• Order now: delivery from Saturday Find out more

How to Shuck Oysters like Robin

How to Shuck Oysters like Robin

22 Mar 2023 by Wright Brothers Team

With over 20 years in the oyster business our founder Robin Hancock has shucked a fair few oysters in his time. As more oysters than ever are being eaten at home, he often gets asked "how to shuck oysters".  If you don't know how to open oysters safely and easily, you will in no time after watching Robin's "how to shuck" video.

You can join Robin in his family kitchen to learn more and shuck along side him in one of our oyster masterclass that are now available online!

  1. 00:00

    How to shuck an oyster

  2. 00:03

    Hello I'm Robin from the Wright Brother's

  3. 00:05

    and today I'm going to show you how to shuck, or open an oyster

  4. 00:09

    I've got some fantastic jersery oysters

  5. 00:13

    my Wright Brother's oyster knife

  6. 00:15

    and I've got a solid board

  7. 00:17

    chefs tea towel.

  8. 00:19

    Then to go with my oysters I've got lemon

  9. 00:21

    tabasco

  10. 00:22

    and some hogwash which is a fantastic dressing

  11. 00:25

    which is on the Wright Brother's website.

  12. 00:29

    Okay,

  13. 00:30

    So I'm going to take an oyster

  14. 00:32

    wrap the oyster up in the tea towel

  15. 00:34

    have the sharp bit of the knife towards you

  16. 00:36

    and hold the knife down the blade so you've got control

  17. 00:40

    I've got my tea towel in case it slips

  18. 00:42

    I'm not going to hurt myself

  19. 00:45

    Next we are going to put the knife into the hinge

  20. 00:48

    at a slight angle

  21. 00:51

    and then gently push

  22. 00:53

    and wiggle until the knife goes in

  23. 00:55

    then we are going to give it a hard twist

  24. 00:58

    and that's opened the hinge

  25. 01:01

    Next I'm going to go along the top of the oyster

  26. 01:04

    until I've cut the adductor muscle

  27. 01:07

    and my oyster is open

  28. 01:10

    Now I'm looking for some lovely liquor in the oyster

  29. 01:13

    you can see that's got lovely liquor

  30. 01:14

    And next I'm going to loosen the oyster

  31. 01:16

    by putting my knife along the bottom of the oyster

  32. 01:20

    and just cutting that muscle

  33. 01:23

    and my oyster is free

  34. 01:25

    and ready to eat

  35. 01:27

    You can either eat the oyster just pure like that

  36. 01:30

    or maybe with a few drops of lemon

  37. 01:33

    and the most importnat thing is to

  38. 01:35

    aerate the oyster when you put it in your mouth

  39. 01:37

    and give it a good chew

  40. 01:39

    before you swallow it

  41. 01:41

    So here goes!

  42. 01:47

    That's really good

  1. Protect your hand

    Place the oyster in the middle of a folded tea towel. Fold the loose end of the tea towel over the top of your hand. With the other hand you’re going to put a bit of pressure on the oyster to keep it steady.

  2. The hinge

    The hinge is the point of the shell that connects the flat top to the oyster shell. The aim is to get the tip of the knife in far enough, but not too far in that you stab the oyster.

  3. Break the hinge

    Find the entry point and then put the tip of the knife inside and apply a bit of pressure. Twist your wrist and you should hear the hinge pop and pry the top of the shell open.

    Tip: A good indicator if you've applied enough pressure is if your oyster hangs off the knife when you raise the knife up off the table.

  4. Remove the top shell

    Now you need to release the flat bit of the oyster shell away from the adductor muscle, so use the tip of the knife to lift up and with the sharp edge of your knife run it along the top of the flat shell to cut away the lid.

    Tip: Wipe your knife down before you do this so you don't get any bits of shell inside the oyster.

  5. Release the oyster

    Now all you have to do is put the tip of the knife again underneath the oyster itself and cut the bottom of the oyster adductor muscle away and then it's ready to eat.

Shop Ingredients

All How-to