You can achieve quite a lot in 2 minutes, 38 seconds.
Boil an egg. Bag yourself a date on Tinder. Watch the highlights of an England football match. Twice.
For Fredrik Lindfors, 2015 Winner of the Tabasco British Oyster Opening Championships, in the same amount of time this man can shuck a staggering 30 oysters, roughly working out to five seconds for every clam. Heroic stuff.
Now, we don’t expect you to match this shuck-rate (heck, you probably didn’t even know what shucking *was* until a second ago), but nonetheless we asked Lindfors to give us speedy tips in the hope you can crack one open in under 10 seconds, making sure presentation is also key.
So hit the gallery below for a quick six step guide to oyster slicing supremacy.
So long, shuckers!
The 23rd Annual TABASCO Oyster Opening Championship took place at Wright Brothers in Spitalfields, where 12 shuckers from across the UK battled it out to be crowned the winner.
CALL THAT A KNIFE…
'A good knife is very important – it has to be strong and sharp. I normally use the French style stick knives for most oysters. For Natives oysters, the Irish knives work well too but this kind of knife requires a different technique.’
SAFETY FIRST
‘I only use gloves in competitions as I don't want to risk getting cut and then having blood on the oyster. A tea towel will help you grip it and stop you from cutting yourself.’
DON’T JUST DIG IN
‘I always look at the oysters first and then decide the best point to open and go from there. That way you’re placing your knife at the right point and not going in blind.’
IT’S ALL IN THE WRIST
‘Put the tip of the shucking knife at the base of the hinge, twist the knife with a bit of force, then gently lever the knife upwards, twisting again to get the hinge open.’
MUSSELS FOR BRUSSELS
‘Once you’ve unlocked it, open the oyster carefully, make sure the oyster isn’t damaged and that there isn’t any grit or shell on the inside. Now scrape the knife across the top shell to sever the muscle and cut the mussel off the bottom shell.'
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
'You need to know what you’re doing so practice is crucial. The more confident you are, the quicker you’ll get. You’ve got to be in the zone, concentration is key - one mistake and you could cause a lot of damage to your hand!'
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