Seafood is a wonderful delicacy enjoyed by billions across the globe. Some dishes require certain seafood tools in order to prepare and enjoy them. Here are 11 seafood tools you need in your kitchen!
Fish Scaler
In most seafood markets, even those inside grocery store chains, you can buy whole fish. This offers you the freshest option on the market. Some seafood departments will scale and fillet them for you, but not all.
A fish scaler will make cleaning whole fish a breeze. Scaling can be done with a knife, but not as quickly as with a scaler. If you want to purchase fresh whole fish, invest in a good scaler.
Fillet Knife
After scaling a fish, the next step is to fillet it. A good sharp filleting knife makes a world of difference when cutting up a whole fish. You want good quality steel that will hold a sharp edge.
Dull knives wreck the tender flesh of a fish filet. Buying good steel is a start, but even good steel needs to be maintained. Keep the knife sharp, and your fish filets will come out clean.
Fish Bone Tweezers
While some filets can be cut off leaving no bones behind, not all fish are so conveniently designed. Furthermore, mistakes happen. Fortunately, there are seafood tools to deal with such problems!
Fish bone tweezers make quick work of any tiny fish bones that get left behind. Regular tweezers will work in a pinch, but do you really want to use your personal tweezers on fish? I sure don’t!
Cut Resistant Gloves
Working with seafood requires a lot of cutting, scraping, and cracking. This type of work can easily lead to you cutting and scraping yourself. We must consider safety when working with seafood tools just as it is with any other kitchen work.
Cut-resistant gloves will make filleting fish a lot safer. Accidents happen, and the last thing you want is for one of those accidents to claim a finger. A trip to the ER and getting stitched up isn’t preferable either.
Oyster Knife
Oysters are a wonderful delicacy, but they come wrapped in a tough thick shell. We use a special tool to pry these little seafood flavor nuggets from that shell, the oyster knife.
As with filleting fish, any knife can work in shucking oysters. But an oyster knife was designed specifically for this task. It will likely give you better results, especially if you are unfamiliar with the process.
Reusable Oyster Shells
You don’t have to buy oysters in the shell. You can buy them already shucked if you prefer. However, oysters are often cooked right in their shell once opened, so if you buy already shucked oysters you are losing that nature-made serving dish.
Luckily there are man-made alternatives. Reusable stainless steel oyster shells are available for purchase. Now you can broil your favorite oyster combos without the hassle of shucking the oysters.
Shell Crackers
Oysters aren’t for everybody. If you are looking for another delicious shellfish, crab might be for you. Sadly, it takes a good bit of work to get to that amazing crab meat, but there are multiple tools to help with this feat.
Shell crackers are the first thing you will want to get. A Shell cracker does exactly what the name implies, it helps crack the hard shells of the crab claws. Once cracked, you can peel away the shell and dig out the meat.
Seafood Scissors
Seafood scissors are useful for cutting the softer portions of crab shells away. Use them to access the smaller crab legs where a shell cracker is impractical.
Crab/Lobster Mallet
A crab/lobster mallet is a good alternative to a shell cracker. It serves the same purpose, namely to crack open the tough shells of crab and lobster claws. Both tools work equally well, and it really just comes down to preference.
Shrimp Deveiner
Deveiner shrimp can be a pain. A shrimp deveiner will make the job a little easier. And if you haven’t been deveining your shrimp, you should start, because you are not really getting rid of veins. You are really getting rid of shrimp poop.
Looking for some good shrimp recipes? Check out my fried shrimp recipe! You can take that fried shrimp to the next level by making a delicious shrimp po’boy. For something different, try my spicy shrimp creole!
Seafood Fork
A seafood fork is a handy little tool that will help you dig out crab meat once you’ve broken the shell. They are extremely useful in getting every last bit of succulent meat out of the crab. Given the cost of the little shelled flavor bombs, you don’t want to waste a single ounce.
