The all Encompassing Oyster thread! Raw, roasted, grilled, baked or however you love them. Home Cookouts and beyond!

[horn4life 3784]

I figured let's give these little fellows their own thead.  Simply as going forward I am going to be a regular home consumer after hosting my first raw/chargrilled oyster get together this weekend.  I cannot more highly recommend taking the plunge yourself.   I remember my very first oyster.  I was about 8 years old and my neighbor was shucking some, I tried one.  It was spit out on the GI Joe battle field behind my garage. Eight years later I sat down with my Dad as a 16 year old at Acme and had my first few dozen.  A few days later after a long run I ate 10 dozen at a little spot on the bay in Pensacola.  Nearly besting the record of Louisiana Jim.  So I like these little suckers! Sadly it took me more than 50 more years to host my first oyster feast at the house. Do not make the same mistake, use this thread for inspiration, and take the plunge.  

DIY - it's worth it!  About the only real requirements are oyster knives, protective gloves, fresh cold oysters, an old small towel and a sturdy table to shuck on.  I actually did not really anticipate the need for the sturdy table, but my hillbilly engineer side grabbed some saw horses, a cut down scrap of 1/2 inch plywood, and two clamps and my oyster shucking table was complete.  I laid down an old towel to hold the oyster in place, but my weight on the oyster, and got to prying with the knife.  IF you are a foodie, and have kneaded much bread, the perfect hight of the table was a couple inches below counter height, to allow you to put some weight on your work surface, to help with the hard to open shells. 

Plan an oyster party!  I cannot more recommend doing you own oysters at the house.  Assuming you are willing to manage the shucking!  The box I bought for Saturday from Quality Seafood contained right at 100 oysters.  They were harvested on Tuesday March 2nd, at Quality Seafood on Thursday the 4th, and in bellies on the Saturday 6th. So about as fresh as you are going to get in most any of the local restaurants.  They were absolutely delicious!  Even my Clarke's and Perla's restaurant lovers were impressed with these little gulf oysters flavor.  I think that most any oyster roast/bake etcetera is always going to be a raw party, then a cooking party.  So plan accordingly.  Eating raw oysters goes pretty damned quick from the consumption side of the equation, and you need to make sure you have at least one extra set of cut proof gloves and oyster knives.  I think next go round I may institute a "you can eat what you shuck" rule after I shuck your first half dozen.  Simply to trail a larger and larger group of shuckers, to share the production load.  I personally would never, ever shuck ahead to deal with the demand, as that sort of defeats the purpose to me.  The sweet brine of a freshly cracked oyster is certainly a gift of God where I am concerned. Trays stacked in a refrigerator are not part of this equation in my eyes.  New Orleans is the mecca of oyster prepared in all manners, and is probably the starting point to research when trying to decide what you might prepare for your friends and family. 

My first inspiration to hosting my own oyster bake was initially curiosity with a large hunk of rested metal on what looked like old cedar fencing was hanging out the tailgate of a pretty nice truck.  That was more than five years ago when my oldest was doing her undergrad on scholarship at ULM (University of Louisiana - Monroe.). After a few minutes and with the clues of a propane tank, and one of those cast iron burners you set you crawfish pot on adapted with a big grill burner I realized what I was looking at: a portable homemade oyster bake flat top.  It was hillbilly genius...  They took a big hunk of sheet metal, fabbed it into a tray and used old fencing for the supporting structure and to hold the head in.  Basically it was a giant griddle where the oyster would be dumped, covered with wet burlap sacks, and baked until they pop open on their own.  This methodology is a LOT better from a host labor perspective, as your guests take what they want, open the shells themselves and add whatever butters or additions they choose.  I never did this method, but plan to in the future, and when I do I will add more info and hints. 

Instead more recently I have been more exposed to roasted oysters in New Orleans that would allow the wife and I to experiment with more flavors, and the always welcome fun of a fire pit as part of the equation, which ended up being perfect.  What is more Texas than standing around a fire pit in cool weather drinking and eating?  My pit is not fancy at all, about all you really need is a fire pit with a swing out grill.  Mainly to keep your face out of the smoke, as I learned on this first attempt. You could also just buy a large grill rack and place it over a fire for a cooking surface and that would work just as well.  The main thing is the grate has to be close enough to the first to get the oysters to get their juices boiling. That is your, "we are getting close" cooking thermometer.  Past getting the great close enough for a high heat, the rest of the choices are yours!  There are tons and tons of recipes, with about the only constant being butter, and nearly all having garlic.  As the origins of the roasted oyster come from the french escargot dishes that blended with the much more widely available oysters of New Orleans.  So you are only limited by your imagination!

