How and how much to cook oysters?

Before cooking oysters, you need to carefully examine them. If the shell of seafood is slightly open, then it can neither be boiled nor eaten. Such an oyster died before it was frozen or even caught. Spoiled seafood is often the cause of the most dangerous food poisoning.

The nuances of cooking oysters in a regular saucepan:

• before cooking, the oysters must be thoroughly rinsed and all impurities removed;
• discard oysters with open shells;
• oysters are laid in boiling water (previously, you can add not only salt to the liquid, but also greens, chopped onions, spices and lemon juice);
• after putting the oysters in boiling water, you need to pay attention to those seafood whose shells have not opened (such oysters must be removed from the pan and discarded);
• the cooking time for oysters should not exceed 60 seconds;
• traditionally, oysters are served with grated cheese, so after boiling, you can put seafood on a baking sheet, sprinkle with cheese and send to the oven for a few minutes);
• oyster meat can be cooked without shells (previously, the bodies of oysters are removed from the shells with a knife and thoroughly washed, and then placed in a boiling liquid with spices);
• instead of water, when cooking oysters, you can use white wine or beer (in some recipes, there is a method of cooking oysters in fish broth).

You can cook oysters using a double boiler. In this case, there are no specific restrictions on the cooking time of seafood. Salt and spices must be added to the water and only after that put the oysters on the wire rack. As soon as the shells begin to open, you need to wait a few minutes and remove those oysters that are left with closed shells.

The second way to boil oysters (traditional method):

• oysters must be carefully opened with a knife (they must first be washed);
• the workpieces must be put in a sieve or colander, and the liquid must be collected in a separate container;
• the liquid formed from the oysters must be poured into a saucepan, if necessary, add a small amount of water, spices, lemon juice and salt, and then bring the broth to a boil;
• put oysters in a boiling liquid and cook for 1 minute, then catch them with a spoon or slotted spoon.

You can cook oysters not only in a regular saucepan or double boiler, but also using a multicooker, microwave or pressure cooker. Each of the methods implies its own nuances, which mainly relate to the cooking time of the dish.

How much to cook oysters

Oysters are boiled almost instantly. Their preparation time is only one minute. Oysters with and without shells are cooked the same way. In the first case, you need to wait for the doors to open, and in the second option, the dish must be removed from the heat after 60 seconds. You shouldn’t keep oysters in boiling water. Otherwise, they will become less juicy, and their taste characteristics will become less pronounced.

Cooking time for oysters depending on the cooking method (total time for oysters with and without shells):

• boil oysters in a regular saucepan for 1 minute;
• in a double boiler, the cooking time reaches several minutes (the guideline is the opening of the shutters);
• in the microwave, oysters are cooked for 5 minutes (you must first open the shells, put on a plate and pour over with a liquid marinade based on water, lemon juice, salt and spices);
• in a slow cooker, oysters are cooked for 2 minutes in the “Soup” mode (you can cook oysters in this way with shells or in the form of meat);
• oysters are cooked in a pressure cooker for 2-3 minutes, but this method involves several stages.

In order to cook oysters in a pressure cooker, several steps must be taken. First, the sauce (oyster liquid or water, cream, lemon juice, spices and salt) is brought to a boil. Then oysters are placed in the boiling mixture, and the pressure cooker is immediately removed from the heat. Keep the oysters under the lid for at least 2-3 minutes. Only after such procedures are they ready for use.