart of shucked oysters. Pour it over the oysters and reserve the water. Before using the oyster liquor and the water mixture in sauces, be sure to strain it through fine muslin to free it from grit.

Before using oysters in any fried or creamed dish, dry them carefully in an absorbent towel.

If oysters have been bought in bulk, already opened, be sure, again, to free them of bits of shell. They should be plump and creamy in color; the liquor clear, not cloudy, and free from sour or unpleasant odor. If oysters burst during cooking, they have been previously soaked in fresh water to plump them, and their flavor as well as their texture has been ruined.

Allow 1 quart undrained, shucked oysters for 6 servings. It is hard to estimate amounts of oysters on the shell, as they vary in size - 6 moderate-sized eastern oysters would equal about 20 of the tiny Olympia West Coast oysters.

To store oysters in the shell, refrigerate at 39 degrees, not directly on ice. Keep dry. Store shucked oysters at the same temperature, covered by their liquor, in a closed container. The container may be set in crushed ice, up to about three-fourths its height. If you received them fresh, oysters may be stored in this way up to 3 days.

Shucking Oysters

Step 1:

Hold the oyster firmly in one hand, knife in the other.  Slip the knife blade between the top and bottom shell right by the hinge on back. The picture here is shown holding the oyster with bare hands - I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS! Drape a towel over your open palm and hold the oyster that way - the shell ridges are sharp!

Step 2:

Run the knife the way around the oyster until you get to the other side. This sounds easy until you're actually doing it! Some oysters just don't take kindly to people sticking knives in their shell.  Be brave and put some muscle into it, but be careful - this is where you'll cut or stab yourself.

Step 3:

Using a twisting motion, pry the top and bottom shells apart. Be gentle but firm so you don't lose any of the liquor inside.

Step 4:

Cut the oyster free from his shell.  He'll be connected by a tough knob on his underside; slide your knife under and sever it.  You can either go to the trouble of setting down your blade and using a little fork to pick the oyster out, or you can do like the natives do and just scoop him with your knife and pop him in your mouth.  Drink the liquor out of the shell.