Don’t try to open at the end, rather slide the knife all the way in then just turn it 90 degrees and the shell will easily open. Slide the knife all the way into the opening on both sides, then lever the shell open.

Once they open even a bit you can easily open the clam up with a butter knife.Clean clams of all debris with a nylon scrub brush and cold water then place them on a baking sheet and cook in the oven until they slightly open (about 2-3 minutes). Save the cherrystone and chowder clams for clam chowder as they’re large and a little on the tougher side.Įach number corresponds to the numbered written steps below. You can use topnecks to make this baked clam recipe, though they aren’t sold too frequently in stores. Littlenecks are a particular size of Quahog clams and are smaller than the other clams such as topneck, cherrystone, and chowder clams. Littlenecks are sold in bags of 10-12 per pound, making them the perfect size for this recipe. These are abundant here on Long Island (named after littleneck bay in western long Island) and you can find them in most grocery stores and fish markets on the east coast. For this recipe, and in the pictures below, I used littlenecks.

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