Fancy an oyster but don’t have an oyster knife to hand or feeling a little nervous about shucking them? Then you could try one of these 5 no-shuck methods at getting into your favourite shellfish.

1. Fabulous Frozen

Freezing and thawing is one of the easiest hands-off methods of opening oysters. Make sure that your oysters are fresh and tightly closed then pop them in the freezer. Leave them in the freezer until you are sure that they are fully frozen through. Take them out and put them into the fridge to thaw.

As they start to thaw the lids will pop open and once they are fully defrosted you’ll be surprised at how they have retained their texture and flavour using this method. Serve with a classic mignonette dressing, perfection!

2. Gorgeous Grilled

If you fancy eating your oysters cooked then you can put them straight onto the grill or barbeque and the heat will pop the shells. How easy is that?! What’s more they really raise your barbeque game!

You can either leave them au naturel or remove them from their shells and stuff them, or add fillings or sauce to the shells while they cook. In our house our favourite grilled oyster recipes are ‘Angels on Horseback’ (oysters wrapped in bacon and grilled) or left in the half shell with a spoon of this delicious sauce and grilled for a couple of minutes until cooked.

Butter, grated parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, ground pepper and a little tabasco. Blitz it all together and you’re ready for grilling!

3. Maybe Microwaved….

Now we’re not sure we’d be recommending this no-shuck method but there’s no denying that it works!

Put your oysters on a plate, cupped side down and microwave them on high for about 45 seconds. Be careful! You only want to microwave them long enough for them to pop open, the aim isn’t to cook them so stay close to the microwave! Serve them on ice to make sure they are chilled and tasty.

 

4. Simply Steaming

Steaming your oyster results in a happy medium between raw and fully cooked. Sounds strange? The steam keeps the oysters plump and juicy, unlike roasting or grilling which can dry out the oysters if left for too long. Steaming doesn’t take long at all — usually 5 to 8 minutes — take the oysters out as they pop open.

Pop the oysters into a steaming pan with water, white wine or beer as your liquid and put the lid on tight to cook. When cooked serve them with lemon wedges and a little tabasco sauce.

5. Remarkable Roasted

 Our 5^th no-shuck method couldn’t be simpler! Turn the oven up to high so that it’s super-hot and place them cup side down onto a rack so that when they open you don’t loose the brine liquor.

When the lids start to pop take them out carefully, those shells will be hot! You can lever off the top shell with a regular kitchen knife. Why not try something a little different with these beauties like a tangy Chilli and Ginger dressing?