Sharp-Shuckers

Experts offer insight into the fine art of freeing oysters

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The average person takes between thirty and sixty seconds to shuck an oyster. That’s a long time to wait for a briny mouthful of oceanic perfection, but for the novice (or the accident-prone), it’s better to take one’s time; just ask France, where about two thousand people end up in the hospital for shucking-related injuries every holiday season. 

Some people dare to shuck a little faster.

Duke Landry, co-owner of Duke’s Seafood in Denham Springs, can shuck a dozen in about a minute. Landry shucked his first oyster at age 15 in the kitchen at Don’s Seafood, his family’s restaurant. Since then, he’s competed or placed in oyster shucking competitions for speed and presentation in the United States, Ireland, and China; for a twenty-three year stretch, he held a speed record. He also picked up first place in the shucking competition at last year’s Baton Rouge Oyster Festival. “I’m 62 now, and I started when I was 15,” said Landry. “You can do the math.”

Jeffrey Cash, who is part of Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar’s competition-winning team of shuckers, has been shucking for five years. Behind the oyster bar, his coworkers simply call him “Cash.” He’s seen his fair share of rookie mistakes there—and he’s made some too. His first year working the bar during the Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade, he was paying too much attention to a customer and ended up stabbing himself. It’s a gory cautionary tale, of which we’ll spare the details. “The knife went straight through my hand,” said Cash. 

Both Landry and Cash often train new employees on the finer points of shucking oysters and were more than happy to provide some insight for the less-practiced among us. 

Parts of an oyster

Before a beginner should attempt to free a beautiful bivalve from its encrusted keep, a crash course in oyster anatomy is helpful. 

Every oyster has a flatter side and a rounder, deeper side—the two sides are easier to distinguish in some oyster varieties than others. The rounded shell is the cupped side, and most consider this to be the bottom of the oyster. The flatter shell is generally considered to be the top. Depending on the shucker’s preferences, the oyster meat ends up on either shell. The flatter side, some think, makes for a better presentation; while the cupped side provides more support for the meat, making it less likely to slide off the shell in the process of serving.

The hinge is fairly obvious. It’s what holds the two sides (valves) of the shell together, and is generally the more pointed end of the oyster. 

Preparation

Getting ready to shuck isn’t a complicated process, but when dealing with raw oysters, things can go downhill fast without a few simple preparations. 

A flat container or large plate filled with crushed or salted ice is important. Raw oysters, especially those harvested in warmer waters (like the Gulf of Mexico), can harbor a particular nasty bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus, which can be lethal to those with diabetes or auto-immune diseases. All unshucked, live oysters should be kept between 40 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit; and as soon as they’re shucked, they should go straight to the crushed ice plate. Live (unshucked) oysters should never be stored in direct contact with ice, submerged in water, or in plastic bags; the results can be fatal (for the oyster). 

[Read this: A Caveat on Caviar]

Give the oysters a once-over before shucking. They will need a good rinse to remove any debris and mud. Unshucked oysters are sold live, but that doesn’t mean they’ve all survived their trip to a home kitchen—if you find any that are open (the industry term is “gapped”), tap it gently with your knife. If it closes, it’s still alive. But if it stays open, throw it out, because it has bitten the proverbial dust and should not be eaten.

An oyster knife is just as important. Unlike kitchen knives, oyster knives are not sharp on either edge, nor on the rounded point; whereas most kitchen knives are sharp somewhere. This is why a kitchen knife should never be used to shuck an oyster. It could be the end of your kitchen knife, or your hand. 

Many professional shuckers use a standard oyster knife that has been altered to the shucker’s preference. Landry sands down the handle of his oyster knife for a better grip; while professional shucker David Doughty (whom I found shucking at the Amite Oyster Festival) files his knife’s edges to a desired sharpness. 

"When I see the sexy oysters, I know I’m gonna have a good day." —Jeffery Cash

Landry uses a standard three-inch Dexter oyster knife. Cash prefers “El Cheapo,” as he calls his budget-minded version of a Dexter, and it’s unaltered. (Cash no longer uses the knife that stabbed him. It was banished to the drawer next to the shucking station at Jolie Pearl.)   

