Soak clams with cornmeal: yes or no?
Many cook books advise that fresh clams should be soaked in salt water with a bit of corn meal added. The purpose is that the clams will consume the corn meal, thereby cleansing their gut of sand.
However, I've seen it said elsewhere that this is unnecessary for farm raised clams since they are raised on a medium suspended above the bottom and therefore not exposed to sand.
My question is twofold:
1) Is the first advice valid at all? Does this soaking improve the taste and/or quality of the clams?
2) If #1 is true, does it also apply to farm raised clams or is the step unnecessary?
Best Answer
According to Ask A Chef the cornmeal is not necessary. It is the salt water that actually causes the clams to purge themselves:
The thought behind using cornmeal is that it is an irritant that causes the clam to "cough" and expel all sand that may be in its shell. There is also a thought that it helps to change the flavor of the meat and make them less fishy (I can't say I have noticed a flavor difference between a clam purged with cornmeal and one without). Whether you use cornmeal or not you will need to use saltwater. Soaking the clams in saltwater for an hour or two will allow them to cycle clean saltwater in and out of the shell and purge the sand. Using cornmeal to purge is common and is thought to aid in the complete expulsion of the sand, but it really is not the real reason the purging will happen.
As far as purging farm raised clams, some (perhaps even most) suppliers purge them for you before sending them to market, so doing it yourself may not be necessary. However, I could not find an authoritative source that indicates this is always true.
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Quick Answer about "Soak clams with cornmeal: yes or no?"
Cornmeal does nothing. All you need to do is make a salt water with some precise measurements I'll share below, and the clams will purge the gunk inside with some time.Do you soak clams in cornmeal?
Directions. At least 1 hour before cooking clams, mix the kosher salt and cornmeal into 1 gallon of water and soak the clams. Do not use iodized salt as it will instantly kill the clams.What does cornmeal do to clams?
Adding cornmeal\u2014about two tablespoons per dozen clams\u2014alters the taste and texture, for the better, argues Deveraux.Does cornmeal help clean clams?
Place steamers in a large bowl. Add enough water to cover. Add cornmeal, and stir to thoroughly combined. Let stand for at least 3 hours and up to 6 hours to allow the clams to purge their sand.How much cornmeal do I need to clean clams?
Submerge the mollusks in a bowl of ice water. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons of cornmeal for every quart of water. Refrigerate 1 to several hours. Drain, rinse and cook.What Are Effective Methods to Rid Clams of Sand? : Seafood \u0026 Fish
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Answer 2
Further info: This weekend I made linguine with white clam sauce, so I tested the theory about farm-raised clams. I soaked all but 5 of them in salt water (no corn meal). I marked the shells on those 5 so I would know which were which. None of the clams had any sand, including the 5 un-soaked ones. So either the producers purge farm-raised clams, or the way they're raised they don't need purging.
In a week or two I'll try the same dish with wild clams and see if the soaking makes a difference for them.
Answer 3
I worked in the seafood industry for over 13 years. Farm raised or commercial clams, do not need to be purged, because they have basically gone through a purging process, when they were stored. We sold a ton of clam and never really had an issue with sand. However, if you go clamming and bring back a bunch of clams, they will definitely need to be purged. If you think about it, clams live on the sandy ocean floor(At least the wild ones do). So putting them in sea water, or salty water that is close to the same consistency as the ocean, the clams would naturally eject the sand, as they take in new water. You will want to change the water out, every 20-30 minutes and they should be good to cook, after 2 or 3 soaks.
As far as corn meal goes, I have heard several people tell me that corn meal speeds up the process. We recently went clamming and brought back our limit of cockles. We tried the corn meal, but no one ever really said how much to put in. We put in quite a bit(About a half a cup) into a 5 gallon bucket(Keep in mind the clams came to about 1/3 of the way from the bottom. And we filled the bucket with salt water, and let them sit over night. They still had sand in them. So it looks like, the key is changing the water a few times. I hope this helps
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ron Lach, Julion Santos, Pixabay, Craig Adderley