Cryo-Shucked Clams

Ingredients

• 13 1/3 cups water
• 5 tablespoons fine sea salt
• 50 littleneck clams, rinsed

Directions

1. Stir the water and salt together in a large bowl until the salt has fully dissolved. Pour one-third of the brine into a second large bowl, then add the clams. Refrigerate the clams for 30 minutes. Drain them, rinse both the clams and the bowl, and put the clams back in the bowl. Add half of the brine that remains, then refrigerate for 30 more minutes. Drain again, and do the same soaking process once more with the last of the brine.
2. Spread the clams out on a rimmed baking sheet so they sit in a single layer. Freeze them overnight or up to 1 week, covering them with plastic wrap after they have frozen solid.
3. To shuck them, move the clams to the refrigerator and allow them to thaw; as they defrost, the shells will open. Use a spoon to ease the shells all the way apart, then scoop the clams into a bowl set over another bowl filled with ice. As you work, make sure the clam juice lands in the bowl too. Add any clam liquid left on the baking sheet to the bowl with the clams.
4. With scissors, cut around each clam’s belly and foot, meaning the tender round center and the firmer meat beside it. Move the belly, also called the visceral mass, and the foot to a small bowl, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until needed. Put the trimmings into the bowl with the clam juice, then cover and refrigerate until needed.