Crabs, clams and oysters share at least two things in common: they’re all shellfish and their succulent meat is guarded by seemingly bulletproof armor. Since machines don’t have the meticulous dexterity that human hands do, the seafood industry relies on skilled pros like Curtis “Fuzzy” Wilson to open the creatures up and extract the tastiness that lies inside.
In this video, Wilson demonstrates how to get into an oyster quickly without mangling the delicate meat inside. His advice is to insert the oyster knife only into the front of the oyster and never at the hinge, an amateur move he calls “butt shucking.”
Though most of the oysters Wilson shucks are wild, the practice of oyster farming is rapidly expanding on Chesapeake Bay. You can read about the practice by clicking here.
