Clams

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Captain Morgan

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someone just gave me 2 and a half gallons of clams from NC. In the shell, uncooked, and frozen. Is that ok? Larry's got me worried cause he
said they should be cooked when they are alive. Now I think he may be right.
 
Yeah they should be cooked when alive.....I got a bad clam once...now I can't even look at them...I didn't know it was humanly possible to erupt out of both ends at the same time......sorry probably too much info...I wouldn't eat em...
 
Here's some info that might help, not a clam person myself but I do like mussels. My wife grew up on Cape Cod and her grandmother still lives there. Info she told me about clams;

Do not freeze clams in their shells or buy frozen clams that are in their shell. To freeze clams, make sure they are shucked and save their liquid. Rinse with salt water, 1 tblsp of salt to 1 qt of water, and place in a container with the reserved clam liquid and additional salt water so they are completely covered. Frozen clams will last up to three months frozen. Thaw frozen clams in the refrigerator before using and do not refreeze them.
 
jshively said:
Man's Best Friend BBQ said:
Here's some info that might help, not a clam person myself but I do like muscles. My wife grew up on Cape Cod and her grandmother still lives there. Info she told me about clams;

Do not freeze clams in their shells. To freeze clams, shuck them, being careful to save their liquid. Rinse with salt water (1 tablespoon of salt to 1 quart of water), and place in a container with the reserved clam liquid and additional salt water so they are completely covered. Frozen clams will last up to three months at 0 degrees F. Thaw frozen clams in the refrigerator before using, and never refreeze them.

I love muscles also. What is your favorite one? Me I am more of a pec man especially the silcone version served by a single mother who is working hard for a dollar.

LOL, I read your post before you edited it and didn't know what the heck you were talking about. Me, I'm a breast man
 
Man's Best Friend BBQ said:
Here's some info that might help, not a clam person myself but I do like mussels. My wife grew up on Cape Cod and her grandmother still lives there. Info she told me about clams;

Do not freeze clams in their shells or buy frozen clams that are in their shell. To freeze clams, make sure they are shucked and save their liquid. Rinse with salt water, 1 tblsp of salt to 1 qt of water, and place in a container with the reserved clam liquid and additional salt water so they are completely covered. Frozen clams will last up to three months frozen. Thaw frozen clams in the refrigerator before using and do not refreeze them.


What he said. If they're frozen in the shell, the next stop is either the trash or the ER. You choose.

Griff
 
Captain Morgan said:
someone just gave me 2 and a half gallons of clams from NC. In the shell, uncooked, and frozen. Is that ok? Larry's got me worried cause he
said they should be cooked when they are alive. Now I think he may be right.

Well. it depends. How long have they been frozen? How fresh were they
when they were frozen? Do you trust this someone?

Ive used clams accidently frozen in the shell without any problem. A friend of mine has been freezing his clams that way for many years and swears by it.
Now, I'm not talking about steaming frozen in the shell clams but for sauces,
chowder, casino, etc. they should be just fine.

I think Larry must be talking about crabs, they should be cooked alive or
just cleaned.
 
I can tell you I have never heard of freezing clams in shell while alive before cooking........BUT.....

This I know to be fact:

I would thaw them at room temperature in a kettle of water. Once thawed try steaming them in thier shells immediately.

The shells should open when cooked within 3-4 minutes.....ANY SHELLS NOT OPEN IN 9-10 MINUTES........DISCARD THEM

Fresh live clams you would put them in water overnight with some cornmeal in the water.......they eat it all night...... it cleans thier stomach of sand and grit through thier excrement overnight and leaves a better , plumper , sweeter tasting clam to eat.

The 3-4 minute and 9-10 minute rule applies to fresh clams.......... Again.... I never heard of freezing them.... but I'd go by the same rule to be safe.
 
well the shells are opened...it seems like death by freezing would be no different than death by steaming, but it's not the kind of thing I want to risk. This stinks....free clams..I already had the lemon and butter.
 
If they were frozen alive they would be totaly full of frozen liquid.
Hard to give any other advise without actually being there.
 
Are you sure someone didn't steam them THEN freeze them...if so...I'd warm them up and enjoy!!!!!! They may be a bit chewier then the first time around tho.

Usually ya gotta steam them to get them to open........but once again.........I've never froze them either.

They may have been steamed then froze.
 
Gotta love "GOOGLE"...... simple search on freezing clams:


Freezing Clams

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Susan Reynolds, M.S.
Clams can be frozen either in the shell or shucked. To freeze the clams in the shell, simply place the live clams in moisture-vapor resistant bags. Press out excess air and freeze.
To freeze the clam meat, shuck the clams, then clean and wash the meat thoroughly Drain and pack in freezer containers, leaving ½-inch head space. Seal, label and freeze.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This document was extracted from Bulletin 989, "So Easy to Preserve," produced by the Cooperative Extension Service, the University of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Third Edition published in 1993.
 
Smokey_Joe said:
I can tell you I have never heard of freezing clams in shell while alive before cooking........BUT.....

This I know to be fact:

I would thaw them at room temperature in a kettle of water. Once thawed try steaming them in thier shells immediately.

The shells should open when cooked within 3-4 minutes.....ANY SHELLS NOT OPEN IN 9-10 MINUTES........DISCARD THEM

Fresh live clams you would put them in water overnight with some cornmeal in the water.......they eat it all night...... it cleans thier stomach of sand and grit through thier excrement overnight and leaves a better , plumper , sweeter tasting clam to eat.

The 3-4 minute and 9-10 minute rule applies to fresh clams.......... Again.... I never heard of freezing them.... but I'd go by the same rule to be safe.


I like the cornmeal tip.

This guy picked em and put em on ice, and a co worker brought them
to the radio station last night and put em in the freezor for me to get this morning. That's how they got frozen. I'm starting to think they should be ok. They've been on ice ever since they were picked. On the other hand,
I don't want to die, at least not till after football season. Pretty sure
I'm gonna give my neighbor a few and see what happens. :)
 
Smokey_Joe said:
Don't waste them on your neighbor.... they should be fine.

They sound fine to me, just watch out for the PSP, which I believe is more common in the summer than winter (paralytic shellfish poisoning) . And I don't mean the handheld Sony version either.
 
Maybe this will convince you not to share them.

img_58097_0_34cc83df4eead2b3af1a3ccdfa6125eb.jpg
 
jshively said:
Man's Best Friend BBQ said:
[quote="Smokey_Joe":20ndciqf]Don't waste them on your neighbor.... they should be fine.

They sound fine to me, just watch out for the PSP, which I believe is more common in the summer than winter (paralytic shellfish poisoning) . And I don't mean the handheld Sony version either.

Atlhough the PSP is garbage. Nintendo DS Lite is the only handheld worth a damn.[/quote:20ndciqf]

I have to disagree.....can you download music, watch movies AND access the internet on the Nintendo....didn't think so 8-[
 
If you fear PSP that much, do a tad of research of the area they came from and check to see if they had any "Red Tide" alerts.

PSP is commonly associated with Red Tide........ I know if none recently around here in Massachusetts... a while ago , but none recent.... if you say these were alive/fresh before you froze them..... shouldn't be hard to check.

I've eaten a gazillion clams and never been sick from one........maybe I should consider myself lucky........ or maybe I've built an immunity... kinda like rattlesnake handlers injecting themselves with small amounts of venom...... LOL :!:
 
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