Our first roast we did two varieties, Rockefeller and the Acme Oyster House recipe. My first glance research always mentioned Acme and Drago's atop the chargrilled ranking in N.O. Here is the recipe starting point in my hope oyster feasting. Acme Chargrilled Oysters, and this guys video is good in the second half on how to blend the butter together Acme Oyster butter how to video.  

Things I would buy/bought:  Fireproof gloves, to deal with the grill and the hot oysters.  Small one ounce long handled ladle to drench the butter over the oysters once they start bubbling. The flare from the butter is part of the presentation and fun... IF you have a long handled ladle.  If not your jumping around getting singed is sort of fun to watch too... Some large round serving trays Academy has lots of them.  We bought a bunch of little small condiment containers and put the red sauce in one and horse radish in the other for individual servings and covid safety.  I think the only thing I will really do differently is on the prep side to accommodate future larger groups. We have a lot of baking sheets and I think I will just buy a couple of tray cooling racks and prepare the oysters on those and transfer the whole tray to the pit.  Doing it one by one, was not efficient and I got a lot of smoke in my eyes. 

Only real screw up was we were so busy shucking, eating and drinking that I didn't take one damn picture of the finished product.  But trust me as good as this first try was we are already starting to plan our next roast!  So Pics WILL be forthcoming.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

Niiiice.     PRO TIP:  Hire a couple shuckers.....  It's a lot of work to shuck oysters. It's more of a pain than picking crabs, which is a very social, beer drinking activity.  

It's site visit Tuesday tomorrow for my Chesapeake Bay projects because it's gonna be 70, I'm driving the convertible, and there's a killer oyster bar near 2 of my jobs.

 

[PantsTent 2002]

 

 

 

[mchookem 16415]

this is fortuitous as we had our first oysters in over a year at Quality Seafood on Friday! gulf oysters and they were, indeed, absolutely delicious. 

[Dry Elbows 142]

I've been doing a lot of chargrilled oysters this fall.  My recipe is pretty simple: butter, garlic, and oregano.  Folks love them.

 

I use these because I buy the oysters shucked by the pint or quart.  

https://loftinoysters.com/Shop/product/ceramic-oyster-shells/

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

5 minutes ago, Dry Elbows said:

I've been doing a lot of chargrilled oysters this fall.  My recipe is pretty simple: butter, garlic, and oregano.  Folks love them.

 

I use these because I buy the oysters shucked by the pint or quart.  

https://loftinoysters.com/Shop/product/ceramic-oyster-shells/

A dash of fresh horseradish for the over the top win.

[VirginiaLonghorn 4784]

[Tylerocks 2555]

Acme location in Montrose (former El Real location) supposed to open in April!

[gsoda3 3284]

6 minutes ago, Tylerocks said:

Acme location in Montrose (former El Real location) supposed to open in April!

awesome.

 

whole foods had a pretty decent run of nice oysters back in january.  mainly atlantics if you like that kind of thing.  i prefer the washington state area oysters but i'm not picky.  i do think the best oysters for chargrilling are gulf oysters.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

28 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

awesome.

 

whole foods had a pretty decent run of nice oysters back in january.  mainly atlantics if you like that kind of thing.  i prefer the washington state area oysters but i'm not picky.  i do think the best oysters for chargrilling are gulf oysters.

It's salty, and briny oysters for the win....

[4th and 5 4921]

21 hours ago, Dry Elbows said:

I've been doing a lot of chargrilled oysters this fall.  My recipe is pretty simple: butter, garlic, and oregano.  Folks love them.

