Skip to main content
Dessert

To Open Clams

A method for opening clams by baking them in boiling water until the shells open.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

To Open Clams

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wash the clam shells thoroughly.

  2. Place the clams in a clean roasting pan on the hinge end.

  3. Pour a little boiling water into the pan.

Bake and collect

  1. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the shells open easily.

  2. Collect the juice in the pan for later use.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Clams
The main food; gentle heat relaxes the muscle holding the shells closed, so they open.
Boiling water
Creates steam in the covered pan, heating the clams quickly and evenly.

The step that matters

Bake until the shells open easily. Clams toughen and turn rubbery when overcooked. Check them as the shells begin to open and stop heating once they open easily.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

White CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipesSpice CakeSpice Cake344 recipes