buy oysters online UK

Purchasing & Storage Tips For Fresh Oysters There are two common food oysters that we are interested in purchasing, and they are simply known as either flat or cupped buy oysters online UK . Which ones do we purchase as the flavour and texture do vary widely between species to species and as they are filter feeders, they gain their own individual taste depending on their environment? But the real question is - how do I keep them fresh?

Getting live oysters from the seafood outlet to home the best way is to keep them on a bed of ice or in a ventilated box with a damp cloth draped over them. Make sure that the oysters are not going to suffocate in the melted ice or be submerged under some water in a cooler or case, remembering these are breathing living creatures that will deplete the oxygen from a small amount of water very quickly.

The oyster is generally slurped raw off the half shell but they do however excel in tastes by being cooked in various oyster recipes. If you do plan to create a large oyster stew or some other delicious oyster recipe that requires simply lots of oyster meat with no particular shape or size, remember to ask the seafood outlet when purchasing if they offer cuts.

These are mixed sizes of oyster meats that have been damaged during the opening process at the shucking facility. They can be bought in larger quantities at a time making them much cheaper and they taste exactly the same as your well presented oyster on half shell.

Once home, clean them if necessary under some running water and pat dry with a cloth. Keeping in mind that they need to breathe, store them in a ventilated container or on a plate with a damp cloth draped over them. Store them ideally in the warmest part of the refrigerator, so maybe the crisper in this case.

Oysters will store safely in these conditions between five to seven days.

Opening or shucking of the oysters should be done shortly before you are ready to serve. The colder the oyster, the easier they are too open and don't have them sitting out of the refrigerator for very long before shucking as we don't want any nasty bacteria multiplying on them.

If you have already opened and need to store them again, this is fine, but I recommend that you do eat them within a day of this process and now store them in the coolest part of the refrigerator.

Oysters can also be frozen in the half shell as long as they are well covered with a plastic film to protect the open surfaces. Make sure when freezing on the half shell that the meats are covered with their liquor and that you allow about a half inch for expansion.

Freezing oysters this way generally is safe for up to six months at a time.