Plate to Cook & Present

Plan to plate your oysters for cooking and ultimately for presentation so you can enjoy the ride while you serve your guests.

Plate to cook: Ideally whatever you cook your oysters on can be taken straight from the oven or grill to the table to cut down on complexity and clean-up. Goal number one is preserving the oyster liquor. Even if most of the liquid boils off during the cook, this flavor is key to the unique taste of the dish. Unfortunately, some of the most utilitarian cooking surfaces are not the most elegant nor practical for food service or presentation. This is a situational judgment call. Click the arrowheads at left for more information.

Plate to present: If you have a special presentation idea, you might want to decide to transfer from a cooked surface to a presentation surface. One benefit to moving cooked oysters from a cooking surface to a presentation surface is reducing the cooling time for safe handling by your guests. Because of time and non-heated material heat will dissipate and transfer more readily from the cooked oysters to the presentation surface. By doing this, you can also present in items that you would never think about cooking in...like wooden bowls. Here are some helpful ideas: