Oysters

[Jucius Maximus]

Seeing as oysters have come on sale recently, I have started to buy my own live oysters, shuck them by hand and eat them raw. Very yummy stuff and actually quite cost effective. Going to an oyster bar would cost $3-4 an oyster plus tax plus tip! Buying them from the store is less than $1 a piece with no tax (since it's raw food) and no tip. So I'm easily saving $3+ on every oyster.

I tried the Raspberry Point and Caraquet oysters from Loblaws. They were small and $0.99 each. Both tasted pretty good but I liked the Raspberry Point ones more because of the cleaner, more delicate taste.

This evening I went to T&T Mississauga and picked up 10 of their huge oysters on sale for $0.88 each, whose variety was unlabelled. Man, these things easily contained 4-5X the meat of a Raspberry Point oyster and were extremely tasty! Very filling and cheaper! The "laquer" liquid inside was also very delicious.

Shucking oysters, which is the process of opening them so the meat is accessible, took some practice a first. I got an oyster shucking knife for $11.50 at Golda's Kitchen. It's really not about putting amazing pressure onto the oyster as opposed to getting the knife to slide into the right place so you can pop the shell. Once you've got the hang of it, the process is not too difficult. I'm no pro by far but I can do one oyster in 60 seconds. And I have not run my hand through. Yet.


So tell me, what are your favourite kinds of oysters and where do you get them? How do you prepare them? Any other oyster-related info you would care to share?

[Keelie]

my favourite kind are the ones you get on the ocean shores! have gathered and shucked many oysters with my dad when i was young.
when i first took my husband over to the island he was totally amazed that we could just get our own oysters off the beach!

fanny bay oysters are the best, its a small town on vancouver island.

put them on the bbq, when the shells open, sprinkle the oyster with a bit of hotsauce.
i like them best breaded and fried! yum!

[S14_Raven]

Wow you had those huge ones raw? I've never actually even thought of that, the sheer size is quite intimidating... interesting indeed, might have to try.

Your best bet for oysters, and even at a cheaper price is Diana's Seafood in Scarborough. They have a variety, but if it's just a quick fix (like I need), grab a case of malpeques for 10 bucks... 33 count, can't go wrong. Only thing is that their irregular shaped ones, in various sizes, and you'll have to do some scrubbing to get the dirt off...

[BladeX]

put them on the bbq, when the shells open, sprinkle the oyster with a bit of hotsauce.
i like them best breaded and fried! yum!

now thats something to try!


is it on sale at tnt? Its usually for $1.40 or something like that ? usually just steam it and eat it with greenonion and vegie oil dip or garlic on it
mm yummy

[Jucius Maximus]

is it on sale at tnt? Its usually for $1.40 or something like that ? usually just steam it and eat it with greenonion and vegie oil dip or garlic on it
mm yummy

The sign said they are normally $1.50/ea, currently on sale for $0.88/ea.

[gta1216]

i finally found a thread that talks abt raw oysters and their varieties. i once posted on a non-food related forum (don't remember what forum now), but no one replied. guess they didn't have much experience with raw oysters...

does anyone know where (on the net) i can find more info abt the different variety of oysters? like, different oysters have different texture, taste, etc.

[mingming]

when eating oysters raw, i like the smaller ones rather than those huge ones.

the quality and unique oyster taste is better in small ones.

[Steeve Urkel]

I know Malpeque oysters are quite popular. I used to have to clean them at a restaurant.

I would rather buy from a fish store as they are probably better than Loblaws i would imagine....

Are there different types of oyster knives you can buy, as in different quality?
I only have a foodservice/restaurant store nearby for kitchen stuff....

[Jucius Maximus]

Are there different types of oyster knives you can buy, as in different quality?
I only have a foodservice/restaurant store nearby for kitchen stuff....

Check out this menu, it should be informative for you..

Just googling for combinations of oyster names tends to turn up lots of good info.

[matt4670]

Thanks for the info on where to buy oysters. We're planning to have some raw oyster this weekend. Just one question: how can I tell if the oyster is 'fresh' ? (i.e., not dead for a long time) I bought a 'net' full of oyster from Costco many years ago and they were huge and fresh. But I didn't quite trust their freshness if buying from T&T. I guess I'd need to pick them one by one. Is there any 'feature' on raw fresh oyster that I can just tell from the outside? Many thanks.

[Keelie]

Thanks for the info on where to buy oysters. We're planning to have some raw oyster this weekend. Just one question: how can I tell if the oyster is 'fresh' ? (i.e., not dead for a long time) I bought a 'net' full of oyster from Costco many years ago and they were huge and fresh. But I didn't quite trust their freshness if buying from T&T. I guess I'd need to pick them one by one. Is there any 'feature' on raw fresh oyster that I can just tell from the outside? Many thanks.

as long as the shell is closed tightly then they should be fine.

[Jucius Maximus]

Thanks for the info on where to buy oysters. We're planning to have some raw oyster this weekend. Just one question: how can I tell if the oyster is 'fresh' ? (i.e., not dead for a long time) I bought a 'net' full of oyster from Costco many years ago and they were huge and fresh. But I didn't quite trust their freshness if buying from T&T. I guess I'd need to pick them one by one. Is there any 'feature' on raw fresh oyster that I can just tell from the outside? Many thanks.

In addition to what Keelie said, I have noticed the following:

Thickness is more important than the overall size. Thickness determines how much meat is really in the oyster.

If you can see any part of the meat then the oyster is probably bad. Healthy ones are shut tightly.

When transporting them, make sure they can breathe. They are living things and you don't want them to suffocate.

I bought 10 oysters from T&T and had to throw one out because it was dead. It was my own fault because I picked them out myself, that or I sufficated them on the way home.

[Jucius Maximus]

Got some malpeque oysters today from Loblaws ... $4.99/doz.

They had a nice taste but honestly not too distinctive. I think I won't be getting these ones again because the muscles are stuck really tenaciously to the upper and lower shells. It's quite difficult to get them open without bits of shell getting into the meat.

Aside from that the taste and price were nothing to complain about, but I think I will go with the easier to open varieties.

[Master]

Tried the $10.99/case Malpaque from Diana's. I don't like them. First, the count was 30 instead of 33 noted on the box. Then, some of the shells are already broken.

The quality is OK. The shapes are irregular and shells are thin. I cracked half the shells opening them. Another half has the upper shells broken and stucked to the meat and difficult to come off.

I won't be getting more of these in the future...

[Jucius Maximus]

The quality is OK. The shapes are irregular and shells are thin. I cracked half the shells opening them. Another half has the upper shells broken and stucked to the meat and difficult to come off.

Yeah problem with the broken shell stuck to the meat is exactly what I experienced. I never saw that problem with Raspberry Point or Caraquet.