How to clean clams and mussels

I have rarely found good clear explanations from the pros on how to do this.  It can be a maddening thing to get a straight and fool-proof method.  I feel like this about mushroom-picking a risky enterprise unless you have been lucky enough to grow up with an experienced picker teaching you the ropes.  Both lean on a body of knowledge that is privvy to a few experts and which a novice will clearly find daunting due to the considerable risk of the downside (not usual in most culinary endeavours): sickness or worse!

My disclaimer is that I have followed the method below and have never got ill, nor had to chomp through sandy seafood.  I have been sick from clams prepared in restaurants however.  Use your common sense and eat your seafood as fresh as earthly possible.  In essence if you consume shellfish that has been dead much before cooking, you are going to regret it.

If you have do have to keep them for a day or two before using them, the best method to store them fresh, according to Vicky from Channel Fish at my Farmer’s Market, is to leave them in a bowl in the fridge or somewhere cold (outside in the winter), in a newspaper or with some ventilation (ie. not in a bag, suffocating slowly but in a breathable environment).  They will die if left in sweet water or if suffocated so they ought not to be immersed until you have sorted any dead ones from the live, fresh ones that are ok to cook not more than an hour or so before cooking.

CLAMS:

Unwrap and turn them on to a work surface lined with greaseproof paper.

If they have been somewhere very cold, it may take them 15 minutes or so to warm up.  This is necessary as some may appear dead because their reactions are so slow.  You don’t want to be throwing out expensive seafood just because it is sleepy!

Any cracked, chipped or open shells should be thrown out.

Any open shells should be gently tested by being knocked on the counter top and if alive, they will clamp themselves shut.  These can go in to the “yes” bowl.

Any which remain open after your interference should be thrown away.

Scrub all the clams that are good under running water, and remove and sand and barnacles you can.

Let the clams sit in fresh tap water for 15 minutes or so.  They will churn the water and spit out any sand that has accumulated in their shells.

Rinse them and let them sit another 5 minutes.

By now they should be clean and the water should be clear around them.  They are now safe to drain and be used.

 

MUSSELS:

Same as for the clams above, but be sure to de-beard as the last step before cooking as the de-bearding kills them.  The beards if trapped inside, can be removed at the table, it’s no big deal.

The debearding should be done by pulling the furry beard towards the hinge of the shell (the pointiest, narrowest part of the shell) and should come away easily.