No, not a question about quick oysters; a quick question about them.
I’m making charbroiled oysters today. I bought a dozen very large oysters (6" or longer shells) yesterday and brought them home. Since there was not enough room in the fridge, I put them in a cooler and covered them with ice ‘cubes’. (Not actually cubes, but the curved shape that comes out of the ice maker.)
I was concerned that the ice would melt, submerging the oysters in fresh water. I thought that might be bad. So I opened the cooler just now, to find only a minimal amount of meltwater. The interior stayed cold enough to prevent much melting. I repositioned the oysters to on top of the ice. So now I’m concerned I may have frozen the shellfish. I won’t know until I shuck them, I guess.
Have I damaged or killed my oysters? I assume they’ll be safe to eat, since shucked oysters are sold in jars and a closed shell is as safe as a jar. But they really should be freshly killed.
I put them in the cooler around 7:30 last night. It’s 10:20 now, so that’s about 15 hours. Of course, the cooler had been outside and the interior would take some time to chill.
I suspect the oysters didn’t freeze. After all, they live in waters that can get pretty cold. Usually I get the oysters and we eat them the same night. This is the first time I’ve put them on ice overnight, and I thought I’d better ask.
Not my recipe, but I can tell you it’s a good one! I need to extend thanks to whoever it was that suggested Acme when we went to NOLA last year. Prior to that, I only ate oysters raw or fried.
Yes, it’s created a bit of a shortage; which is why I bought them in Seattle. The local supermarket that usually has the big ones can’t even get jarred ones now.
We didn’t get sick from the raw kumamotos last night, so I suspect they’re OK.