 

I use these because I buy the oysters shucked by the pint or quart.  

https://loftinoysters.com/Shop/product/ceramic-oyster-shells/

 

Buy a quart and use these disposable aluminum clam shells.

https://www.amazon.com/Disposable-Aluminum-Appetizers-Oysters-Clam-Shell/dp/B07WTPF514/ref=sr_1_46?dchild=1&keywords=DCS+Deals&qid=1615297557&sr=8-46

Then the preppers have a chance of keeping up with the eaters  

 

[thrillhammer 684]

i'm quite sure there is a  thread on this already.   but hey, if there were 20 threads about oysters i would post on all of them.  fine by me.

i'm a huge oyster fan.  on the halfshell is a part of my every new years eve.  sometimes i fry some new years day for bowl game watching.  I hate meuniere sauce, cocktail sauce is the way to go.  something magic happens when you combine ketchup, horseradish, black pepper, lemon juice, and tabasco.  Just this past january i came across an old recipe for louis sauce.  it reminds me of something from the 50's and even earlier.  you can probably google it.  it's basically cocktail sauce with a little mayo added.  i made it for boiled shrimp, but it would be perfect for fried oysters.

it's kind of pricey, but like onboard said, shucking oysters can be a bitch.   this company has a great idea.  would be a classy touch for a party.

https://www.austinoysterco.com/

 

 

 

[MajorMajor 109]

this is fortuitous as we had our first oysters in over a year at Quality Seafood on Friday! gulf oysters and they were, indeed, absolutely delicious. 

PDX area right? I've been getting from Uwajimaya nonstop but haven't tried Quality in a while

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

In honor of this thread.  Today, a dozen Old salts, and a PBR at Merroir a great oyster bar on the Rappahanock river.  Old salts are Eastern Shore, Va. oysters, harvested from the ocean side of the island.  They're salty, and briny, the best in Va.

There are probably a dozen or so examples of the best oysters in the country, from different beds, rivers, etc. and these are on that list.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Onboard 2.0

[CHIEF 5095]

The original mignonette was champagne vinegar, shallots, and white pepper. Champagne vinegar is tough to find. I asked my restaurant buddy that I get my oysters from, if he had any. He brought me this:

I asked him how much it was, he didn't know, just grabbed it off the shelf. He said $10 was enough, later told me he looked it up and it was $78. So for $10, I got enough champagne vinegar to last the rest of my life.

CHIEF

[SimonBolivar 10961]

Fuck all y'all. I had an anaphylaxis reaction to crawfish in 2019 and they advised I stay away from mollusks too. I need to get officially tested for sure because I miss raw oysters something fierce. 

[Brisketexan 105464]

4 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

Fuck all y'all. I had an anaphylaxis reaction to crawfish in 2019 and they advised I stay away from mollusks too. I need to get officially tested for sure because I miss raw oysters something fierce. 

What you gotta decide is.....is you gonna live, or is you gonna die?  Eating oysters....now that's living.

[SimonBolivar 10961]

3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

What you gotta decide is.....is you gonna live, or is you gonna die?  Eating oysters....now that's living.

3 or 4 days before my allergic reaction (Deckhand North location) I had a shit ton of oysters at Peche in New Orleans, so in a way my last meal was a fucking fantastic one.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

This guy had a similar issue he couldn't decide between oysters or snails....

13 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

Fuck all y'all. I had an anaphylaxis reaction to crawfish in 2019 and they advised I stay away from mollusks too. I need to get officially tested for sure because I miss raw oysters something fierce. 

Interesting, I thought it was the iodine in shellfish the created the anaphylactic shock issue.

[dcbc 14544]

If anyone knows of a place in Texas that still serves "Oysters Ernie," I'd like to repeat the experience someday.

Edited March 10, 2021 by dcbc

[Gale Snoats 243]

Gonna have a get together. How many raw per adult is standard? A dozen? 2?

[Cajun 11754]

On 3/9/2021 at 7:09 PM, Brisketexan said:

What you gotta decide is.....is you gonna live, or is you gonna die?  Eating oysters....now that's living.

Kinda like what my NOLA pals used to say about the difference between "naked" and "nekkid".

If you's naked there just ain't no clothes.  If you's NEKKID, there ain't no clothes and you up to somethin'. 

[Cajun 11754]

Back to the OP, best I've ever had were at a place called The Dakota in Covington, LA.  I forget what they call them (beyond the Char-grilled Oyster part), but they had the butter/galic somethin' sauce squirted on while grilling and right before pulling off they put a small dollop of blue cheese and several chunks of apple smoked bacon to melt in with everything else.  Absolutely glorious.  It was 10 minutes from where I lived in Mandeville and I sincerely feared that I would, at some point, be fired for all the orders of those things I expensed.

