any tips on mussels ?

[kela66]

had a look down tynemouth beach at low tide today and worked my way round the bay towards shields,i could only find mussels beside the middens , biggest was only about 2 1/2" max,so i brung them back to shell and freeze, but theres not a lot of meat in them . can anyone advise what size you should pick and any good places to look for them (if its not some kind of secret) also is that pipe thats there putting sewage out or something ? the place stunk and was full of all kinds of sh*te i came across a coconut and 1 rockport boot must be from some north shields radjie chava .... many thanks davey

[RONVIK]

I always buy fresh mussel from the fish-market, they are big and have lots in them. (they were`t caught locally cuz on the net bag they are in says east atlantic).

if i can hijack this tread to add a Q.! WHATS THE BEST WAY TO SHELL MUSSEL? just i heard give them a few seconds in boiling water which opens them and makes them tough. but does this make them less attractive or lose there sent?

[fishingfanatastico]

Normally big tides are best for mussel collecting, i don't now any places around the tyne to pick them but heres some info on where i pick them and how i shell em etc.This info might help you Ronvik on how to shell em;
I just collect my mussel from the river wear theres are a canny few places where mussels can be found in the river wear a big tide seems the best as you can get as many as you wish to have and most of them are right on the low water mark and are good mussel . I shell them up fresh and put between 15-25 in a sealable freezer bag. Sometimes i have found if you use par boiled mussel they become like brittle and don't stay on the hook very well(like brake up kinda thing as ya put them on the hook), unless you only leave them in the boiling water a few seconds and this should result in the mussel opening and going a lot less tougher than say mussel that have been boiled more than 1min/a few seconds etc( i have never used this method to do my mussel but i have used par boiled mussel before, as i say they are a lot tougher than the not cooked/par boiled ones but seem to release less juices, and do kind of crumble on the hook). I always shell them up fresh either freeze them or use them when ever i am out but mainly i shell them up and freeze them up for the winter( i mainly pick them on a big tide and usually in the spring/summer so i have enough for some sessions in the winter).Either par boil the mussel so they open quicker or simply shell them up fresh takes a bit more time than obviously putting them in boiling water for a minute or so. Also if you use freshly shelled mussels sometimes they aren't really that tough so what i do is put them on newspaper to slightly toughen up before a session, when i freeze them i freeze them with all the water/juices in the bag. Hope this information helps a bit mate.Just the way i do it.

[jordy]

what i do is put them in a bucket of water for 5mins the shells open up a bit so you
can just crack the shell back.i always add salt to the bottom of freezer bag mixes in seems to make them lot more tough that works for me.

[kela66]

cheers lads i ended up with about an inch of thick looking soup in the bottom of a tupperware box think ill just buy them in from now

[5150]

dry them off a bit on some paper

[RONVIK]

Thanks too. oh if you scroll down to the bottom of this page "similar threads" for more info.

[kela66]

cheers ronvik , got my soup out of the freezer and cut it up into mussel ice cubes it only takes 10 mins to drive to a mark on the tyne so ill get there before they defrost and give them a go.

[Stores]

Kela, what you need is a single bladed two sided skeining knife and lots and lots of practice. Forget the blanching and the hitting them with a hammer, you need a steady hand, good grip and.....................more practice.

[RONVIK]

Think i might try wearing a pair of thoughs rubber surgical gloves might help against cutting my hands to bits, if they can withstand it of coarse

[Stores]

Ron, the knife doesn't have to be sharp - I use an old butter knife, rounded at the end, so that you can scoure the mussel out from both directions. I'm sure there were some instructions on here at one time. Will have a look around.

[kela66]

thanks stores

[Jimbob]

My fave bait of last season. It's easy after some practice. I just do it while I'm fishing now. You can use half of a shell as a scoop thats fine and a knife to open them.

[jimmy]

use an old tea or table spoon with a bit of an edge on it

[RONVIK]

i will try everything out tomorrow going to the fish-market. thank for the ideas!