How to Debeard Mussels
By Renee Shelton

1. Clean mussels the day of cooking. Run the shells under water. Pull the "beard," the strands of fibers that emerge from the shells. Toss any mussels that are open, that do not close when touched. Scrub and scrape the surface of the mussels to remove any spots, debris or encrustations that may have formed.

Wild Harvested Mussels - Image above courtesy FishStockPhoto.com.

Renee Shelton is the owner of this site, runs the fishing chef blog, and is the Fishing Editor for the 2nd largest women's website on the internet, BellaOnline.com. Keep up with her at her blog Sand and Succotash. Her book Basic Fish Cooking Methods: A No Frills Guide for Preparing Fresh Fish is available on Amazon.

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