I'd drive all the way there from San Antonio tomorrow just to get 'em.  They're that good --

Edited March 11, 2021 by Cajun

[Cajun 11754]

On 3/9/2021 at 7:13 PM, SimonBolivar said:

3 or 4 days before my allergic reaction (Deckhand North location) I had a shit ton of oysters at Peche in New Orleans, so in a way my last meal was a fucking fantastic one.

Pinche Peche!

I've always said that...

[Cajun 11754]

If any of you are ever in Baton Rouge and have the jones, best place I found there (and probably #2 on my all-time list) is called Monsieur's on the Boulevard.  

Edited March 11, 2021 by Cajun
Get some real nice scenery in there during and after happy hour too.

[Sam Lin 3564]

Mansurs? (not being a smartass, genuinely making sure I have the right place so I can save it in my bookmarks)

https://g.page/MansursOnTheBoulevard?share

[Sam Lin 3564]

On 3/9/2021 at 7:08 AM, thrillhammer said:

I hate meuniere sauce, cocktail sauce is the way to go.  something magic happens when you combine ketchup, horseradish, black pepper, lemon juice, and tabasco. 

My favorite is just a light squeeze of lemon and a bit of the green Tabasco. If I'm going for oysters, I've been known to bring my own bottle of green Tabasco to places that only have the red.

[Enchubben 5512]

Not a huge seafood fan, but I’ll eat oysters maybe once a year.  Dragos (charbroiled) in NOLA were the best I ever had. 

[Zwylde 812]

^^^

Seconded!

A couple of places in Houston/Galveston try to replicate Dragos but none can seem to pull it off just right.  Actually the one place that has come the closest is an Italian restaurant in Angleton named Giovannies.  They only have them in season on Thursday nights until they run out.  I think they may have changed ownership within the last couple of years though so they may not do it anymore.

 

[smuggs 9353]

If you are ever passing through Louisiana, Rouses carries Drago's sauce on ice:

 

 

[Cajun 11754]

4 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Mansurs? (not being a smartass, genuinely making sure I have the right place so I can save it in my bookmarks)

https://g.page/MansursOnTheBoulevard?share

I knew I would butcher that name.

Cajunfail

Yes, that's the one.

[Cajun 11754]

1 hour ago, Enchubben said:

Not a huge seafood fan, but I’ll eat oysters maybe once a year.  Dragos (charbroiled) in NOLA were the best I ever had. 

The Drago's out in Metairie is even better than the NOLA one.  

 

[CHIEF 5095]

9 hours ago, Cajun said:

Back to the OP, best I've ever had were at a place called The Dakota in Covington, LA.  I forget what they call them (beyond the Char-grilled Oyster part), but they had the butter/galic somethin' sauce squirted on while grilling and right before pulling off they put a small dollop of blue cheese and several chunks of apple smoked bacon to melt in with everything else.  Absolutely glorious.  It was 10 minutes from where I lived in Mandeville and I sincerely feared that I would, at some point, be fired for all the orders of those things I expensed.

I'd drive all the way there from San Antonio tomorrow just to get 'em.  They're that good --

I make one like that, but with Parmesan instead of blue cheese. I shake some bacon in brown sugar and cayenne, fry it, and cut it into strips. Throw oysters on the grill, add Italian bread crumbs, garlic butter, Parmesan, and the bacon.

CHIEF

[BearCountry11 1234]

Ordered some Cape Hatteras oysters from Regalis Foods last week - they were delicious but, man, I had a bitch of a time shucking them. 
 

Question for you pro’s: is shucking really that much of a pain in the ass or do I have the wrong knife (maybe the blade is too thick?)?  Picture below.  I made it work but kept breaking shells trying to pop the hinge.  Shucking 50 oysters wore me out.  
 

 

[horn4life 3784]

On 3/9/2021 at 7:13 PM, SimonBolivar said:

3 or 4 days before my allergic reaction (Deckhand North location) I had a shit ton of oysters at Peche in New Orleans, so in a way my last meal was a fucking fantastic one.

IS the Peche in New Orleans the same as the Peche in Austin?  I don't think so, but thought I would ask.  It's on my list in N.O. when I go back in two weeks.

 

15 minutes ago, BearCountry11 said:

Ordered some Cape Hatteras oysters from Regalis Foods last week - they were delicious but, man, I had a bitch of a time shucking them. 
 

Question for you pro’s: is shucking really that much of a pain in the ass or do I have the wrong knife (maybe the blade is too thick?)?  Picture below.  I made it work but kept breaking shells trying to pop the hinge.  Shucking 50 oysters wore me out.  
 

