Oysters are soft-bodied animals that have two hard, protective shells. They spend their entire lives in one underwater location. The shape of the oyster's shells varies, depending mostly upon how crowded they are in the oyster bed. With me around thats not long.
The two hard, rough-textured shells are attached by a muscular hinge (the adductor muscles) at the narrow end. The shell is generated by the mantle, a thin layer of tissue separating the shell from the soft body. When an oyster is threatened, it closes its shells, using the very strong adductor muscle. Oysters draw in water through their gills, and extract oxygen and filter out floating algae (which they use for food). An oyster changes its sex during its life; it starts out as a male and often ends as a female. The largest oysters are up to 3 feet (1 m) long, but most are a few inches long. oyster belongs to the American oyster family. It is larger than the European oyster, with rough and heavy shells that are generally a grayish color. This species range is throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The Louisiana oyster can be eaten in different ways: for many people, they are best by the dozen, cold and salty, but can also be eaten charbroiled or baked, into an oyster stew or an oyster pie.
I will ad to this as time goes on.

Well you open the sack and start cleaning the Oysters with the hope you will get a salty sack of perfect Oysters, Then it hits you! how do you open these things. I will show you several ways to open the shells without running a sharp oyster kinfe through the palm of your hand ( I have done this many times).
the most important thing you will learn is that Oysters are SHARP! so the first thing you must have is a good pair of GLOVES! My friend the Oyster fisherman uses chemical black lined gloves, I use leather work gloves which it does not matter which kind you use just use them, Good news my friend will be in this weekend with realy good oysters, I can't wait its been a few weeks sence the last sack- back to shucking, I have been working on my oyster shucking machine and it is done, I will post pictures this week end and if you want one I will sell them just e-mail me. after you put your glove on i grab the oyster with the butt facing me then insert my knife into the crevas between the two shells, give it a hard twist until the back pops open. My friend places the oyster flat on the table and inserts the knife and uses the table for support, both ways work. If i get into hard to open oysters then I use the machine! this sucker will open a dozzen Oysters in a couple of minutes with out breaking a sweat, also its safer after we have 6 or 7 beers.

Well lets get started on something close to my heart eating, Im a pro at it and when It comes to oysters well lets say not many people can keep up with me, on a weekend I will eat about 8 to 12 dozen a day until they are gone, A hundred pound sack lasts about three days. The first and most critical issue is the cocktail sauce!!! it will make or break an oyster, dont get me wrong, stright up is the best but I do love the sauce, Here in louisiana we make our own not store bought, its simple and good. one cup ketchup, 2 tblsp zatirans prepaired horse radish, 6 dashes worchester sauce, mix well and then place on oyster or cracker. If you have never boiled oysters in crab boil you have never lived, this method is just like any other boil shrimp, crab, crawfish, just place them in the pot boil 2 minutes let stand 30 min or so then enjoy. latter I will get into smokin oysters, I am a smokin freak I have a bradley smoker and use it alot, Oysters smoke well and I use pecan wood for the flavor, to smoke them half shell a few dozzen and place on the rack set to 250' and get the wood smokin, after 30 min of just smoke I put a garlic butter sauce on them and let them cook around 15 more min. serve hot! even people that do not eat raw oysters will love these, last recipie for today is Oysters and eggs, dont knock it until you try it! cook the oysters in a skilet with real butter until they are about 3/4 done drain about half the liquid off and pour in 3 to 4 scrambled eggs cook the way you like them and enjoy!