Home            A Brief Overview of the Farming Process

How to Open an Oyster

Opening an oyster is a three step process.  All you need is a hard flat surface, a hand towel, and an oyster knife (these can be found at any cutlery store).

Step #1

Hold the oyster firmly under the towel on a cutting board or table top.  Place the knife between the two shells at the tip of the oyster as shown in the picture.  By carefully pushing the knife down into the oyster and simultaneously applying a twisting force you should be able to break open the hinge.  This will be apparent when you can slide the knife into the oyster.

Step #2

Slide the knife around the outside of the shell to loosen the top shell from the bottom.  Presentation is important so try not to damage the meat or spill any of the liquor.  To remove the top shell you must cut the muscle in the middle of it.  This is done by scraping the knife along the underside of the top shell, the top shell can then be removed and discarded.

Step #3

The final step is to separate the meat from the bottom shell.  To do this, scrape the knife along the inside of the bottom shell under the meat.  Once the meat is loose the oyster is ready.  We recommend adding three drops of lemon and eating it raw, out of the half-shell.