Redneck Oyster Washer

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PSG-1

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Here at redneck workshop 101, we have a saying "If the ladies don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

Also, "give a lazy man a job, he will find an easier way of doing it."

With that said, I love harvesting oysters, and eating them on a regular basis, but to me, the hard work is when it comes to washing the oysters, especially in January. I've always done it the hard way, holding each oyster in my hand and washing it. I don't like to use the wire basket washers like they have at the car wash, those beat the oysters to death, breaking off all the edges.

When edges break off, the oyster inside is exposed. This means they must immediately be cooked, or they will begin to go bad. Not only that, but when you break all the edges off, you go from pretty 3 inch oysters, down to some scrappy junk that looks awful.


So, here's my answer to both problems.....it cleans the oysters quickly, but doesn't beat them to death. I call it the redneck oyster washer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhe55jn_qEc
 
All you need is a cement mixer! Imagine what you could do with a full blown mixer truck! :-k

I've never harvested oysters, so I can't share your distaste for cleaning them. The only "harvesting" I do of them is to pick them out at the fish market :LOL2:
 
The reason I put the bucket inside the mixer is because if I put the oysters inside the mixer itself, there's no way to drain the water and mud as they're being washed. Also, the mixer blades would probably beat the oysters to death. Already saw that problem before I ever washed the first oyster, hence, the use of the bucket.

In a plastic 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled, the water and mud can drain, yet, the surface isn't like a wire mesh drum, or the inside of a cement mixer, it's soft enough to absorb the impact of shells tumbling, without breaking them into pieces.

I agree, it's definitely less labor-intensive to just go buy some oysters, but to me, half the fun is in going out and getting them, just as with fishing. (And of course it helps if you live right on a marsh) We all know that if we added up the cost of our tackle, rigs, boats, engines, fuel, etc, etc....we'd realize we're paying ridiculous prices for our filets! :shock:

But again, more than half the fun is going out and catching the fish. :mrgreen:
 
Gramps50 said:
Very nice, I'm headed to Harbor Freight to get me a mixer

Yep, that's a Harbor Freight cement mixer I'm using. I paid 149 dollars for it, bought it this past summer when I built my bream pond. I had 4 tons of rock to mortar and grout, no way I was going to mix all that by hand...my shoulders, wrists and elbows would have blown out before I ever got close to completion.

When I bought it, I already knew I could turn it into an oyster washer, and as I mentioned in the video, it also works great for mixing the powdered fish meal and clay for shrimp bait (dry mixing only, adding water would turn the inside of the mixer into a stinking mess).

It's always nice when you can do multiple tasks with one tool. =D> :mrgreen:
 
Watching that made me hungry! Great idea and excellent use multitasking a tool. Wish we had oysters up here. I'd be doing that a bunch.
 

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