Tips for Cooking Fresh Clams

When it comes to cooking fresh clams, there are a few simple tips that will get you well on your way to perfect clam eating. It's not rocket science, but when I was cooking my first round of fresh clams, I had trouble locating tips and tricks for cooking with fresh clams on the internet...and  you know that motivated me to take down some tips for my readers!

I live at the beach, so summer is seafood season, and I want everyone--no matter where you live--to enjoy fresh seafood. I want you to feel confident in the kitchen when you are preparing your fresh seafood. These little things will make a big difference for your clams.

Tips for cooking fresh clams! 

1. Discard the dead ones

The first thing that you want to do is go through your clams and take out any that are open like this. If they aren't closed, it means that they are dead, and you don't want to eat them. 

Also, a quick story here. One of the clams shared the living crap out of me by opening and closing itself. I almost died. I literally jumped across the room and screamed. Then, my husband says that the clam was "gasping for life" and I told him to shut up! I know that they are alive, but geez...the graphic nature of my husband's comment was clearly not what I wanted to hear. 

2. Salt water soak 

Get a half a cup of kosher salt and mix it with a big, big bowl of cold water. 

 Put your clams in the salt water and allow them to sit there and soak for about a half an hour. 

3. Scrub 'em good 

You want to scrub them really well at this point, and I like to do it under water because it gets alllll the grit off. I also used my potato scrubber and my rubber gloves because I didn't want my hands to smell all clammy. Hehe. 

And don't skimp on this step--really. Seriously. Especially if you are making a sauce and want to have the clams in there. Because nothing ruins a sauce like a sandy bottom. 

 Check out this awesome shell. It was the only one like it in the bunch, so of course I had to snap a picture. Beautiful, right? 

4. Cook those clams!!! 

There are a variety of ways to cook your clams. I just threw my in my sauce ( I was making a white clam sauce) and put the lid on. It took about ten minutes and they all opened up. 

YUM! 

So do YOU have any tips on cooking fresh clams? Are you a fresh clam pro?? I would love to hear your tips for cooking with fresh clams! Leave it in the comments section below! I love to hear from my readers!