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Cleaning Clams

post #1 of 10
9/12/09 at 8:38pm
Thread Starter 
I bought clams on the market and i have ensure that the clams are tightly close before i buy. However i went home and soak the clams in water , some of the clams open and i push to close it, they still wont close but it still open . Is the clam open means dead already?
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post #2 of 10
9/13/09 at 4:52am
What kind of clams? Did you soak them in fresh water or salt water?
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post #3 of 10
9/13/09 at 7:57am
If they remains open after you push them closed, in most cases they are gone. A lot of fish mongers hose down bags of clams before sending out . This way if they are going , they at least will close till they reach destination. Smell them if opened this is a good indicator if good or bad, If slightest question or doubt, throw them out. Most clams come taged identifying date of harvest and location or source. In some states it is a law to save these tags.
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post #4 of 10
9/13/09 at 9:25pm
And for how long did you soak them? Clams do need to breathe.
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post #5 of 10
9/15/09 at 1:38am
Thread Starter 
Sorry for late reply. It is chowder clams. I soaked it on salt water for around 25 minutes and change the salt water every 3 times as to ensure sand free. From what i know when cooking calms if the calm is closed ,need to discard it. The thing is that while soaking half way some calms open,I try to close it but it cannot close. May I know need to throw away these open calm before cooking or I can safely cook it and discard those calms that are close after cooking. Thanks.
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post #6 of 10
9/15/09 at 6:45am
I've never heard of a "Chowder clam" but I assume you are talking about quahogs or one of the smaller sizes. There are some clams that will not close all the way like softshell clams. Hard shell clams should be closed when they are alive. Sometimes you might have to tap them etc to get them to close. If they do not close they are dead. If they do not open when you cook them discard them.
Remember when in doubt throw it out!
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post #7 of 10
9/16/09 at 2:20pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for answering my question. What if i bought the quahogs in the morning and want to cook it at night? How should i store it to ensure it has a good quality, should i freeze it ? And if i need to defrost, is it soak in the salt water .
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post #8 of 10
9/17/09 at 2:58am
I would never freeze fresh clams. Just put them in the fridge.
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post #9 of 10
9/17/09 at 8:42am
DO NOT FREEZE Put them on a bed of ice (put plastic paper over ice so clams don't get wet or sit in water)
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post #10 of 10
9/19/09 at 5:14am
From my old clamming days, when we made chowder, we would keep the clams cold but no in water. Remember, a clam lives in water and uses a 'foot' which is a piece of muscle to dig its way into the sand. When in water, the natural response from the clam is to 'dig in' so it'll open. If the water it's in is not the same balance (salt/fresh) from where it came, it'll react by staying open as the salinity is not right.

With all that said, we'd set the clams up in a large pot, add water (fresh) and steam the clams open without cleaning. We'd then take the liquid, which had a the clam juice in it now, and strain it or scoop off the top layers to get the juice but not the sand.

Maybe that'll help you in your future endeavors with clams.

And, with shellfish.. if in doubt; throw it out!!
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