Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire oyster shucking

Dear Penthouse.......

Then buy a knife later.

Walmart can surprise, but in a town of 6K in the middle of Ky. I'm more than skeptical.

Think I'll drop by there on the way.

Figuring If I'm shucking, I'll get to eat more of them.

I fire up the bbq and toss a few on. Just a couple minutes and they start to open and spit a bit.

Makes for easy shucking and the half steamed warmed up oyster is a nice balance to the icy cold ones you’re shucking.

I keep a bit of hot sauce and a bag of limes on hand as well.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/2O2s-ZxiHt8

Usually have one person opening em with a similar homemade tool, then others shucking em with oyster knives. Makes it pretty easy!

I don’t eat em, but help shuck while drinking beer and bs’ing with buds.

I like to hinge them, if I can. Get the tip of your knife/screwdriver into the little hook at the hinge, dig in and twist. Fat side down, run your knife along the flat shell to sever that attachment, remove the shell, scoop down under the oyster in the round side, to sever that one. Oyster knife works a lot better than a screwdriver. If you do use a screwdriver to open, you'll need some kind of knife to cut the muscle. Really, as some have said, the easiest way is to get them popped open on a grill...

A thick cotton towel and any good oyster knife. Some are better than others, but I have been using one for a number of years and it is damned near worn down to the numb. It still works. Order one they are generally cheap.

I tried a little t handle corkscrew once and was surprised how well it worked

Get an oyster knife and oyster lead.

It all went great. A lot of supplies this time around, about 5 knives & several pairs of kevlar. We took turns shucking, steaming & frying. Steamers went into the house & became Oysters Rockefeller. I used different types of knives & know what I want for my own personal tools. Will pick them up soon so I won't forget.
The supplier was gonna bring 200+. We thought 150 would do it. He brought over 300. Not too many left. I pulled my weight & still managed to eat 3 or 4 dozen & wash em down with 8 or 10 beers.
Not bad for country folk.

Thanks again to folks here. Between this thread & some you tube this AM, I went in with a plan & was way more proficient at the end. I have a new skill, & it helps feed me, way cool.

I can skin a buck, run a trot line. And now I can shuck with efficiency. Learned a better way to undress crawfish last year..... next? Never too late.

oh dear god oyster shucking, nothing has made me utter more cuss words than, we need a dozen oysters. When I was a teenager my parents owned a seafood restaurant. Oh course we had oysters, both on the half shell and fried. The fried oysters came in a plastic tub already out of the shells. They are nasty things and I personally would not eat them EVER, but if you do I would not eat them from a restaurant and here is why. seasonally sometimes they just aren't good, Sometimes the restaurant gets a bad batch shipped in. All of them come packed in boxes with mud in them. you HOPE the shucker does a good job of washing off the mud before serving them to you. OR maybe they went to the bathroom wiped their ass and didn't wash their hands. Either way you are eating something that is very much prone to be contaminated.

back to the shucking part, I would scream 4 letter words at least several times every time someone ordered oysters. The best way is we had these mesh gloves that you wear. At least have a mesh glove on to hold the oyster in your left hand if you are right handed. We used special pry knife that looks like a very heavy duty butter knife, basically it has a rounded in that you jamb between the shell halves. of course this slips often off the shell thus why you wear the mesh glove. once you get the knife wedged between the shells you twist it enough to just get the knife into the shell, Then without separating it you cut the tendon both top and bottom. this connect the oyster to the shell. next pop the shell all the way apart place right thumb on oyster and rinse off shell and oyster under running water. way too much PITA for a freaking loogie.

here is link to the knife, ours was more rounded on the end, https://www.amazon.com/Rakuen-Shuck...mp;psc=1&refRID=0JWPBVFDBTYCS4AG8FTC

On a single sit down and to have fried oysters for summer I will shuck 3-4 bushels. Yes a good oyster knife and Kevlar glove but; is easy peasy.

Oyster knife and a claw hammer.

Rap the shell hard on the umbo with the hammer then open with the oyster knife.

I take them out of the bushel or sack and wash with pressure from the hose pipe to remove any mud and crap off of them then rap them and open.

Every time I have witnessed someone try to open an oyster with anything other than an oyster knife or without a glove on their non knife hand it results in a first aid demonstration...... For that reason, I've been one of the designated shuckers around our place since I was old enough to pop one open. There is nothing like a couple dozen ice cold, big ol salty oysters. Especially first thing in the morning when too much libation occurred the night before.

I have used the plain white oyster knives pictured above, but I prefer a style called "Carolina Oyster" knife. It's a stubby little curved blade and the handle has a protective hilt. Works VERY well

Outstanding!

Awesome!

Sounds fun gunzo.

Since you're still learning new tricks get the book The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell. It's more than a little interesting and will make you the smartest oyster guy in the room at your next oyster party.

What a whiny bitch.