Oh shucks! The safe way to reveal oysters

Opening oysters, known as oyster shucking, requires a little practise as it can be different for various species of oysters.

For safety’s sake, it is best to use a towel or glove, and a short, thick-bladed oyster knife that is more so used for prying and scraping.

METHOD

Step 1: Start with a towel and an oyster knife.

Step 2: Fold your non-master hand into the towel.

Step 3: Identify the oyster’s ‘hinge’ (the narrow end) between the flatter top shell and the lower half-shell, and then set the broader end of the oyster into your folded towel (and under the pressure of your thumb and hand).

Step 4: Now, get ready to ‘pop’ the hinge (where the two shells meet) on the top of the oyster’s narrow end. This starts the separation of the top shell from the bottom shell. Insert your oyster knife’s blade tip under/into the hinge — just push downwards at an angle and wriggle it. Keep wriggling the blade and force it into/under the joint until it slips inside and goes a small way underneath the top shell. Then give the knife a twist and the hinge will pop open a little more. Then raise the knife tip upwards a little more to separate the shells a fraction more. The hinge will only just be ajar.

Step 5: The popped hinge joint.

Step 6: Always wipe both sides of the blade clean every time before inserting the blade back into the oyster. You will still get some grit in there, this can’t be helped. Of course this reduces your speed, but at home, speed isn’t necessarily critical.

Step 7: Twist the blade upwards and slide the upwards-front-edge of the oyster knife along the underside of the shell (for the full length, from the hinge all the way to the end) to cut the adductor muscle which holds the shell closed.

Step 8: Once you have cut the adductor muscle to enable the top shell to be lifted, lift the top shell backwards to expose the white side and scape any remaining oyster flesh away from the top shell.

Step 9: Again, clean the knife blade between steps.

Step 10: Finally, run the knife under the oyster meat and separate it from the bottom shell, while leaving the oyster meat still in place. This is your ‘oyster in a half-shell’.