Can I Check & Clean Mussels?

This paella was the first time I ever cooked mussels, so I had to figure out how to clean & check the mussels. I actually had just seen it on the Food Network on the show "Worst Cooks in America."

I looked up this video on YouTube from Bart's Fish Tales, which was really helpful. I watched it a few times while I was doing it.

Attempt #1:

You put them in a bowl with salted water and let them sit there for ~20 min.

** If they float to the top, they're DEAD & do not eat them!

Before I even started, I thought I messed it up already and they weren't going to be good. Haha! :)

These were the ones that floated to the top & were DEAD!

** If they do not float to the top and are open a little bit already, then you tap them to check if they are still alive -- they should move if you tap them. If they don't move, they are dead. These were all closed still.

RESULT: Success!

We are good at this! I got some cleaned and checked mussels and you can check out the Paella post to see why I said this was a success! :)

Give it a try! We are good at this!