Once upon a time in my cooking career, I worked at a seafood restaurant that featured an oyster bar, and it was one of my favorite experiences in my career. That job made me fall in love with all of the nuances between different kinds of oysters and their unique flavor profiles. That job also made me enjoy and appreciate the act of shucking oysters.
Seeing each tray have a dozen perfectly shucked oysters brought a lot of satisfaction, and there was always a friendly competition between the cooks of who could do it quicker. But shucking oysters doesn't have to be a skill exclusive to cooks and chefs like me and my old coworkers, and if you are an oyster fan, learning to shuck is a great life skill.
The past three summers, I have visited the East coast, and the abundance of seafood is amazing. While going to a raw bar is a great time, they can be expensive averaging around $3-$4 per oyster. Luckily, there are many oyster farms all along the east coast that will sell to you at a wholesale price, which is generally around $1-$1.50 per oyster. This not only saves money, but also ensures you are eating super fresh oysters, and provides a great activity to you and whoever you are traveling with.
We purchased 120 Ludlam Bay oysters which are from Sea Isle, New Jersey. These oysters had a great briny and mildly sweet flavor and were very fresh. Luckily these came cleaned, but that isn't always the case. If they are not cleaned, they need to be rinsed with several changes of water. They generally do not need to be purged in the same way that live clams do.
Now let's walk through the shucking process. First of all, you need the right tool for the job: a shucking knife.
To start, hold the oyster with the hinge facing toward you in a kitchen towel like so, and place the tip of the knife in the hinge and apply some pressure. Wiggle the knife in a motion similar to twisting a door knob back and forth until the oyster pops open.
Once it opens, slide the tip of the knife up the right side of the oyster to release the rest of the shell. It's important to go up the right side because that is where the abductor muscle is located; the muscle that keeps the oyster connected to either side of the shell.
Once you have slid all the way up the right side, the top shell should come right off.
The last step is to use the tip of the knife and push sideways through the abductor muscle, this releases the oyster so it slides off the shell when you go to eat it.
And there you go! One oyster ready to eat, only 99 more to shuck.
Like any kitchen task, shucking takes practice, so there's no reason to get discouraged if you mess up a few at first. But if you love oysters like me, I can't emphasize enough how great it is to get your own bag of oysters and shuck and enjoy them all day. So, if you ever find yourself on the coast, look for an oyster farm and shuck away!
Happy shucking! If you want to expand even further on your seafood knowledge, join us for Seafood on the Grill on Saturday, September 21st.
