Things You'll Need:
- Oyster kinfe
- Protective glove/bar towel
- Cutting board
- Vegetable brush
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Step 1
Step 1: First of all you need to go out and buy your oysters. You want to make sure they are the freshest ones you can find. Always ask to see the tag which tells you the date they were fished and make sure all the oysters are tightly closed. Today I brought with me some Malpeque oysters.
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Step 2
Step 2: Once you purchase your oyster and take them home you should try to eat them as soon as possible. Take a vegetable brush and scrub the oyster’s shell and rinse them off with water to insure that no dirt or grit will get into the meat of the oyster while you are shucking.
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Step 3
Step 3: To shuck an oyster you need the right tool; an oyster knife. Today I am using a Richard knife which I modified to my own liking. There are many different types of oyster knifes used for different species of oysters and also different knives are used because of different preferences. Once you have your knife you should either put on a protective glove before shucking or you can wrap the oyster in a bar towel to prevent injuries. So take the oyster and place it on the bar towel which should be on a cutting board and insert the knife into the back hinge of the oyster.
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Step 4
Step 4: Twist the knife until it’s in the hinge firmly. Then you pry the knife on the bottom shell of the oyster until you break the hinge. Make sure when you break the hinge try not to get any dirt into the oyster and try not to cut the meat.
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Step 5
Step 5: Take your knife and carefully slide it along the top shell to cut the adductor muscle which holds the two shells together. Make sure when you do this try not to cut the meat of the oyster and try to not leave any of the adductor muscle on the shell.
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Step 6
Step 6: Turn the oyster and make sure you don’t spill any of the liquor because that’s where a lot of the flavor is. You then clean out any dirt that’s in the meat. Then take your knife and give a firm scrape along the bottom shell to cut the adductor muscle.
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Step 7
Step 7: Take the oyster and place it on a bed of ice or salt rock to keep the oyster upright to keep the liquor in the shell when serving. You can put any kind of sauce on the oyster such as Tabasco, seafood cocktail sauce, or you can put some lemon juice in it. I recommend you eat the oyster the way it is to get the true flavor. When you eat it you should not just swallow it, you should chew it a couple of times to get all the flavors out. That’s how you shuck an oyster.
