Opening Oysters

Fresh opening is a skill and having the right equipment and a focus on safety helps. You will need: a tea towel, and opening knife, a chopping board and some of our lovely fresh oysters of course!!

hand and closed knife

Step 1

Place the oyster on the chopping board with the pointed, hinged
end closest to you with the flat side of the oyster facing up.

wiggel in

Step 2

Place a Tea towel over top of the oyster leaving the right edge of the shell visible.

shove in

Step 3

Locate the seam between the shells and insert the tip of your
knife between them about 1/3 from the top.

opne!

Step 4

Then apply pressure on the knife towards the chopping board to force it into the oyster.

Safety Tip

Holding the oyster on the chopping board means that if the knife slips it will go into the board rather than your hand.

Once the knife is inserted you then cut the tendon with a small slicing movement. At this point you can also pick the oyster up and look in between the shells to see if you have completely cut the muscle. Once the tendon has been successfully detached, the upper shell can now lift up and be removed. Finally, cut the tendon from the bottom cupped shell which seperates the flesh completely from the shell.

There are a few tricks that make opening a breeze;

When a frozen oyster thaws out, the lid naturally lifts open.
Oysters placed in boiling water for a moment, then into an ice bath will sometimes shock them into opening.
Heating the oyster on a barbeque will cook them open, and if done over hot coals will give a lovely smokey flavour.
The simplest method by far is to visit out friendly team in person and order your oysters already opened for you in the half shell

Storing Oysters

When harvested from our Bay of Islands farms the oysters are transported the same day to our factory located in Haruru Falls. Here they are either packed out live or stored in a chiller for processing.

When you purchase oysters from us, care needs to be taken when transporting them. They need to stay chilled - resting on the back seat of your warm car is not recommended. Having a chilly bin or cool bag to place the oysters in wth ice ensures they remain cool and at their best.

Live oysters will stay alive and fresh for up to 7 days if kept between 5 -10°C. Placed in a fridge you can expect them to stay alive for 4-5 days and then treat them as being opened.

Pots and half shelled oysters are best eaten as soon as possible after shucking but will store for up to 7 days after we open them if kept between 0 - 4°C.

Frozen whole shell oysters need to remain frozen until ready to eat. Once thawed, they need to be consumed within 24 hours and must not be refrozen.