How Do I Remove Sand from Mollusks?

On 12/04/2003 3:51 PM, in article
[email hidden], "Donna Rose"
<[email hidden]> opined:

Quoted message said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

Cornmeal

Donna Rose said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were delicious,
but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

Yes, but cornmeal is better. It also helps to plump them up nicely for the kill. I leave mine to
soak overnight, I would not consider eating them without doing so first.

Sheena

Believe it or not, some friends of mine who regularly collect mussels on shore swear by the
musselmatic - they put the mussels in a mesh bag and run them through a wash cycle in the washing
machine. They say it takes the beards right off.

--

Regards

Louis Cohen Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"

"Donna Rose" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

--
Donna A pessimist believes all women are bad. An optimist hopes they are.

To reply, remove the SPAM BLOCK

Donna Rose <[email hidden]> wrote > I seem to

Quoted message said:

remember something about oatmeal

Cornmeal.

The way they do it commercially is to hang the clams in a porous sack in salt water. The clams will
refresh the water in their shells and spit out the sand. This takes 24 hours. I suppose you could
just place them in a bucket of salt water and get the same results.

Donna Rose said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

--
Donna

Oatmeal is for land mollusks (snails)... But mom always used cornmeal instead. :-)

For the sea critters, it's best to keep them alive and fasting for 2 or 3 days in salt water so that
they can purge their systems of sand. A large basin in the refrigerator with salt water and a
battery driven aerator worked for mom.

The other alternative is to gut them. The sand is primarily in the gills and stomach.

We used to clam for pismo clams (a type of long neck) and mom would put them in the crisper drawer
in the 'frige for a couple of days in sea water to let them purge.

The only sea mollusks we ever ate right away were Abalones. We used to live on the west coast. :-)

K.

--

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Donna Rose said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were delicious,
but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

I usually buy farmed PEI mussels, rather than wild ones. That pretty much avoids the problem.
Littleneck clams I do get from the fishermen, however.

For the clams I start the soup part of things and when it is about four minutes from the end I zap
the scrubbed clams in the microwave, starting with 3 minutes for a dozen clams. If they are not all
small a few may need a little more time.

I take the clams out into a warm dish, and carefully spoon the clam broth into the soup, leaving the
dregs with any sand that is there. If any clam looks gritty inside, I rinse it under a faucet.

When I have mixed in the clam broth and heated all to a simmer again, I dish out the soup and put
the clams in a nice circle in each bowl.

THis works fine doing dinner for two people. The zapping time gets longer with larger batches.

It may be that only one or two of your mussels are gritty, and you may be able to spot which ones if
you look at them, but when they are piled in the steaming pot it is hard to see.

Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a

The sound of a Great Blue Heron's wingbeats going by your head

Donna Rose said:

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving?

Yet another repost:

Here is what Elizabeth David wrote in The Spectator in 1963 (republished in her 'An Omelette and a
Glass of Wine'.

<quote> ... Henri Pellaprat, teaching chef at the Cordon Bleu school in Paris, has an interesting
theory. In _Le Poisson dans la Cuisine Française_ (Flammarion, 1954), he writes that most people go
about the cleaning of mussels in a way calculated to put sand into them rather than to eliminate it;
instead, he says, of first scraping them, one should begin by rinsing them in a quantity of cold
water, turning them over and over and whirling them around. One by one you then take them out of the
water and put them in a colander. Half of them will be clean already; those which are not must be
scraped; as each is done, put in a bowl, but, and this is the crux of the matter, _without water_.
Only when all are clean should water be run over the mussels; they should then be kept on the move,
the water being changed continually until it is perfectly clear. The explanation given by Pellaprat
for this routine is that, put into still water all at once, the mussels start opening; when they
close up again, they have imprisoned within their shells the sand already in suspension in the
water. In other words, explains M. Pellaprat, the more you keep the mussels moving, the more
frightened they are; and the less inclination they will have to open. Ah well, possibly. It is worth
paying attention to this theory, but it does mean that the mussels must be prepared immediately
before cooking, which is certainly desirable, but not always practical. </quote>

And here's what Patricia Wells writes in her 'Bistro Cooking':

<quote> Tiny clams, in particular, tend to be very sandy. To degorge them, or rid them of the sand,
soak them for 1 to 2 hours in salt water, dissolving 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces, or 117 g) coarse sea
salt per quart (liter) of water. </quote>

Victor

On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 00:15:05 GMT, The Wolf <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On 12/04/2003 3:51 PM, in article [email hidden], "Donna
Rose" <[email hidden]> opined:

Quoted message said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

Cornmeal

Cornmeal is for clams. Mussels needs washed in several waters and scrbbued, removing the beards
that they use to cling to rocks or ropes. They should not be gritty inside as with clams, as they
don't eat sand.

