How To Freeze Clams And Oysters

Key Takeaways:

• Frozen shellfish is for cooking, not slurping. Freezing will kill the shellfish, and once thawed, oysters lose the vitality that makes them worth eating raw. Save the freezer stash for fried oysters, chowder, casserole etc; order fresh oysters when you want to eat them on the half shell.
• Below Zero = Hero. All of the timeframes listed here assume your freezer is below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Colder is better! If your freezer is on the warm side, expect food to not last as long. 
• Freeze quickly and thaw slowly. Rapid freezing creates smaller ice crystals and causes less tissue damage. But after it's frozen, a refrigerated thaw is preferable for food safety reasons.

Find yourself with too much shellfish on your hands? Oysters and clams should last a week in a refrigerator, but still: Maybe you dug too many clams at a farm day, or ordered a 5 pound bag when 3 pounds would have done it. Whatever the case, here's our best advice!

It mainly includes freezing them (shocker) but there are a few other hot tips too.

Before You Freeze: The Fridge Window

Storing shellfish properly in a fridge is key to preserving quality. Whether you’ve got live in-shell oysters, clams, or a pint of shucked oysters: keep things cold and don't wait too long. In-shell oysters are best stored cup-side down, in a bowl covered loosely with a damp cloth. Same thing for clams: put them in a bowl and cover them with a damp cloth. Shucked oysters can stay in their original container.

In general, we'd suggest making the freeze-or-eat call within the first couple of days; the fresher the shellfish going into the freezer, the better it comes out the other side. If you ordered online and have questions about timing or arrival conditions, our Shipping and Order FAQ covers the most common scenarios. Once you've decided to freeze, the methods below take over.

Shucked Oysters:

Freeze them. They freeze beautifully. You can freeze the oysters directly in the jar or bag they arrived in or you can transfer them to a ziplock freezer bag. Try to use within 3 months.

That said, of all the things we sell, oysters in a jar have the longest refrigerated shelf life, and they can be eaten many different ways… fried one night, in a casserole 4 nights later… so it’s easy to avoid recipe fatigue. Some of our favorite recipes for shucked oysters include fried, oyster casserole, or in an oyster roll. More shucked recipes here.

Clams:

Freeze them!

We freeze cooked clams, not raw clams. Rinse the clams, removing any that are dead or broken. Put the remaining clams in a pot with about 1/3 cup water per pound of clams. Steam on high for 8 minutes or so, or until they’re fully cooked and starting to fall out of their shells. Drain, and reserve the liquid. Remove the clam meat from the shell (take care not to burn your hands - they’ll be hot!). Rinse the clam meat in a colander under cool running water, discarding any sand or shell bits.

Once rinsed, put the clam meat in a plastic freezer bag. Squeeze out all the air out of the bag, label and date, and freeze flat.

Separately, freeze as much of the broth as you need for cooking with (the broth is essential for chowder!) in a freezer-proof container with enough headroom for the broth to expand as it freezes. 

Most people recommend freezing the clams in the broth… the reason we don’t is that the hot broth slows down the freezing process, which can hurt the clam's texture. If you want to pre-chill everything and then freeze, that's fine!

After you defrost, we recommend turning the clam meat into clam butter or the seriously amazing sport dip. If you went through all the effort of saving the broth, you should probably make a chowder. Find clam recipes here.

Oysters in the Shell:

Freeze them! 

Some of our customers freeze oysters whole, just by popping the entire critter in a freezer bag. We haven’t done a ton of experimenting with this method, but if you do this, try to use them within 3 months to avoid freezer burn.

Our Oyster Saloon routinely freezes “top off oysters,” which are oysters with their top shell removed for easy roasting in an oven. Freezing top offs can take a ton of freezer space, but if you have room, go for it. Shuck the top shell off, lay the oysters out on a rimmed tray and lay the trays out in your freezer. Bag the oysters after they’re frozen solid, to conserve space and free up your trays. When you’re ready to cook them, take the oysters out of the freezer, add a dollop of compound butter, and put them directly on the grill or in the oven. There’s no need to fully thaw them first, just keep the heat low and give them extra cook time.

Keep in mind that oysters frozen whole or on the half shell will last a month or two. If you want them to last longer, or if you don't need the shell anymore, shuck the oysters and freeze them and their liquor in a plastic freezer bag with as much air removed as possible.

If freezing isn't your jam, you can also pickle or smoke oysters. Pickled oysters are delicious, but unlike deviled eggs or tinned fish, they're not yet trendy (maybe someday?). If you want to give it a try, steam the oysters open, saving yourself the work of shucking them, and follow our recipe for pickled oysters. Once pickled, they'll have a refrigerated shelf life of at least 6 weeks.

