Cooking clams at home?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Aunt Bea

Aunt Bea

Master Chef
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
9,214
Location
near Mount Pilot
I would like to steam a dozen clams for myself now that I have seen pac's clambake.

I have never cooked a small amount indoors and I could use some tips or a TNT method.

Also I am wondering what are the best types of clams, likely to be found in the supermarket.

Do small amounts of clams from the grocery store require cleaning or purging similar to the process used in cleaning large amounts?

Could I just lay them in a frying pan and add a little water, butter etc and just bring to a boil for a few minutes.

I know how to melt the butter and open the beer, it's the rest of the process that confuses me. :ermm::ohmy::LOL:

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks, B
 
If you intend to eat the bellies, I would place them in heavily salted water. In fresh water they will drown. Once they are dead you no longer can cook them for eating. I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. You can put a small amount of corn meal in the water to help them purge. Only leave them there for an hour. Remove from the salted water and scrub them under running water. Check them to make sure they are all closed. If any are open, tap them a couple of times and they should close. If they don't, toss it. It is dead.

You are better off steaming them in a saucepan with a glass lid. Place your liquid in the pan along with any seasonings you want to use. I just place them in plain water and steam them. Then I dip them in melted butter and eat the whole thing. When all of the shells are open (why the glass lid) remove from the heat immediately. If any failed to open, toss it. It too is dead. Remove the clams from the shells over a bowl. You want to capture the juice inside the shells. You don't need to cover them with water. Just a couple of inches will do the job. You are steaming them. Pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer with cheese cloth or just the strainer and leave the last drops in the pan. You will see the sand in the bottom. Toss it.

Good luck. Happy eating. :angel:
 
Aunt Bea said:
I would like to steam a dozen clams for myself now that I have seen pac's clambake.

I have never cooked a small amount indoors and I could use some tips or a TNT method.

Also I am wondering what are the best types of clams, likely to be found in the supermarket.

Do small amounts of clams from the grocery store require cleaning or purging similar to the process used in cleaning large amounts?

Could I just lay them in a frying pan and add a little water, butter etc and just bring to a boil for a few minutes.

I know how to melt the butter and open the beer, it's the rest of the process that confuses me. :ermm::ohmy::LOL:

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks, B
Click to expand...

The clams found in the grocery stores around here are already ready to cook. No purging, debearding or anything required other than steaming.

The only difference I have noticed in the varieties offered around here is how big of a piece you want to put in your mouth. The flavor is the same.
Just have you seafood counter person hand pick them (they usually know what they are doing) and don't twist the plastic bag closed or they could suffocate. Get home quick and right into the fridge, on ice if you aren't using until the next day. I also lay a damp paper towel over them if saving them for a day.

There's not much to cooking them except to steam until they open.
The more you have going you should use a lid to retain your liquids or you'll cook them dry. Remember, too much liquid and you're boiling them. And it's also nice to use a small amount of liquid to keep it concentrated anyway.
You can use water, beer or any variety of liquids (last night I used beer, vermouth and water for my clambake, but there were also veggies in the liquid like garlic and celery). The liquor, or juice, the clams give up while cooking makes a delicious juice for dunking bread into.

So simplified you could steam in water and dunk in butter, but there is also a lot you can do with the liquid (see Snip's curry mussles for instance). It's all good.
And get some mussels, too. They are cheaper, sweeter and not as chewy. You might find you like them just as much.

:yum:
 
great advice from some clammy folks so far.

the first question is whether you want small hardshell clams (the relatively round ones), or softshell clams (the elongated ones with an external siphon).

for the hardshells, which is what you probably have available this time of year, i like to purge my clams submerged in lightly salted water after scrubbing for a few hours in the fridge. no cornmeal or anything added.

maybe it's because the water isn't very salty, or maybe like pac says they're ready to go from the store, but my clams have never been gritty doing it this way.

btw, mussels and some barnacles have beards; clams do not.

now, like my clammy buds have said, when they've warmed a bit on the counter, tap them if any are slightly open. if they close, they're good. if they say open, they might be bad
if they don't close, an experienced nose can tell if they're bad. they might just be asleep from the cold fridge. but for a newbie, chuck 'em.

then comes the fun part.

you can broil them, bake them, grill them... wait, that's for shrimp. :D

take a deep saute pan; crowding them is ok, then over medium heat in a bit of oil or fat (evoo, canola, peanut, bacon-yumm), toast you're aromatics such as garlic, shallots, and/or onion just a little, add just a splash of white wine or water or clam broth or seafood stock-about a quarter cup and then optionally add in some butter, fresh herbs such as parsely, thyme or better yet lemon thyme, or maybe basil or thai basil (if doing a thai thing, then also add a bit of ground ginger and lime juice). the style and herb combos are up to you.

