676 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



rake has a breadth of 18 inches, with teeth 1 inch apart, is attached to a pole 20 

 to 25 feet long, and has a wire net bag behind it for holding the catch. 



Utilization. Fresh. Mussels spoil very quickly after they have been removed 

 from the water. Shucked mussels cannot be kept fresh in an ice chest for longer 

 than 24 hours, and cannot, therefore, be shipped long distances. This is the most 

 serious drawback to the development of trade in fresh mussels. Mussels are ordi- 

 narily marketed alive in the shell, and are shipped in barrels like clams (i.e., cov- 

 ered with wet cloths and stored in cool dark places ) . 



Mussels are best from December to July; they therefore may be used as a sub- 

 stitute for oysters during the early summer. 



Mussels are eaten entire, except for the shell and the beard or byssus. The 

 byssus is usually detached after cooking. Mussels may be stewed, steamed, roasted, 

 fried, creamed, and made into croquettes, fritters, and chowder. 



Pickled. Pickling is the most common way of preserving mussels. After wash- 

 ing, the mussels are steamed until the shells open. The meats are then taken from 

 the shells and the beards are pulled off. The mussel meats are placed in a bowl 

 and covered with spiced vinegar, onions, black pepper, red pepper, cloves, salt, 

 allspice, olive oil, garlic, etc. When thus prepared and left in a cool place they 

 will keep for a week or two. Pickled mussels are also prepared without steaming, 

 but this process is not as common as the one described above. 



Pickled mussels are also canned. The beards are pulled off after the mussels 

 have been washed, steamed, and removed from the shell. The liquor formed dur- 

 ing the steaming process is mixed with spiced vinegar. Field recommends that 

 for each quart of natural liquor the following ingredients be added: 1 pint vine- 

 gar, /2 ounce cinnamon, % ounce cloves, % ounce salt, and 1 small red pepper. This 

 mixture is allowed to simmer for 15 minutes and is then poured over the meats. 

 After standing a day the meats are removed from the spiced liquor and are 

 packed in bottles or jars. The liquor is filtered, heated to boiling, and poured 

 over the meats in the jars. After sealing, the jars are heated for 15 minutes in 

 an autoclave with 5-pounds steam pressure. 



Canned. Field (1909) indicated that mussels could be successfully canned. 

 The freshly gathered mussels were picked over carefully, and all of the dead or 

 unhealthy ones, along with any other foreign material, were removed. They were 

 then washed with clean water and steamed for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the shells 

 opened slightly. As soon as they were sufficiently cool to be handled, the meats 

 were separated from the shell and "beards" and packed into glass jars or tin cans. 



The liquor from the steamed mussels was filtered through a muslin cloth to 

 remove all shell particles or sand. It was then brought to a boil, and 2 ounces of 

 salt per gallon of liquor were added. The hot liquor was added to the mussel con- 

 tainers, almost filling them. The containers were then sealed and processed in a 

 retort at 5-pounds pressure for 15 minutes. In order not to cause excessive break- 

 age of the glass containers the temperature was cooled slowly to about 100° F 

 (38° C). When this temperature had been reached, the jars were ready to remove 

 and store. 



Jarvis (1943) describes a slightly different procedure for canning mussels. 

 After they are thoroughly cleaned and culled, the meats are taken out of the shell. 

 They are washed and brined for IM to 3 hours in a 3 per cent brine solution. The 

 meats are then drained and placed in a 3 per cent solution of distilled vinegar to 