When It's Time to Thaw:

We don't recommend running frozen shellfish under hot water or microwaving them to speed things up; the texture suffers. Best bet is to thaw shellfish slowly in a refrigerator. Usually, shellfish doesn’t need to be fully thawed before you can start cooking with it (just remember to keep the heat low to give time to defrost fully in the chowder or dish.) Once thawed, treat your oysters or clam meat like fresh: cook within a day or two and don't refreeze. And if something smells off or the liquid looks slimy, trust your nose.

One quick reminder: frozen oysters are great for cooking but stick to the freshly shucked oysters for eating raw. Want to put your shellfish freezing skills to the test? Order a 5 lb bag of manila clams now! (Warning: it might take 10 lbs to ensure you have enough leftover to freeze).

And, if you missed it: here's advice for how to store oysters in the shell at home, so that they'll last up to a week.

If you've got oysters on hand and are looking for advice about preparing them, here are our guides for how to grill oysters, and how to shuck oysters. Look for more oyster recipes here.

Final Thoughts

Freezing shellfish is a useful habit - you can order in bulk at peak season, and batch food out to eat in your preferred quantities. Label and date everything and make sure your freezer is set to keep all food below zero degrees Fahrenheit. If you have questions we didn't cover here, our FAQs page has answers to a lot of the common ones, and our All Things Oyster resource page is a good starting point if you want to go deeper on any part of the oyster-keeping and cooking process.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my oysters or clams are still alive and good before I freeze them?

A live oyster in the shell should be closed already, or close up when tapped. If it's gaping open and doesn't respond to a tap, give it a few minutes to warm up to room temperature. (A super cold oyster isn't super lively). If it still doesn't respond, it's likely dead and should be discarded.

For clams, the same principle: shells should be closed or should close when tapped.

Shucked oysters are labeled with a “sell by date” that you can use as a guideline, but keep in mind that the sell-by date assumes proper refrigeration. If they haven’t been kept cold enough, shucked oysters won’t last as long as expected. Oysters should smell clean and oceanic, not sour or sulfurous. A red tinge or bulging container are both bad signs.

When in doubt, trust your nose; bad shellfish makes itself known. 

Are Frozen Oysters Safer? 

No. Freezing can be a necessary safety step for some seafood preparations like (sushi or sashimi), but freezing doesn’t improve the safety of shellfish. Make sure that all the shellfish you put in the freezer is safe to eat. 

Can I freeze shellfish as soon as my order arrives, or should I wait?

You can freeze it immediately, and in some cases that's actually a good idea if you know you won't use it within a couple of days. The fresher the shellfish going into the freezer, the better the results on the other end; if it arrives on Monday and you freeze it Monday evening, you're in better shape than if you wait until Thursday to freeze it.

For questions specific to your order or how long transit might have affected the shellfish, our Shipping and Order FAQ has more details on what to expect.

Can I refreeze shellfish after it's already been thawed?

We don't recommend it. Once oysters or clams have thawed, refreezing them noticeably degrades the texture; what you get is mushier and less flavorful than after the first freeze. If you thawed more than you need, the better call is to cook all of it now and refrigerate the cooked leftovers (clam butter and oyster casserole keep well for a few days in the fridge) rather than sending the raw meat back into the freezer.

What's the difference between ordering in-shell oysters versus shucked, if I plan to freeze some anyway?

The main difference is in flexibility and timing, and how you want to use the product. Shucked oysters go straight into the freezer with no prep, making them the more convenient choice because they take up less space in your freezer. The downside is that you don't have a shell to cook the oysters in... but you likely have a handy muffin tin that's up to the job. 

In-shell oysters give you the option to eat some raw right away and freeze the rest, and they also come with shells that are handy for grilling and serving.

If you're buying a mix for a dinner party and want to freeze the leftovers, in-shell makes sense. If your goal is a reliable cooking stash, shucked is the easier route.

How long does it take to thaw frozen oysters or clams properly?

The best method is overnight in the fridge, which generally takes about 8 to 12 hours for a standard bag of shucked oysters or a container of clam meat. Larger quantities may need a full 24 hours. If you're short on time, a sealed container submerged in cold (not warm) water and refreshed every 30 minutes works reasonably well, but we'd avoid running hot water over it or using the microwave; both tend to soften the texture in a way that's hard to recover from in cooking. Once thawed, treat it like fresh and cook within a day or two.