 

Personally I think that knife is too sharp?  I had my best results putting my hand flat on the oyster on a towel, and put a little weight on it to hold it in place then just wiggled that knife into it.  Once I got the hang of it they went pretty quick honestly. Now the first five or six were considerably more challenging.  Seems like taking a second and making sure the larger part of the shell is on the bottom also increased my quick success ratio.  I also think a fatter handle might be of help.

One of the great things about chargrilling is the flare ups from the butter.   I also like the idea of perhaps using the disposable tins, simply as I could fill the tins and let other folks decide if they want to add this or that.  Making the management a bit less for me.  It seemed like in past years (non-covid) Pappadeaux's used to have some sort of $0.50 oyster deal at lunch? or happy hour? but that was like two years ago.  Here is what I got form Amazon to get the party started.  I especially like the fireproof, cut resistant gloves as I can use those for fish cleaning with better grip, as well as reach into super hot areas on the grill.  

These gloves were a better fit than the normal gloves you might get in the fishing dept.  I personally liked the fatter grip on this particular knife than the thinner white handled models.

 The long glove length was awesome with dealing with the fire. 

932 Degrees of protection

I only bought one of these ladles, but I am going to buy a couple more.  The one ounce size made the pouring control onto the oysters  much better than a larger ladle and the longer handle kept you from needing to always wear protective gloves when putting the butter mixtures onto the oysters.  

I did consider buying some extra oysters for roasting that were already shucked, but I woried about how fresh they were compared to the ones I was shucking that were only days old.  I think that Quality get's their oysters for the weekend in on Thursdays, and at that point they were two days from bay harvest.  Not sure that even the better restaurants are getting them any fresher than that?   At $1-.80 each I am saving huge bucks from going to the local Oyster bar. But damn it was fun and the ones I got were fresh, fresh, fresh!

Here's to slurpin' shuckin' and fuckin' (I just made this one up, but I like it!)

 

[huge 3795]

This is the knife I use and it works better than any other I have seen.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

4 minutes ago, horn4life said:

IS the Peche in New Orleans the same as the Peche in Austin?  I don't think so, but thought I would ask.  It's on my list in N.O. when I go back in two weeks.

 

Personally I think that knife is too sharp?  I had my best results putting my hand flat on the oyster on a towel, and put a little weight on it to hold it in place then just wiggled that knife into it.  Once I got the hang of it they went pretty quick honestly. Now the first five or six were considerably more challenging.  Seems like taking a second and making sure the larger part of the shell is on the bottom also increased my quick success ratio.  I also think a fatter handle might be of help.

One of the great things about chargrilling is the flare ups from the butter.   I also like the idea of perhaps using the disposable tins, simply as I could fill the tins and let other folks decide if they want to add this or that.  Making the management a bit less for me.  It seemed like in past years (non-covid) Pappadeaux's used to have some sort of $0.50 oyster deal at lunch? or happy hour? but that was like two years ago.  Here is what I got form Amazon to get the party started.  I especially like the fireproof, cut resistant gloves as I can use those for fish cleaning with better grip, as well as reach into super hot areas on the grill.  

These gloves were a better fit than the normal gloves you might get in the fishing dept.  I personally liked the fatter grip on this particular knife than the thinner white handled models.

 The long glove length was awesome with dealing with the fire. 

932 Degrees of protection

I only bought one of these ladles, but I am going to buy a couple more.  The one ounce size made the pouring control onto the oysters  much better than a larger ladle and the longer handle kept you from needing to always wear protective gloves when putting the butter mixtures onto the oysters.  

I did consider buying some extra oysters for roasting that were already shucked, but I woried about how fresh they were compared to the ones I was shucking that were only days old.  I think that Quality get's their oysters for the weekend in on Thursdays, and at that point they were two days from bay harvest.  Not sure that even the better restaurants are getting them any fresher than that?   At $1-.80 each I am saving huge bucks from going to the local Oyster bar. But damn it was fun and the ones I got were fresh, fresh, fresh!

Here's to slurpin' shuckin' and fuckin' (I just made this one up, but I like it!)

 

Shucking oysters just sucks in general. The aquaculture ones are a bit weird as the shells don't seem as hard, as bed/ wild oysters, and tend to flake like shale. If I'm at home, and and it's just me, and a friend or two I'll shuck, but once you get several people involved, just pay someone to do it or get them already shucked in jars, and load 'em in old shells if you're grilling them.