you know what you're doing in the kitchen as far as combos go, so i don't need to go any farther with that.

ok, so, pop the cleaned clams in the saute with the liquid, turn the heat to high, cover tightly, and wait 5 minutes.

take a peek, and as soon as 3/4s of them open up, recover the pan and shut the heat off. wait another 2 minutes and the rest should be opened up.

those that aren't go to the bin. or as mentioned, are steamed a minute or so more after the rest are plated if they smell ok. if after that and they still are closed, chuck 'em no matter what.

plate, or maybe i should say in a bowl or deep plate the clams, and pour the remaining liquid over top. serve with crusty bread for sopping uo the liquid.
.
 
Last edited:
i forgot to add that as far as hardshell clams go (quahogs, currently known the oldest living creature on earth), you want to go small. the smallest are topnecks, then littlenecks, then cherrystones, then quahogs.

you want to go small for steaming, up to cherrystones, if they're fresh.

quahogs are big and tough, so they're best suited for chopping and adding to soups or mincing for stuffing.

gorta run. softshell clam directions in a bit.
 
i have no business getting hungry for clams this time of night, and with no prospect of getting my hands on any until tomorrow, at the soonest. so, i should maybe stop reading clam bake and dinner threads at midnight, right? you would think i would learn that simple lesson after the first fifteen times, but no....
 
Well the test subjects are chillin in the fridg.

The lady at the fish counter laughed at me when I asked for a dozen little neck clams!

When she brought me my little net bag about the size of a lemon I could understand why. :ermm::ohmy::LOL:

This will be enough for a taste test!

I have rigged up a steamer using a saucepan and a small round trivet, I'll give it a try for lunch!
 
Aunt Bea said:
Well the test subjects are chillin in the fridg.

The lady at the fish counter laughed at me when I asked for a dozen little neck clams!

When she brought me my little net bag about the size of a lemon I could understand why. :ermm::ohmy::LOL:

This will be enough for a taste test!

I have rigged up a steamer using a saucepan and a small round trivet, I'll give it a try for lunch!
Click to expand...

sounds good, b. awaiting results.

btw, i usually figure about a dozen littlenecks per person for an appy..
 
If you want to make it really easy just put them onto a glass pie dish after you rinse them. Put plastic wrap over the entire thing and pop them into the microwave oven. Watch the little darlin's spin around until they all pop open - unless there are a couple of klunkers.

I know I've probably committed a mortal sin with this method but when you can't wait...:yum:
 
I always scrub and purge hardshell clams. I like to steam them in white wine, garlic, and onion of some type with a pinch of S&P. I usually get a 50 count bag of little necks, eat what we want and freeze the rest in the steaming liquid. These I will use with the broth to make pasta and clams.:)
 
Yesterday I was in the Price Chopper and they had clams from Maine, 50 for $5.99. The other day I paid $3.99 for a dozen little neck clams. I asked the fish guy about the difference in price and the quality of the cheaper clams. He explained that the more expensive clams have been purged prior to sale and are ready to go. The drastically cheaper clams are sold as dug and that they can be quite dirty. I am always looking for a bargain, and I sometimes regret it. Have any of you had good results using these cheaper clams or should I stay away from them?
 
I made linguini with clam sauce 3 days ago. I only did like 15 clams. I put them in water for 15 mins so they would release sand and make sure they closed and then put them in a hot sauté pan with a cover and half cup of white wine on medium heat.
Important thing is to take out each clam as they open or you'll end up with overlooked clams ( really important step actually)

I then strained the liquid with cheesecloth to get sand out

There is more to this recipe if your interested but I know you are doing something different. I'm sure you can use water instead of wine
 
Those inexpensive mahogany clams are back in the grocery flyer!

I am still a little nervous about giving them a try and I have a couple of questions.

First how far in advance can I buy them and keep them in the refrigerator.

Second on this purging business, will it work if I put them in a Pyrex 9x13 baking pan with some salt water and a damp dish towel tossed over them or do they need to be in a deeper container, similar to the ocean. :ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

taxlady
How to make Quark (Kvark) at home
Replies
3
Views
319
taxlady
taxlady
S
Cooking app???
Replies
3
Views
378
SlowCook66
S
CharlieD
Cooking question
Replies
14
Views
1K
CharlieD
CharlieD
Kathleen
Friday, February 16, 2023 - Friday Night Food! Whatcha having?
Replies
11
Views
513
GinnyPNW
GinnyPNW
larry_stewart
Clam Chowder Dilema
Replies
6
Views
1K
msmofet
msmofet

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom