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How to clean mussels

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  • 10-05-2010 6:15pm
    #1
    breakfast roll
    Registered Users Posts: 334 ✭✭


    I'm looking to cook some fresh mussels.

    What is the best way to make sure all the sand and grit inside the mussels are removed? I've heard of either soaking them in some water with flour or some water with salt? Which is the best way?

    :)


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    #2
    dubh101
    Registered Users Posts: 124 ✭✭dubh101


    salted water.mussels should not be open,any that are and dont close when you tap them are dead and should not be consumed,A hand held scrubbing brushI find is best for cleaning them,and try too remove the beards,when cooking any that dont open should also be discarded.:)


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    #3
    Swampy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,104 ✭✭✭Swampy


    Beware the one dodgy mussel that you will eventually eat.

    It is the fear of that mussel that has stopped me eating them.


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    #4
    shrapnel222
    Registered Users Posts: 3,120 ✭✭✭shrapnel222


    Swampy wrote: »
    Beware the one dodgy mussel that you will eventually eat.

    It is the fear of that mussel that has stopped me eating them.

    i'm sure you've been sick after a dodgy curry once before also surely. did that stop you eating curries?

    either way, it seems a shame to stop eating any foods because of the fear there is a minute chance you will get sick.


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    #5
    shrapnel222
    Registered Users Posts: 3,120 ✭✭✭shrapnel222


    breakfast roll wrote: »
    I'm looking to cook some fresh mussels.

    What is the best way to make sure all the sand and grit inside the mussels are removed? I've heard of either soaking them in some water with flour or some water with salt? Which is the best way?

    :)

    you usually don't clean the inside, just the outside, and as mentioned pull that beard out when cleaning them.


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    #6
    LK_Dave
    Closed Accounts Posts: 376 ✭✭LK_Dave


    When washing/scrubbing them, would you use fresh or salt water?


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    #7
    lazygit
    Registered Users Posts: 624 ✭✭✭lazygit


    dubh101 wrote: »
    when cooking any that dont open should also be discarded.:)

    it is safe to eat closed mussels after cooking, just force them open, its an old wifes tale.. ive done it and had a number of chefs also comment that its safe


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    #8
    shrapnel222
    Registered Users Posts: 3,120 ✭✭✭shrapnel222


    LK_Dave wrote: »
    When washing/scrubbing them, would you use fresh or salt water?

    personnally i just do it in the sink under running tap water


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    #9
    Snowie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,048 ✭✭✭✭Snowie


    into a cold water doesnt have to be salted and just scrpae the beard of it with a table knife or something simmiler dont worry about the funny growth thing on the shell just cook :)

    white wine butter cream garlic and parsly pepper.

    Propper butter to. :)


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    #10
    niall_belfast
    Registered Users Posts: 52 ✭✭niall_belfast


    Yes, scrub the outside, using a knife to remove barnacles and removing the beards by hand.

    Then leave the mussels in a basin of salted water for half an hour - after which you'll notice that a lot of sand and grit is sitting at the bottom.

    Remove the mussels - with any that are open you should tap them on your work surface - if they don't close, through them away.

    And after cooking, any that are still closed should be thrown away too.

    Hope you enjoy - mussels are one of my all-time favs!


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    #11
    pog it
    Registered Users Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭pog it


    Is it hard to pick your own mussels or how would you know where to find them?


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    #12
    Aidric
    Registered Users Posts: 13,591 ✭✭✭✭Aidric


    Swampy wrote: »
    Beware the one dodgy mussel that you will eventually eat.

    It is the fear of that mussel that has stopped me eating them.
    Happened me once and gave rise to the worst dose of food poisoning I've ever experienced. It took me a while to start eating them again but I couldn't stop completely. Too damn tasty.


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    #13
    Clementine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 77 ✭✭Clementine


    pog it wrote: »
    Is it hard to pick your own mussels or how would you know where to find them?

    The difficulty in picking your own mussels (if you can find them) is making sure that they haven't been contaminated by any harmful bacterias or anything else. Commercially, mussels are left to filter and purify in seawater tanks for at least 24 hours, after being scrubbed and barnacles removed, before being sold onto restaurants and shops. Just something to keep in mind!


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    #14
    CJhaughey
    Registered Users Posts: 14,907 ✭✭✭✭CJhaughey


    Clementine wrote: »
    The difficulty in picking your own mussels (if you can find them) is making sure that they haven't been contaminated by any harmful bacterias or anything else. Commercially, mussels are left to filter and purify in seawater tanks for at least 24 hours, after being scrubbed and barnacles removed, before being sold onto restaurants and shops. Just something to keep in mind!
    Its a little bit more complicated then just sticking them in in tanks of seawater for a day, they also have to be tested for the various toxins that can occur like AZP,DSP,ASP,PSP etc, and the water in purification facilities is run through filters and UV light to kill any bacteria that may be present this way the shellfish is able to be filtering clean water all the time and not re-ingesting harmful material.
    Here is a couple of links that refer to areas where it is safe/not safe to pick mussels and eat them.
    Mussel areas and their classification
    Areas of aquaculture harvesting and their current test status

    Shellfish poisoning is strange as it depends on the individual as to how badly they are affected. Norwegians suffere badly from poisoning and French seem to not be affected much at all!

    If you do pick your own be sensible about it, and avoid picking after rainfall as lots of nasty stuff gets washed out to sea after rain.
    Avoid picking from areas of high population if possible as again the amount of bad stuff likely to be present is considerably higher than an area of low population.
    This works on a seasonal basis as well, an area that is almost empty in winter but has a large holiday campground in it's vicinity is likely to have a high degree of contamination in summer due to the population increase.


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    #15
    Qualitymark
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,824 ✭✭✭Qualitymark


    I put mussels in cool water with a small handful of oatmeal, and change the water a couple of times over six hours. Then give them a look over and pull out any obvious seaweed dangling, and rinse well.

    Then toss them into a pan with a little bubbling butter and some sliced and some crushed garlic, and cover. A minute later, add in a dash of white wine. When they open, toss in some chopped parsley.

    If you like, you can remove the mussels when they've opened, and thicken the sauce with cream or yogurt (take out some of the sauce and add to the cream/yogurt and mix before stirring it back in over a low heat.

    Serve with crusty French bread.

    Be *very* cautious about where you collect mussels. They are basically filters, which suck the nourishment out of the water where they live. If that water contains sewage, that's what they're eating.

    You can get very sick from mussel poisoning; you can also die from it, if the mussels grow where there is sewage, or where there are poisonous algae.

    (In any case, farmed mussels are actually bigger and tastier than wild mussels in general - one of the few seafoods where this is the case.)


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