How to clean littleneck clams?

Answer 1

If you soak them in a sink full of water, they will spit out some of their sand - do this for a half hour or so.
Use a plastic scrubbie or a brush and brush off the outer shells to remove excess grit.

Answer 2

Cleaning Little Neck Clams

Answer 3

Here is some info I found on allrecipes.com. I hope it helps. :)


Cooking Clams
By: Allrecipes Staff

A step-by-step tutorial for steaming clams.

There are many, many ways to cook and prepare clams . In fact, on occasion they are even eaten raw. The steam-method for cooking clams is excellent for cooking small to medium-sized varieties of clam. We have selected the more common littleneck clams to illustrate how clams can be steamed.

1. To cook clams using this method, you will need at least 1 pound clams, 1/4 cup white wine, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon butter. Cooking already cleaned clams with this method will take 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Preheat a large saucepan to a medium heat. Melt the butter in the saucepan, and stir in the garlic. Cook the garlic until it reaches a tan color. Be careful not to burn the garlic. If the garlic is overcooked or burned, throw out both the fat and the garlic, then wipe out the pan and start over.
3. Pour clams into the saucepan. Do not add too many clams to the pan at once. If the clams are stacked on top of each other, the weight of the other clams will make it more difficult for the clams on the bottom to open. With this method, you should only cook enough clams to cover the bottom of the pan. Stir the clams around in the garlic butter until the shells are coated, this will evenly distribute the heat within shells.

4. Once the clams have been coated, add about 1/4 cup of wine per dozen clams. This creates the necessary steam required to open the shells. It will also decrease the overall heat within the pan. Cover the clams with a lid. When covered, the garlic is less likely to burn, and the clams will receive heat evenly from all sides. The clams are now being steamed.

5. After about 4 minutes, remove the lid. Most, if not all of the clams should be open. Clams, unlike mussels, only open when they are cooked all of the way through. If some of the clams have not opened, it is possible that either they were not cooked long enough, or that they are bad and should be discarded. Be careful not to cook the clams for too long, as overcooked clams are tough and unpleasant to eat.
6. When clams open, they release natural clam juice. This juice is often used as a base for items like Clam Chowder . We recommend serving the clams in their juice and accompanying the dish with slices of fresh bread to soak up the juices. Steamed clams can also be served over pasta.


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Cleaning Clams

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How to clean littleneck clams?

Answer 5

You need to purge them in salted water for 3-4 minutes. and 3-4 minutes only, as after that, they will start to die. fill your sink or a container with water, and add salt. You're looking for the salinity of the sea, which is around 4%, then add you clams, and let purge. when done purging, pour off water, and under running water, you can take a few clams in your hand, rub them back and forth with each other to get off excess dirt.

Answer 6

Soak for awhile in cold water.
Give them a good scrub with a vegetable brush (a nail scrubbing brush will do, just keep it for food).
Just steam them and toss out those which don't open.

Answer 7

Just give them a good scrub and de-beard them. And toss the ones that don't open after cooking.

Answer 8

when you put them in a pot of hot water (I prefer cooking them in beer) the steam cleans them....