| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| vics |
foraging for oysters and musselsWow! I've just found this site and think it is fantastic. Well done whoever set it all up!I would like any tips anyone has for foraging for oysters. There are apparently lots on certain local beaches and it seems to me to be an ethical form of foraging as the portuguese oyster is threatening the indigenous species. I read the article on foraging for mussels and thought it was good, but I was a bit concerned about reports from friends that the mussels can be full of mud and grit ....am I right in thinking that they, like oysters, might be best left in salt water with oatmeal for 24 hours, on a rack, so that they get rid of any gumph that has accumulated ??? Also, how do you actually go about harvesting oysters.....? If anyone has ideas and experience please let me know! |
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| Jamanda |
Hi Vics. Welcome to the site.
There's a couple of articles in here you might find interesting. Not sure about oysters. I think they live in deeper water and you need sub aqua gear to collect them. |
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| Jamanda |
Sorry - you've already read the main mussel article - late at night, not reading properly!
I've never found mussels to be unduly gritty. Sometimes they can be quite salty. I don't think I'd be wanting to collect them from anywhere muddy! |
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| Jonnyboy |
You can purge mussels, make up a brine solution, add some oatmeal or cornmeal and leave for a few hours. | ||||
| vics |
OystersThanks for the replies...oysters round here are in relatively shallow water as there are many rocky reefs which are accessible in low tide: I think oysters thrive in settings where they are covered in water for a period of time but they survive the low tides .... but yes, wading to some degree may be necessary if only at wellie levels!Still puzzled by lack of information on this one. I think you have to chisel the oysters off the chalk reefs as they cling on. Vics |
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| Rob R |
If you google "oyster foraging", this thread comes out top! 
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| Jamanda |
Just looked them up in Richard Mabey's Food for free. He says there are very few wild oysters left around Britain, so you should leave them.
Are the ones you find smooth shelled (natives) or rougher like the ones you buy - if the latter maybe they are escaped cultivated ones and so are OK to take. Edited to add - don't worry too much about getting things in exactly the right forum - most people just use the latest post button any way. And things have a habit of flying off on a tangent round here any way. |
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| cab |
Re: foraging for oysters and musselsVics, the quality of mussels varies with where you get them from; some beaches give you gritty mussels, some don't.The ground oats-in-salty-water thing, its dead easy and I find it helps. Get some clean tap water, make it salty like seawater, put it in a bucket, and put your mussels in - you want a decent depth. Add a handfull of ground oats (or if you haven't got any, flour will do at a push), mix it in, leave it somewhere cool for 24 hours or so. Gets a bit of grit out I guess, but more importantly it means that your mussels last meal was something entirely clean and safe, and of a neutral flavour allowing the taste of the mussels to dominate. Jamanda is right to caution you about oysters. But you've got more options than just oysters and mussels; have you considered winkles, shore crabs, seaweed..? Roughly where are you, whats the seashore like round your way? |
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| crofter |
Re: foraging for oysters and mussels
Or just use seawater. I have never heard of the oatmeal idea, (we just eat mussels directly from the sea) but cockles are depurated overnight in a bucket of water. |
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| cab |
Re: foraging for oysters and mussels
Gosh, but with that lovely clear seawater up where you are, I'd be using seawater too (and I've had good mussels straight out of the sea at Lochalsh). Depends where you are really. I believe its safer to feed them overnight in salty water, but I've never been of the view that it is particularly dangerous not to do so. |
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| Tavascarow |
This is a good site to guage where it's safe to pick.
I'm assuming the EA measure harmful mico biology in their tests. I'd still be wary of anything below excellent as moluscs could build harmful levels over a period of time from a moderate amount of pollution. |
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| maryf |
I've collected mussels, winkles, cockles and samphire in various places along the Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk coasts, I usually just rinse them in a bucket or bowl of tap water a couple of times then cook them straight away. I've never had any problems, but I have heard about oatmeal for mussels. I've also had fresh water oysters from a friends farm reservoir - not quite foraging but excellent eating! | ||||
| Tavascarow |
can anyone tell me how strong the brine should be.
I watched HFW but can't remember. |
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| ros |
I think sea water is 3 to 4% , so somewhere around there should do it 
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| frankbeswick |
Check the local fisheries committee for your area so that you can find out what is permitted and what is not. rules vary according to the area. | ||||
| dpack |
hello
mussels ,walk the coast ,ask questions,assess the biological challenge by observation of the other coastal life basic rule is as far from a sewer/polluted river as possible , oyster collection is outside my experiance if you want a tasty ,safe meal limpets are ace if a bit chewy ,either cook fast or very slowly ,they graze so tend not to aquire a toxic load of anything cockles and razor clams are pretty safe ,whelks are high risk ,winkles are inbetween re risk from bio/chemical hazard if i was in need of a snack sugar wrack and limpets would be on my list as first choice until i knew the coast avoid coasts with an industrial legacy if there is a big heavey metal or radiological load (i wont eat anything from devon to scotland and north sea fish are a rarity),there are local issues as well which one should assess on their facts |
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| lottie |
I'm reading River Cottage Edible Seashore at the minute[library book] and that recommends 35g salt per litre---shallow trays with shellfish no more than one deep for oxygenation,change water once and not longer than 10 hrs in there before cooking. |
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| bodger |
Thanks to lottie, for better or worse I've just purchased a copy this morning from ABE Books.
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?bt.x=82&bt.y=19&sortby=3&sts=t&tn=the+edible+seashore |
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| lottie |
I'm still debating whether to get one when I have to take it back to the library--but I'm weakening. 
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| bodger |
Mussels.
I take the dog for a walk on the beach most days and at the far end, there are thousands of mussels. I've visited this spot for years and in all that time there's never been any bigger than your thumb nail. Its very frustrating. I'm waiting for a really low tide, just incase there are some bigger ones further out but I've never had any success in the past. What sort of sites do you get your mussels from?.Please don't suggest the shops.
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| dpack |
mr b ,have you tried in the crevices ,mussels tend to survive longer and get more food in sheltered cracks and rock pools
it is rough on the knuckles but feeling for them and grabbing the big ones can be effective as you suspect taking advantage of very low tides will give larger specimins wading with goggles and a hooky thing at very low tide will give acess to many tasty critters my latest discovery is highr on the beach though ,sealice ,like woodlice but bigger and green and living at the top of the tidal zone ,are delicious flash boiled in limpet juice in the redundant shells |
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| Ronnie |
Wow - I never even considered eating a slater 
Kudos The key to foraging shellfish is clean water. Don't pick off piers or anywhere where sewerage is pumped into the sea. Rocky headlands are good. Mussels and oysters are good food, but they accumulate contaminants. Pick near to a Blue Flag beach to be sure. |