I'm making clam chowder .. Help

Is this normal? (See attached pic I took) I got clams in a can from Trader Joe's - "Maine whole cherrystone clams", and am wondering if that black stuff is normal.. Do I cut it off? I have never made clam chowder before, so I have no idea. Thanks!

http%3A//i.imgur.com/HNN5W.jpg



• Seriously, this is gross. The black stuff is nasty. It says on the can they are for soup. It looks too gross to eat. Does that stuff melt and flavor the chowder?

  http://i.imgur.com/3VDyJ.jpg

• One site I just went to had this to offer: "Clams, like the northern quahog, are bivalves, meaning that they have shells consisting of two halves, or valves. The "black stuff" you a referring to is the plankton eaten by the clam and in its digestive tract when caught and cooked. It's edible." So at least it's not shit...

• Yes, it's normal. Have you not ever had clams?

• It IS shit, just not pooped out yet. And yes, it is delicious.

• Edible and appealing are different. If it's grossing you out, remove it.

• F&F for this scat thread!

  Cheryl

• Those are whole clams, with stomachs, not really the kind for chowder, you should have gone the cheaper route with chopped clams which have the stomachs removed. I'd lose the stomach and chop the remainder, you don't want the extra stuff in the chowder, you need a good deal of clam juice and some cream, potatoes, onion and a little salt pork and that's about it. Whole clams, when fresh, are great for breading and frying, I have no idea what people do with canned whole clams.

  A%20New%20Englander

• Buy a can of Chunky clam chowder. It's the bomb. I've been passing it off as home made for years. No one is the wiser, and they are furious with me because I won't give out the recipe.

• Question in a similar vein: I have a can of Bar Harbor crab and lobster bisque, I also have can of baby clams. Would adding the cans tot he bisque ruin the taste? Should I wash off the baby clams first?

• Ok, it was he to remove, So I just chopped them all up and threw them in. It tastes really good!

  http://i.imgur.com/OiGUV.jpg

  OP

• When my grandfather used to go clam digging, they would keep the clams alive for a day or two in water with cornmeal and change the water so their gut content would get replaced.

• OP, will you knock it off with these cooking threads?

• OP, please refrain for showing us any more pictures of your "chowder," particularly what it is going to look like in about six hours, no matter what it emerges from.

• Mmmmm, chowdah!

• So, do you need help, R12? Is someone holding a gun to your head and forcing you to open, read and respond to clearly marked threads that offend you? If so, just grab the hand holding that gun, and squeeze on the trigger finger until you have a couple of new holes. Problem solved. You're welcome.

• R12 is jealous because he can't cook and eats at Taco Bell.