Buying farmed mussles grown on ropes helps.

-sw

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Donna Rose said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

Yes, but cornmeal is better. It also helps to plump them up nicely for the kill. I leave mine to
soak overnight, I would not consider eating them without doing so first.

Sheena

How much cornmeal? Say for three dozen mussels/clams. Cover with water and add, what? A couple of
tablespoons? A cup? TIA

--
Donna A pessimist believes all women are bad. An optimist hopes they are.

To reply, remove the SPAM BLOCK

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Donna Rose said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

Yes, but cornmeal is better. It also helps to plump them up nicely for the kill. I leave mine to
soak overnight, I would not consider eating them without doing so first.

Sheena

What do you soak them in? If fresh water it will kill them, so what do you use?

On 12/04/2003 8:56 PM, in article leUzb.431980$Fm2.433479@attbi_s04, "Louis
Cohen" <[email hidden]> opined:

Quoted message said:

Believe it or not, some friends of mine who regularly collect mussels on shore swear by the
musselmatic - they put the mussels in a mesh bag and run them through a wash cycle in the washing
machine. They say it takes the beards right off.

I'm sure it does!

Reminds me of an episode on food tv about cooking Salmon in the dishwasher!

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

The Wolf said:

On 12/04/2003 3:51 PM, in article [email hidden], "Donna
Rose" <[email hidden]> opined:

Quoted message said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

Cornmeal

Cornmeal is for clams. Mussels needs washed in several waters and scrbbued, removing the beards
that they use to cling to rocks or ropes. They should not be gritty inside as with clams, as they
don't eat sand.

Buying farmed mussles grown on ropes helps.

-sw

I scrubbed the mussels well and removed the beards. However, they were definitely gritty inside. I
bought them at Costco, so have no idea about how they were farmed.
--
Donna A pessimist believes all women are bad. An optimist hopes they are.

To reply, remove the SPAM BLOCK

Donna Rose said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Donna Rose said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

Yes, but cornmeal is better. It also helps to plump them up nicely for the kill. I leave mine to
soak overnight, I would not consider eating them without doing so first.

Sheena

How much cornmeal? Say for three dozen mussels/clams. Cover with water and add, what? A couple of
tablespoons? A cup? TIA

--
Donna

To purge salt water mollusks, they have to be kept alive... I just re-checked with dad since it's
been a few years.

Just keep them alive in sea water for 2 or 3 days and they will purge the sand from their systems on
their own. They are kept fasting (no food) to do this.

K.

--

Quoted message said:

^,,^< Cats-haven Hobby Farm >^,,^< [email hidden] >^,,^<

"There are millions of intelligent species in the universe, and they are all owned by
cats" -- Asimov

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On 12/05/2003 5:08 AM, in article [email hidden],
"LIMEYNO1" <[email hidden]> opined:

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Donna Rose said:

I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
delicious, but they were a bit gritty.

How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
clams as well?

Yes, but cornmeal is better. It also helps to plump them up nicely for the kill. I leave mine to
soak overnight, I would not consider eating them without doing so first.

Sheena

What do you soak them in? If fresh water it will kill them, so what do you use?

Make your own seawater 1 cup Kosher or sea salt to 1-1/2 gallons water.

Fresh water will kill any shellfish quickly.

Katra <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

To purge salt water mollusks, they have to be kept alive... I just re-checked with dad since it's
been a few years.

Just keep them alive in sea water for 2 or 3 days and they will purge the sand from their systems
on their own. They are kept fasting (no food) to do this.

