How do I determine if my mussels are fresh?
What texture should fresh mussel have?
Does mushy mussels mean they are bad? What causes this mushy texture: cooking or quality of the mussels?
Best Answer
Assuming your mussels came from clean, unpolluted waters, there is mainly only one thing that determines the quality of mussels: Freshness.
For all shellfish, this means alive when you buy them and alive when you cook them. Their shells should be tightly closed when you buy them, or they should close when you tap them.
Mushiness doesn't mean much. Shellfish are kind of mushy in their most perfect condition.
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Quick Answer about "How do I determine if my mussels are fresh?"
Buy mussels that look and smell fresh, with closed shells. Press together the shells of any that are open. If the shell doesn't close, the mussel is dead and should be discarded (also toss any with broken shells).How can you tell if a mussel is bad?
They should close on their own, and even if some do so slowly, they are still functional and alive. Throw them away if they don't close. All mussels with broken shells or a foul odor and any that feel unusually heavy or light compared to the others should be discarded. Check to see if the shell's opening is half-open.What Colour should fresh mussels be?
Quality. The external shell should be clean. Once opened, look for plump, fullness of the gonad and either a strong orange/peach (female) or creamy white (male) colour.How do you know if your muscles are alive?
Good mussels should look wet and smell like the ocean, salty and clean. (If they smell a little funky, or many of them appear to be open already, then you're going to want to take a hard pass.) When you get them home, you can leave them in the fridge for up to 48 hours before cooking them.How to Make Blue Mussels : How to Check Blue Mussels are Alive
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Answer 2
Massive misinformation thrown around here!! The only way to detect a bad mussel is by smell alone. The whole "opening" thing is an old wives tale.
Answer 3
Mushy is not fresh - smell it and see if it has a rancid odor after its cooked. it should be chewy.
The floaters are not necessarily dead. I had 20 floaters and as they opened to purge then they sank. I'm glad I didn't follow the comment to toss them out - they just needed to purge and sank down otherwise I would have tossed out almost 2 lbs of mussels.
Answer 4
I'm buying the mussels in nurseries, so I am sure of their freshness. Sometimes it happens that some of them are closed, though showing life with serious consequences for the recipe, so I do this: I put in the water, I throw away all those that float, I clean well those remaining, then if I have to open them to check if the smell experience is good, I also assure you that inside there is the mud that the mussel is used to have, made ??these devices continue with my recipe. I know it takes time but I assure you that after I can enjoy my spaghetti with mussels.
Edit in response to user18923's answer
I repeat, if the mussels float in the water (WHEN YOU WASHING) are definitely throw because it is very likely indeed it is certain that within them there is more water that keeps her alive, so if you want to risk the recipe one is free to do so, but as to the misinformation that you say, I think that actually you never opened more than 10 mussels. I'm not saying that they are not inedible, but it is better throw. I personally eat them raw every week at sea, but I try in every way to eat those that are good for my experience.
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