Northwest Fishing Reports

My wife loves smoked Oysters. I would like to try smoking some of the razor clams we got this weekend. Anybody ever done this? Recomendations? Recipes??

Interesting idea GP. I've only had canned smoked clams. They were interesting, but I have no experience with fresh smoked clams. I have grilled shucked butter clams on the half shell over which I placed crushed garlic, butter, and shredded parmesan cheese prior to grilling. Those were amazingly good. Look forward to hearing about the results.

Ive had smoked clams and oysters from Taylors up in Samish Bay. Im not for absolute certain but I think you need to cook them lightly first then in the smoker. Cooking them I presume kills any bacteria that might be lurking.

Razor Clams

Pacific Razor Clam
Pacific Razor Clams
(Siliqua patula)
Razor Clam Recipes



"Smoked" Razor Clams
1 limit of razor clams (cut into small pieces)
1/2 C. oil
1 tbsp. Liquid smoke
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. seasoning salt
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. celery salt
1 tbsp. garlic powder

Combine and stir oil and seasonings, then add clams. Bake on cookie sheet or in shallow pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Stir and drain frequently, saving juice. Store clams and juice in air-tight container. Will keep in refrigerator 2-3 weeks.

Any recipe you use (assuming you already have one) for smoking oysters would work, but I have never had razor clams so I dont know how strong of a natural flavor they have for comparison.

Watching the razor clam cleaning vids on youtube, they appear to be relatively thin bodied when cleaned, so brine time wouldnt need to be very long compared to say, large oysters.

As a possible point of reference, at a prior job we used to do smoked jumbo scallops (U10's, or less than 10 per #, about an inch thick by 1.5 inch diameter) in a 4 hour liquid brine, then racked in front of a fan for 4 hours to form the pellicle, then smoked 45 minutes at 200º.

To be honest I cannot stand the smoked oysters, she loves em so I told her I would see what I could dig up. I found a recipe similar to what rac posted, I may have to give it a try. Thanks all

What I would change on the recipe I printed is I hate the flavor of liquid smoke. Id cook them as said then plce in the real smoker and smoke with Alder or pecan.

racfish wrote:What I would change on the recipe I printed is I hate the flavor of liquid smoke. Id cook them as said then plce in the real smoker and smoke with Alder or pecan.

That's what I'm talking about I ran across a recipe on the Trager site (I think it was Treager) that was for a smoker, said to use some kind of basket, I will have to see if I can find it again.

Razor clams are very thin once cleaned except for the neck meat. When cooking it's easy for them to get tough if cooked at all too long. If smoked a little to long you may winde up with a batch of clam jerky.

Well Gringo??? How did they turn out. Were the clams good smoked?

racfish wrote:Well Gringo??? How did they turn out. Were the clams good smoked?

Haven't had a chance yet Rac - vac-packed and frozen. I will be sure to update when I get to it..

I was noticing about alot of canned fish products are packed in some Soya oil. You might think about that after smoking them. Jerry H mentioned that. I opened a can of sardines in oil,smoked baby clams had oil. Maybe that helps moistened the product to make it easier to chew. Just a thought....

racfish wrote:I was noticing about alot of canned fish products are packed in some Soya oil. You might think about that after smoking them. Jerry H mentioned that. I opened a can of sardines in oil,smoked baby clams had oil. Maybe that helps moistened the product to make it easier to chew. Just a thought....

Or at least makes it slide down easier.

We do all the time, use a light salt brine immerse clams 4 hours, rinse lightly and let air dry for an hour. Put in your smoker we use mesquite chips for an hour with one pan of chips.. During smoking taste test the clams they should not be like jerky! Then you can use the left overs and make your fav dip out of them.

Really good! Check out the Washington Dept of Wildlife for more Razor clam recipes. Good Luck!

Baydog1990