Why You Should Eat Oysters at Home (And How to Shuck Them!) | What’s Eating Dan

Guess what Dan's favorite food is? Hint: It miiiiight just be oysters. Follow along to learn more about the different varieties and how to eat them. Leave your comments for your favorite way to top oysters below!

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00:00 - 0:20 - Introduction
0:20 - 1:50 - The five oyster species in North America
1:50 - 2:48 - What accounts for the variety in oysters’ flavor?
2:48 - 4:27 - The seasonality of oysters
4:27 - 5:48 - How to shop for, store, and eat oysters at home
5:48 - 8:34 - How to shuck an oyster
8:34 - 9:02 - Garnishes for raw oysters
9:02 10:21- How to make roasted oysters at home
10:21 10:46 - Credits

[brianklaus]

Taking some serious umbrage with your assertion that I need company to eat 30 oysters in one sitting

[pochuyma]

I never realized how he's so good 👍 at deadpan humour:
"The best way to crack open those is to fly 50 feet up in the air and drop them onto the rocks, making sure no other seagull gets them before you do."😆😂🤣

[jamaliciousben]

You left out one of the best methods for cooking oysters - grilling them! Either on a standard grill or directly on the coals of a fire. Here in the PNW when we are camping on the coast you can harvest oysters directly from the beach. Having a nice beach fire while watching the sun set, drinking a beverage of your choice and snagging oysters that you picked up off the beach from the coals of your fire just as they open up is how I eat oysters.

[kitbirskovich]

Some folks don't enjoy eating raw oysters (maybe because they're still alive when you slurp them). For them I place opened oysters on half shell on a baking sheet of crinkled foil (as in this video) and add a half teaspoon of lemon butter (melted butter, squeeze of lemon, finely minced parsley, tiny bit of grated garlic). Set under the broiler for no more than 3 minutes. Delicious, savory, and palatable for even the squeamish.

[TheKirbyT]

Oysters are awesome, not only because they're delicious, but their farming and using their shells after eating is helping rebuild and maintain coastlines.

[randomrando]

As a person who’s allergic to oysters this was valuable information.

[miwanabanana]

Dan saying ordering 30 oysters is an excuse to have people over.
Meanwhile, my mom and I power through 90 kumamotos we bought from our local wholesaler. 😅

[Ugohaasisover]

I remember eating oysters with my grandpa while he was still alive. We’d just pop a cracker in our mouths while chewing the oysters for a lil crunch, awesome memories man

[rogerandersen]

What a great endorsement, “with a challenging flavor profile”

[infernoz]

I have so many things to add growing up shucking and eating oysters. First of all if you're buying by the bushel and doing it for a lot of people, you will want to speed up the shucking process. for this you will need an oyster shucking glove. Another thing is that some people prefer using clam knives since they make the initial shell piercing easier due to being sharper at the tip and skinnier, i still prefer oyster knives due to the long flat surface making the separation of the shell easier once inserted. Hold the oyster to where the back of the shell is pointed toward the bottom of your hand with your palm up. Moving away from shucking there are many different ways to eat your oyster; my favorite being hot sauce and slurping from the shell. The shallot vinegar you make is also wonderful, however the best method for an oyster noob would definitely be cocktail and horseradish on a saltine cracker.

[Staymad]

Here in Hawaii we throw um in the grill then when the shells pop open due to the heat we aim for a soft, yet firm texture. Keep the oyster in the shell, pour in your mixture of shoyu (soy sauce) tobasco, calamansi & ponzu if you feeling fancy, then eat. Also another shellfish we’re really into are limpet clams, what we call “opihi” (oh-pee-hee) 20.99/lb due to dangerous process of harvesting (look it up) grill like oysters or eat raw

[chrisafp]

I worked on an oyster farm in New England and they did become and still remain my favorite food. I can't get enough to this day! I'm an oyster freak!!

[gdcadad]

One thing I was told is that you want to chew just a few times before swallowing these little delights. Don't swallow them whole and don't chew them into a pulp. It works for me. :)

[ah]

My preferred way to eat them is at happy hour when someone else has done the work and they're cheaper than the fish monger.

[raymondvandorpe]

Oh yum! Dan, this has got to be your best video to date. Oysters are my favorite food too! Your helpful information, sprinkled with your own dead-pan humor made this home cook smile all the way through. Thank you!

[tom_something]

I always thought the "R" month rule was because in warmer weather there's a greater chance of captured, dead oysters to sit at warmer temperatures before service, increasing the risk of food-borne illness. But I honestly don't remember if that was told to me or if I came up with it on my own.

But onto things that I think _might_ be right, I think the major cause of premature ice-meltage is the serving dish itself. Despite a reputation for being "insulating" materials, glass and ceramic have a lot more heat capacity and conductivity than, say, wood. The outside air won't take much of a toll on your ice in those early moments, but a room-temperature serving vessel absolutely will. So whether you're fast or slow with the shucking, you probably won't be at fault for pre-chilling your dish.

[jordy]

My go-to oyster garnish: Tapatio hot sauce, salt, squeeze of lemon, and a bit of mignonette sauce!

[WilliamnotW]

Raw oyster in a glass with a shot of vodka, a squirt of lemon juice, and a few drops of cocktail sauce is one of my favorite preparations. May not be sustainable for ingesting large quantities however...

[FR-tbxh]

A dollop of Horseradish, a dot of Tobasco, and a spritz of lemon and I’m so good to go! BTW I found shucking so hard to do myself — too many broken shell tops and liquor loss. But I’ll give it another go with your techniques — thank you!

[lc]

We have this oyster style in South East Asia by heating up lards, pours over spring onion, fry until golden some red onion bits, sprinkle fried onion and some chopped peanuts onto the opened oyster, pour the lard spring onion mixture over then roast them. They toast it on coal but of course I use the oven. There are many variations for the recipes, my favourite is to make sure the lards is extremely hot and pour directly over the spring onion and oyster, essentially cooking the oyster with the lard. But that usually takes quite a bit of effort, so I would stick to prep then oven.