Cleaning mussels is not a complicated task, but it is extremely important in part of their preparation. The first thing you need to do is to inspect the mussels and remove the defective ones. How do we know which ones they are?
It's very easy - just tap lightly on the open shell - if it closes immediately, then it can be consumed. However, if it remains open, it must be thrown away. Open mussels before being cooked are poisonous and it is extremely unpleasant for the stomach. The next stage is the removal of the so-called mussel beard - they are those brown growths that stick out between the two shells.
The removal is done by abruptly pulling in the direction of the sharp tip of the mussel. After cleaning the mussels, dip them in a bowl of clean cold water and let them stand for 15-20 minutes. While being soaked, they will filter the water and this way all the grains of sand will come out of them. Then clean each shell with the help of a brush. You can also use a toothbrush. It is important that nothing remains on their surface.
Wash the cleaned mussels under running water and they are now ready for heat treatment. The cleaning process of the mussels may sound a bit complicated, but once you learn the technique, you won't have much trouble. It is important to clean the mussels well so that you do not have stomach problems afterwards.
Once you have cleaned the mussels, it's time to move on to cooking them. We can recommend you to prepare some of the following mussel recipes: mussels with rice, breaded mussels or fried mussels.
