[Sca-cooks] Oysters in the shell vs. shucked oysters

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Nov 22, 2006, at 2:10 PM, SilverR0se at aol.com wrote:

> Oysters in the shell are alive and must stay alive until the moment  
> they
> slide down someone's throat. (UGH! I like my dead things really  
> dead before I eat
> them.)

Yes, but these are live things... at least they don't skip around on  
your plate.

> Shucked oysters are already decently dead and therefore are less  
> work to ship.

In addition, many shucked oysters are pasteurized, and sometimes also  
have various preservatives added; consequently they have a longer  
shelf life, all other things, such as time spent in storage uneaten,  
being equal. As a result, it takes fewer live oysters

> Besides, haven't you ever watched a professional shucking oysters?  
> They are
> FAST.

I can second this; I used to do it at the Oak Room at the Plaza  
Hotel. I'm probably faster than most here on this list, but I was too  
slow to do it for long...

Adamantius