cleaning clams and mussles
I soke and scrub the clams and mussles after checking to see if they are alive. But how long do I soke in water? I usually soke in cold water with some corn meal for 30 minute to an hour but last time they were a bit gritty.
Should I soke overnight?
Soup
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bushwickgirl
Dec 24, 2009 01:59 AM
They really only need to be soaked for 20-30 minutes in fresh water, to expell the digested sand. Some people put a handful of cornmeal in the water, to faciliate the cleaning process. After twenty minutes, the clams will have cleaned themselves of a lot of the salt and sand they have collected. Pull the clams up and out of the water. Do not pour the clams and water into a straining device because the expelled sand has sunk to the bottom of the bowl. Pouring the clams and water into a straining device would cause you to pour the sand back over the clams.You may occasionally get a little sand, even after a thorough cleaning. It's the nature of the creature.
You can soak them overnight but in well-salted water only, as salty as seawater; the fresh water will kill them.›1 Reply-
re: bushwickgirl
coll
Dec 24, 2009 02:29 AM
On the other hand, sometimes there's no grit at all in clams, especially smaller ones (just luck of the draw, as far as I know) and then when you cook the clams you get all the juices too, instead of pouring them down the drain. You can take your chances there. People who are fish experts tell me it's crazy to soak clams for this reason: and when it comes to mussels, they are mostly farm raised now and totally clean. Even if they're wild, they hang up off things and don't usually come in contact with sand.
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