Speaking of stabbing: beginners will want to wear a pair of gloves. Shucking gloves come in several tiers. Some are made of metal mesh for superior protection, but garden gloves work well, too. Even a double layer of latex kitchen gloves will help protect a hand from the often-rough exterior of a Gulf oyster. Neither Landry nor Cash wear gloves at this point in their careers (both say gloves slow them down), but both recommend them to beginners. “If somebody’s doing it for the first time, we always encourage gloves,” said Landry. “It’s not worth stabbing yourself.” 

Methods

There’s more than one way to shuck an oyster. In fact, there are two. Oysters come in thousands of varieties and all shapes and sizes, with varying degrees of shell and muscle strength, so the best approach depends on where the oyster hails from. The main two methods of entry are from the hinge (the more pointed end) and from the side; most people aim for the hinge because it’s safer and easier.

[Check out this oyster recipe from our December 2018 issue: Oyster Mushroom Etouffée]

Proper form comes two ways, too. Landry is what the industry calls a table shucker. Using a table lends extra stability and helps to keep the oyster in place during shucking. Landry can shuck an oyster in his hand but he’d rather use the table during competitions. “I put it on the table to pry it open,” explained Landry. “Some of them do it with the oyster in their hands—the Florida guys do it that way. It’s a different style.”

Though he’s not from Florida, Cash is a proud hand shucker. He holds the oyster, cupped end up and hinge pointing toward him, between his thumb and forefinger as he pries open the shell. He finds this route to be the quicker. “The table shuckers, we call that the handicap method,” joked Cash. 

Coming at the bivalve from the hinge, Landry explained, is his preferred method for shucking Gulf oysters, which tend to have stronger shells and hinge muscles in his experience. “We come in from the hinge, is what they call it,” said Landry. “Some of the [oysters] from the Chesapeake Bay area, they’ll come in from the flat end, or the bill.” 

He placed his oyster flat-side up on the table, got a good grip on it, and pried from the left side of the hinge. “It does always end up on the left side, I guess,” he said and wondered if that’s why lefties have a little more trouble with shucking.

Cash feels the same about the hinge entry method and noted that some oysters are better formed for hinge prying than others. He picked up a Gulf oyster and pointed to the hinge, which had an obvious zig-zag gap. He held it with the cupped side up, inserted his oyster knife a little off to the right side, dug in just a little bit, and twisted the knife until something popped. “You hear that?” said Cash. (And yes, the pop is audible—and satisfying.)

“I don’t care if you’re fast, I just want them perfect." —Duke Landry

Some oysters open easier than others, even for the pros. Sometimes, Landry said, the problematic oysters are better shucked from the side of the oyster’s bill, wherein the side of the knife ends up cutting right through the adductor muscle. 

When Cash is working on a busy night, he sets the difficult ones aside to deal with later. He can usually tell by sight if a batch of oysters will give him trouble—or if he’s going to have an easy time with them. “These,” said Cash, spreading his hands wide before the pit of enormous Gulf oysters, nestled amid crushed ice, “these are what I like to call sexy oysters. When I see the sexy oysters, I know I’m gonna have a good day.”

With the two valves open, the next step is to cut the oyster meat from the shell. Cash does this by scooping his knife under the meat, scraping as close to the shell as possible, with a turn of the wrist. Shlorp.

Post-shucking

After a successful shuck session—all half-shell oysters on ice, sitting on their flat tops—only a few steps remain. Store shucked oysters under refrigeration for no longer than an hour before eating, though they’re best eaten immediately. Serve them with horseradish, hot sauce, cocktail sauce, Lea & Perrins, saltines, mignonette, sliced lemons, or any combination of these. 

If the shucking process still sounds intimidating, keep in mind that speed is not the primary goal. When Landry trains new shuckers how to do their jobs, he advises safety and precision over speed—the prime directive is to get the shell open without stabbing yourself, mangling the oyster meat, or leaving undesirable gritty residue. “Be safe, and don’t try to go too fast,” said Landry. “I don’t care if you’re fast, I just want them perfect. The meat not cut, and no dirt on them. There’s nothing worse than biting into grit.”  

Find Duke Landry’s oyster protégés at Duke’s Seafood and Steakhouse in Denham Springs (2591 South Range Avenue) or in Watson (33920 Highway 16).

Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar’s team of shuckers, Cash included, can be found at 315 North Boulevard in Baton Rouge.

Want to see some shuckers in action? Jolie Pearl puts on the Baton Rouge Oyster Festival at Galvez Plaza in downtown Baton Rouge, 2 pm–11 pm on May 18.  Learn more at batonrougeoysterfestival.com or in our online Calendar of Events.