My grandparents used to do this with abalone when we used to visit the cabin in Bodega Bay. My
grandfather had a big wooden barrel he kept outside the cabin to put them in and he'd flush the
water twice a day until he was ready to clean and cook them. I don't know if this is proper or even
the best way, but I do know I hadn't thought about eating abalone in years.

🙂

Terri

On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 17:04:25 GMT, The Wolf <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On 12/05/2003 5:08 AM, in article [email hidden], "LIMEYNO1"
<[email hidden]> opined:

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 23:51:37 GMT, Donna Rose <[email hidden]> wrote:

> I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
> delicious, but they were a bit gritty.
>
> How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
> saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe
> I'm confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work
> with clams as well?

Yes, but cornmeal is better. It also helps to plump them up nicely for the kill. I leave mine to
soak overnight, I would not consider eating them without doing so first.

Sheena

What do you soak them in? If fresh water it will kill them, so what do you use?

Make your own seawater 1 cup Kosher or sea salt to 1-1/2 gallons water.

Fresh water will kill any shellfish quickly.

Yes, fresh water will kill. I live on the ocean. The above recipe looks feasible though, no reason
that should not work.

Katra said:

Donna Rose said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 23:51:37 GMT, Donna Rose <[email hidden]> wrote:

>I bought a batch of mussels recently and made a fantastic wine broth for them. They were
>delicious, but they were a bit gritty.
>
>How does one assure that all the sand is removed prior to serving? Does soaking them in
>saltwater for any length of time help? I seem to remember something about oatmeal, but maybe I'm
>confusing this with something else. Anybody have any ideas? And, would the same method work with
>clams as well?

Yes, but cornmeal is better. It also helps to plump them up nicely for the kill. I leave mine to
soak overnight, I would not consider eating them without doing so first.

Sheena

How much cornmeal? Say for three dozen mussels/clams. Cover with water and add, what? A couple of
tablespoons? A cup? TIA

--
Donna

To purge salt water mollusks, they have to be kept alive... I just re-checked with dad since it's
been a few years.

Just keep them alive in sea water for 2 or 3 days and they will purge the sand from their systems
on their own. They are kept fasting (no food) to do this.

K.

As a saltwater fish/reef/coral keeper, here are my 2 cents:

These mollusks need to be in a non tropical water temperature, with a SG which is similar to natural
sea water; 1.020 to 1.023 (mind you these values are temp dependent.) So I would go with the higher
end, since SG changes with higher and lower temp. Of course if you have a salinity meter, then you
don't have to worry about temp control.

The other thing this creatures need is water movement. Part of their extraction of O2 is through
currents; let alone the fact that they are filter feeders, and need said current to obtain food
(which I'm not going to get into, because it consists of a host of microscopic organisms.)

So, it sounds not too practical to keep these creatures in the aforementioned conditions.

My advice (and I've been doing this for years,) buy some sea salt (the synthetic one I use for my
tanks is superfluous for this,) and a hydrometer. Mix with cold tap water, and measure the specific
gravity so that it falls roughly with the aforementioned scale. DON'T add more water or salt to
these creatures, because they are very sensitive to salinity fluctuations! Buy a cheap bubble stone
and pump for your local pet store, and aerate them well. Keep them 24 to 48 hours, and they will
purge their sand.

When you rinse them in the end with cold fresh water (a shocking change in salinity), it doesn't
matter because they are on their way to mussel heaven : )

HTH,

R

--
"..A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti..."

Hannibal "The Cannibal"

Silence Of The Lambs 1991

On 12/05/2003 6:51 AM, in article
[email hidden], "dogsnus" <[email hidden]>
opined:

Quoted message said:

Katra <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

To purge salt water mollusks, they have to be kept alive... I just re-checked with dad since it's
been a few years.

Just keep them alive in sea water for 2 or 3 days and they will purge the sand from their systems
on their own. They are kept fasting (no food) to do this.

My grandparents used to do this with abalone when we used to visit the cabin in Bodega Bay. My
grandfather had a big wooden barrel he kept outside the cabin to put them in and he'd flush the
water twice a day until he was ready to clean and cook them. I don't know if this is proper or
even the best way, but I do know I hadn't thought about eating abalone in years.

🙂

Terri

Unfortunately there are not enough left for you to eat :-(