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Broiled Oysters
Take largest oysters, clean, scald, drain, dry on a towel and dip each into softened butter till well coated and then in seasoned flour. Lay them on buttered broiler. Cook over clear coals until light brown. Serve on slices of buttered thin toast. If done by gas stove lay toast under broiler to catch drip. Fine cracker crumbs may be used instead of flour. Oysters that have been breaded for frying are good broiled. Allow 6 oysters to a serving.
A short, high-heat treatment that depends entirely on not overcooking the oysters. Everything else here is preparation.
- Scald means seconds, not minutesHeat the shucked oysters just until the edges ruffle, then lift them out at once. This firms them enough to hold a coating; left in longer they tighten and shrink, and the broiler still has work to do afterward.
- Total broiling timeUnder a modern gas or electric broiler, 2 to 3 minutes a side at most, with the rack about 4 inches from the element. "Light brown" is the signal, not a clock. An oyster held under heat past that point turns rubbery and weeps.
- Dry them properlyThe towel step is the hinge of the recipe. Butter will not cling to a wet oyster, flour will not cling to butter that has slid off, and the coating steams instead of browning.
- Softened butter, not melted'softened' here most likely means butter worked soft rather than liquid, so that it coats rather than running off and pooling on the pan.
- Seasoned flourFlour with salt and pepper, sometimes a little paprika or cayenne. About 1/2 cup flour to 1/2 teaspoon salt and a little pepper is a workable ratio.
- Buttered broilerA wire grill for cooking over coals, often hinged. Under a household broiler, use a rack set in a shallow pan, well buttered, so the oysters sit clear of their own drip and brown on the underside.
- The toast underneathLaying the toast beneath the rack to catch the butter and oyster liquor is the best instruction on the page. Put it in for only the last minute or two, or it will be dry and dark by the time the oysters are done.
- YieldSix oysters to a serving, as stated, which means a dozen and a half for three people, served on slices of thin buttered toast.