How to keep oysters alive until you cook them:
-Place oysters in a bowl, cover with a damp towel, and place in the fridge. The towel maintains humidity, and protects the top layer of oysters from getting too cold. Re-moisten the towel every day. The oysters should be fine for up to 3 days this way.
-Alternatively, keep oysters on ice in a cooler, making sure to drain melted ice water from cooler, and top off ice whenever it is needed. Oysters should keep for 3 days to a week this way, depending on how fresh they were when purchased.
Checking if an oyster is dead or alive:
–Before cooking, if you find an oyster that is cracked open, do not use it. When an oyster dies its muscles relax and it can no longer keep its shell closed.
-Tap oysters together. Dead oysters have a hollow sound because they have lost their liquid.
-If an oyster has been dead for awhile, you will know it. They smell awful.
-When cooked, oysters do not pop wide open like clams or mussels. The shells often open just slightly. Do not discard oysters that appear closed after cooking, provided they were closed before you cooked them.
Bakeware:
-Oysters will spill some brine with cooking, causing metal bakeware to rust. I recommend using oven-proof glass dishes, older metal pans, or lining your bakeware very well. I have opted to dedicate an old baking sheet to oysters.
-To retain brine in the oyster shell when cooking, stabilize the oysters somehow. Some options:
- Use a muffin tin, placing one oysters in each muffin well
- Balance the oyster on a baking sheet using an oven-proof utensil
- Fill baking sheet with a large amount of rock salt. Nestle oysters into the salt.
Spencer Family Cookbook 