[horn4life 3784]

3 minutes ago, huge said:

This is the knife I use and it works better than any other I have seen.

I sort of think anything with a wider grip to give you a little more torque is the way to go.  The curved handle should really help at with the twist at the point of attack.

If I start going nuts I will probably hire some shuckers, but I enjoy watching grown men struggle trying to get to the sweet nectar! 😉

 

[huge 3795]

1 minute ago, horn4life said:

I sort of think anything with a wider grip to give you a little more torque is the way to go.  The curved handle should really help at with the twist at the point of attack.

If I start going nuts I will probably hire some shuckers, but I enjoy watching grown men struggle trying to get to the sweet nectar! 😉

 

I have been buying the bags at HEB this winter I think it's 9 for $6.99.

Easy to shuck with that knife.  Recommend.

[CHIEF 5095]

12 hours ago, Gale Snoats said:

Gonna have a get together. How many raw per adult is standard? A dozen? 2?

They are really big and plump right now, there are about 70 in a bushel. Normally that number is closer to 100. Two dozen should work, normally I would plan for 3 dozen per person for those that really love them. When we get two bushels, my son will sit down with a knife and homemade cocktail sauce and eat a whole bushel.

CHIEF

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

8 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

They are really big and plump right now, there are about 70 in a bushel. Normally that number is closer to 100. Two dozen should work, normally I would plan for 3 dozen per person for those that really love them. When we get two bushels, my son will sit down with a knife and homemade cocktail sauce and eat a whole bushel.

CHIEF

That's commitment...

[CHIEF 5095]

8 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

That's commitment...

I tell him don't look at a girl wrong, you will get her pregnant.

CHIEF

[gsoda3 3284]

59 minutes ago, horn4life said:

I sort of think anything with a wider grip to give you a little more torque is the way to go. 

agreed.  i have a really fancy oyster knife gifted to me from a cousin that i love but it doesn't work as well as my big rubber handled one.  

[gsoda3 3284]

3 hours ago, Cajun said:

The Drago's out in Metairie is even better than the NOLA one.  

 

i think so too.  easier to get into also. 

[4th and 5 4921]

I ordered the disposable aluminum oyster shells.

What a game changer.

I did all the prep work ahead of time. Softened butter in a squeeze bottle, garlic, green onion, spinach, bacon, grated parm, shredded parm, blue cheese. A pinch of Italian bread crumbs. Also a bit of premade garlic Parmesan  butter in each. It’s pretty salty so a little dab will do ya  

Cranking out trays of oysters in minutes. Limitless combinations.

Weber at full throttle,  7 minutes, do not open the lid.

And 5 bottles of champagne 🥂 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by 4th and 5

[Dry Elbows 142]

How thick are the disposable shells?  My concern is whether they would burn the oysters over direct flame. 

[Scooter Monzingo 821]

On 3/10/2021 at 11:55 PM, Cajun said:

Back to the OP, best I've ever had were at a place called The Dakota in Covington, LA.  I forget what they call them (beyond the Char-grilled Oyster part), but they had the butter/galic somethin' sauce squirted on while grilling and right before pulling off they put a small dollop of blue cheese and several chunks of apple smoked bacon to melt in with everything else.  Absolutely glorious.  It was 10 minutes from where I lived in Mandeville and I sincerely feared that I would, at some point, be fired for all the orders of those things I expensed.

I'd drive all the way there from San Antonio tomorrow just to get 'em.  They're that good --

I have never seen them prepared in such a way. They look absolutely delicious.

[Cajun 11754]

Like I said, I've had 'em all in that state and those were hands down the best.

And I love Drago's and some of the others, but none were in the league of Dakota's.

[Cajun 11754]

And just to throw a little love back to Drago's in Metairie, the pron from my last visit --

Edited March 14, 2021 by Cajun
Need to see my cardiologist just posting these pics.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

34 minutes ago, Dry Elbows said:

How thick are the disposable shells?  My concern is whether they would burn the oysters over direct flame. 

Good question.  I'd say they need to be above the flame a decent bit, and they aren't going to be on there long if you want them to remain on the raw side of charred.

Love the cooking method, skipping the shucking, but why not just keep some cleaned oyster shells on hand  though ?