Another clam question.

[stricken]

Is it safe to eat clams and mussels that were closed in the store, but have opened in the travel time between store and sautee pan (about 1 hour)?

[gourmanda]

As cstr says, tap them to see if the close up again. As they are alive they continue to open and close. You want the clams to open a bit in order to purge the dirt/sand/muck...soak them for a while in several changes of cold salt water.

[Hue]

Add a little flour to you water and it will help in this process

[FriedClamFanatic]

corn meal works even better as the grit slightly aggravates them to spit sand out

[stricken]

Well, shows how much I know. I had been just cleaning them and then steaming them and then straining the liquid through cheesecloth to make the sauce. Thanks

[cstr]

If they open before cooking, give the open ones a tap on the counter to see if they close, this should happen in about 30 seconds. If they don't close chuck them.