I’ve tried a lot of nonsense for cleaning clams and purging out the inner gunk, and this is what actually works for me time and time again. Nothing ruins the greatness of a freshly steamed, briny littleneck clam like chomping down into a bunch of sand and grit. Here’s the best way to clean sandy clams!
Even though a lot of people think the fresh clams at the grocery store are already cleaned – and I’m sure they are, to some degree – if I steam them right away with just a quick rinse, I find an off-putting amount of grit and junk inside.
There are a million different recommendations, the most common I see involving cornmeal or simply soaking in freshwater for 20 minutes.
I find that soaking in plain water for 20 minutes doesn’t actually do much. And ditto to the cornmeal. Cornmeal does nothing.
Below is everything I do for an enjoyable grit-free clam experience, and while the amount of gunk that comes out varies batch to batch, I always get a good amount of filth in the water.
All you need to do is make a salt water with some precise measurements I’ll share below, and the live clams will purge the gunk inside with some time.
What clams can you use this soak for?
This is suitable for pretty much any type of clam, whether you’re choosing hard-shell clams or soft-shell clams. Razor clams, little neck clams, cherrystones, and so on all benefit from a good purge.
They should always be purged, clams especially. Different clams need different purging times, too, depending on how and where they live. Hard shell clams in clean sand, like Eastern surf clams, cockles and quahogs, tend to be easier to purge than open-shelled clams like steamers, horseneck clams and geoducks. The worst of them all is the Western bent-nosed clam, which lives in dense mud and can take days to purge.
How long? Even an hour will help. But you can purge your clams as long as there is oxygen in your seawater. Leave your clams too long, and they suffocate and die. Overnight is what I normally do with a 50-clam limit of Western littlenecks and 4 to 10 horseneck or Washington clams. I submerge the clams by about 1 1/2 to 3 inches of seawater and cover the container they’re in — clams spit water, so you don’t want them sprinkling the inside of your fridge or basement.
Let me start by saying that the vast majority of clams, mussels and oysters you buy in the market have been purged already. You will almost never need to purge your clams if you bought them at a supermarket. The exception is if you buy from a small purveyor, and in that case just ask: Have you purged your clams?
If you were to bury clams in cornmeal, yes, some would get inside them the way sand does in the wild. But why bother?
Why is bringing home seawater so important? Because clams live at different salinity levels. The average salinity of the ocean is 35 parts of salt per 1000, but in some wide, shallow clam beds the salinity climbs far higher through evaporation. In other beds, the salinity is lower because the clams are near an estuary where fresh water flows. If you bring seawater from where you dug the clams, you need not guess at how salty your soaking water should be.
How to take out sand from live clam (Steamer)
FAQ
Are steamers supposed to be sandy?
Is it normal to have sand in clams?
How do you know if steamer clams are bad?
Are steamer clams buried in sand?
This is normal. The clams are usually buried in the sand with only the foot extending up to the surface of the water. The steamer clams will discharge any sand or dirt while they are sitting in the water, so the water may become rather murky. You can change the water if you want.
Do steamer clams have sand and grit?
Steamers are a type of clam commonly found in sand and mudflats. Since they are often harvested from these areas, it’s not uncommon for them to have some sand and grit on their shells. Before cooking steamer clams, purging them of this sand and grit is important. This can be done by soaking the clams in a saltwater solution for about an hour.
How do steamer clams bury themselves?
Instead, protruding from the shell is a long foot, or siphon. It’s what the soft shell clam uses to filter the sea water and eat. While hard shell clams stay close to the surface of the sea floor, steamer clams bury themselves more deeply and extend their long siphons to the seafloor surface.
Do steamer clams bury their siphons?
It’s what the soft shell clam uses to filter the sea water and eat. While hard shell clams stay close to the surface of the sea floor, steamer clams bury themselves more deeply and extend their long siphons to the seafloor surface. When you buy steamer clams, their siphons are mostly tucked away.