ok so i know that if a fresh clam is open, it is dead or dying and you have to chuck it. Why? just because it is dead it is not safe to eat? i mean you don't throw away a steak because the cow is dead. The clam has been kept cold just like the live clams, so why can't you use a dead clam?
2007-10-07 07:40:21 · 3 answers · asked by chefjordan1 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Cooking & Recipes
You can submerse the clams in a bowl of very cold salt water (to 4c water about 2 tsp)and if it closes it is still alive. ***Dont store clams in salt water in the fridge. There is a scientific measurement for the salt to water ratio. This is just a fast test, and dont leave the little guy in the salt water too long as this is not the scientific salt measurement.*** That means it should be fine for cooking if he closes up. It does mean it is looking for food or moisture or is too warm or too cold, if it is dead DONT eat it. As you dont know how long it has been dead. Fish, and steak are not the same thing. For example, in a Lobster, there is a gland that can permeate the lobster after it has been dead for I think 12-24 hours, thus if a lobster is dead make sure you know how long or when it died before you cook and eat it. This is info and experience from selling Seafood for many many years for a large grocery chain. It's better not to take the chance. If our Lobsters died in the tank we cooked them right away and sold them cooked, this way we were sure of the Health and Safety of the product sold. Clams: when they opened up, and wouldn't close by themselves if we tried to close them, they got tossed out no ?'s there. They were dead. Again you dont know when it died, and the spoilage starts right away. Better to not take a chance on making yourself sick, or someone else.
2007-10-07 08:08:00 · answer #1 · answered by Toffy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Foodbourne Illness or intoxication is something that plagues the food service industry. There are many foods that are considered potentially hazardous foods/Time temperature Control or PHF (TCS) This basically means that foods under this category provide optimum conditions for bacteria growth and must be controlled under specific times and temperatures to ensure that harmful toxin formation (bacteria growth) are kept to a bare minimum. Clams, oysters and many other shellfish are considered PHF and are also one of the worlds most common allergies.
Open clams/ shellfish may indicate that the product may have been abused temperature and time wise at some point from the time they were caught to the time you received them. The diseases most associated with shellfish are Vibrio Parahaemolyticus and Vibrio Vulnificus both may cause severe cases of fever, chills nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and other stomach associated conditions.
2007-10-07 08:17:04 · answer #2 · answered by sdezzy711 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Clams? Hmmm. That means the clam is still alive. When it doesn't open.
2016-03-13 07:26:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