Smoked Oysters

[smokyokie]

Who knows how to smoke and preserve oysters?

 

[deejaydebi]

I believe Skip Pescadero does muscles? Maybe the same?

 

[triple b]

I don't know either ,but,I'd like to find out!

 

[roger]

I don't know about smoking them things but I eat 'em raw right out of the shell with some tobassco sauce and a cold beer. Ain't nothing better in life. JMO

 

[geek with fire]

This goes well below answering your question, but it reminds me that I saw Mike Davis (lotta bull bbq) cook oysters in a competition on the Versus network. I don't recall the details, but that might give ya' a good start.

If I had to guess.....and that aint what you're looking for....I'd say shuck and dry them. Poke some holes in them with fork and smoke them on low heat for about 30 minutes.

Past that, I'm no use what so ever.

 

[twomill]

It has been a long time but, we use to smoke them on the half shell, be careful it doesnt take long to dry them out and they absorb smoke quick so no long than an hour. I may have to try that and get back with final results.

Oh yeah make sure you use a catch pan - oyster juices dont smell too good later.

 

[peculiarmike]

Dang things are hard to keep lit.........................

I'd like to know how also. I love smoked oysters from the can. Smoking my own would be killer.
Not much on them raw.

 

[gypsyseagod]

i have no clue on smoking them- i do know suck & eat or freeze immediately. the reason i responded to this post is.. as you are in okla- make sure you know where your getting them from. certain bays in texas & lousiana & the east are condemmed due to msra flesh eating staph infection & red tide.

 

[deejaydebi]

Here's an online link but I've never tried it:

http://www.usoysterfest.com/recipe.html


Apparently they have contests for this type of thing.

 

[triple b]

Well I did a search and this is all I found so far:
Preheat your electric Bradley smoker to 175 degrees F.
Shuck oysters using an oyster knife being careful to keep the oyster liquor in the shell. Sprinkle each oyster with bbq seasoning.
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Place oysters on smoker rack and smoke oysters using your desired flavor of wood smoke for 1 ½ to 2 hours until just firm.[/font]

It's a start anyway.

 

[kew_el_steve]

Big oyster area around here...I'll ask around.

 

[peculiarmike]

You mean you don't smoke them?????? Figured down there oysters would be prime smokin' material.
Ah, Panama City! Had an adventure in the Holiday Inn on the beach one spring break there......... ........ ...... !!!!!! Memories .........................

 

[salmonclubber]

smokyokie

here is a recipe that i have never used but i will as soon as i can get a nice batch of oysters i got this off another board

I scrubbed them clean and shucked them a few nights ago and kept covered in tupperware with plastic wrap over them in the back of the fridge. They were all completely submerged in their 'liquor'.

So last night...put on a large pot of water and brought to a boil. Placed all the oysters in a strainer basket and submerged the bunch in the hot water. Stirred them around for even exposure and removed once the edges started to turn up a bit. Alltogether they were in the water 5 or 6 seconds max.

Laid them out on a sheet pan with a towel on it for them to dry while I set the smoker up. I have a bullet smoker and laid the two grates crosswise on each other so as to make a sort of grid. I then laid tin foil over this and poked a whole bunch of holes all through it to let smoke and heat throgh.

Smoker was about 170-190 with heavy smudge from cherry wood. I placed the oysters in and turned a few times over the course of 25-30 minutes. They took on a nice yellowish color and still retained a decent texture. Like other cooking there's a fine line between the middles feeling soft but cooked or soft but uncooked. It helps to have an idea of what you're feeling for.

I put the finished product in a small clean jar and covered with oil.

The one improvment I'd like to make is the surface which the oysters sit on. Despite the holes in the foil, there was still moisture on the bottom of them each time I flipped them. With more exposure on their bottoms

I think they would have cooked a fair bit faster.
Ideally you could drill a bunch of holes in a cookie tray or maybe take the handle off of one of the mesh pan covers you might use when deep frying on the stove top.

A final note is that these lost a ton of size when cooked. Like over 50% easy. These were big mature oysters from local waters and the shucked meat was WAY bigger than you'd want to enjoy as a shooter. The average size was about 3" long and plenty wide. They are a fine size for eating now that they're cooked. If you started with raw oysters that you'd not mind eating straight up, you're smoked ones might end up the size of a large jelly bean. I bet they'd take a lot less time too.

hope this helps you

huey

 

[gypsyseagod]

i was thinking about this... now over a grill w/ mussels or clams you plop them on there & when they open up you splash a dollop of beer on it & wait 5 then splash tobasco & slurp it up w/ a cracker. but smoking it... the oyster shell is way heavier... i'd say do the oyster on the 1/2 shell or remove & wrap in bacon & lemon garlic & chill overnight w/ beer & smoke for 20 mins or so @ 220-225. use debi's time /temp table & treat it like a shrimp for weight. hope it helps okie.

 

[bbqpitstop]

ooooooooooo yeah, ya gotta try this............

Last year at a comp the theme was New Orleans, (Nawlins to you Roger), and we had to come up with a cajun, creole, something of that sort.

The proceeds of this "extra" category would go to hurricane katrina victims so just about everyone registered for it......

As is my habit I had to come up with something at the last minute so being from Buffalo I thought I'd try "Nawlins Chicken Wings"...........
now don't barf...........because this turned out excellent....

I smoked the oysters about a half hour then added some bleu cheese and a dash of Franks hot sauce, (the TRUE buffalo wing recipe for all you people that continually slaughter it...lol), then I smoked another twenty minutes or so.....wow was it good...

AS for shrinkage and dryness which were my biggest fears, I think the bleu cheese and hot sauce actually helped prolong the smoking process and it was a true slow cook as though it was "mopped"....

If ya try it Okie or Roger, let me know what you think...we had one judge who had never had an Oyster and didn't WANT to try an oyster, but after one taste, she asked for another.......

Raw is good, but Rockefeller is my favorite........I get them flash frozen in a cryovac "pop out" pack on the half shell, they're excellent. Had them fresh in my travels too...............I'm testing the "aphrodisiac effect" I've heard so much about............anybody want to comment on that? Or is that all in my head and positive thinking?

 

[gypsyseagod]

great recipes..as far as the only true "aphrodesiac"i know of....that works every time....a couple margaritas,salt air, a full moon & a sandy beach.....it's never failed yet... now a lifeguard stand & phosphorous in the surf-even better.....

 

[cman95]

Never smoked any but we scrub and clean oysters well and then put on grill. When the shell starts to open they are ready. Don't over do it. This one time where looking is cooking. Open shell add hot sauce and enjoy.
By the way we call it "Grilled Rocks"

 

[smokyokie]

That'd be thetoughest part, shucking and not eating!

I'm gonna have to try the blue cheese thing. But I gotta know where you buy them in a cryopac. I wpuld carve out a hole in my deep freeze and fill it up with 'em.

 

[docfishbones]

Around Apalachicola, Fl. I learned that you just clean the shells and place them on the grate with a wet towel over the oysters. Smoker temp. around 190 to 210, just enough to get the smoke wafting nicely. They are ready to eat as soon as the shells pop open.

If you want them smoked a bit more, take the top shell off and keep going, but they taste best if you get them on off the grill. Seems like they get a little mealy texture if they go much longer than that.

 

[hawgheaven]

Yes, me too!! I can get fresh ones around here when they're available, but I'd love to get my freezer stocked with those 1/2 shelled ones!