It’s a commonly held belief that oysters should only be consumed in months that end in ‘r’. However, this old mnemonic is just that– old. Thanks to modern refrigeration, farming practices and food safety procedures, farmed oysters like ours are able to stay ‘in-season’ year round.
The common breeding cycle for oysters means that they’re in breeding season during the summer months and should be left alone. However, our oysters are farm raised, which means our breeding cycle is different than a natural one. In reality, the quality of the water in which the oyster is grown and how the mollusk is handled post-harvest makes a bigger difference.
Our oysters are our Virginia’s first deep water oysters. This means that we are the first farm whose oysters spend the entirety of their lives floating in the unforgiving surf of the Chesapeake Bay. We will never settle for anything less than the best oysters our home waters can produce. As well, the oysters enjoy a pristine water quality, allowing them to absorb more clean nutrients.
The advice of eating oysters only in ‘r’ months dates to 1599 when it first appeared in a cookbook. At that time, there was merit to the advice. During summer months, unrefrigerated or un-iced oysters would spoil very quickly. The cookbook was also referring to a European oyster, which of contains a sac of baby oysters in tiny shells during the summer months.
However, American east coast oysters like ours, the Crassostrea virginica don’t reproduce that way. So, you’re never in for a nasty, crunchy surprise. As well, after being processed, our oysters are immediately refrigerated and shipped in heavy duty coolers with several ice-packs as quickly as possible. In most cases, they arrive overnight.
What this means is that our oysters stay fresh and clean year-round. We’re able to harvest oysters at any time because we control the breeding cycle. Our oysters work to filter the Chesapeake Bay and bolster the local ecosystem while growing. Strong and meaty. So, order away any time of year and rest assured you’ll be receiving a healthy, high quality oyster.
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