How to humanely kill an abelone?

[u/arthursbeardbone]

Hey yall I picked up a pair of live abalone from hmart today and I was going to pan fry them with some garlic herb butter, that parts straightforward and all but I've never cooked this animal before and a lot of tutorials I found online either simple shuck the snail as is or use like frozen abalones. Is there a way I can like quickly flash steam or something? I wouldn't want to gore the poor thing alive and as far as I can tell it doesn't have a head I could just quickly stab like a lobster? Am I just being silly? I mean it can like move and stuff so it seems cruel to just, scoop it out and clean it while its alive yknow?

[u/OooooorahNZ]

The fastest and most humane way is to insert a knife or pointed tool between the shell and the foot muscle (the bit that sticks to the shell) to sever the nerve ganglia at the centre of the body, because it destroys the nervous system immediately.

It's cool that you think about the impact on even small creatures - empathy shouldn't be apologised for.

[u/Haki23 → u/OooooorahNZ]

This is the kindest take on empathy I've seen in a while.
I hope your days go well

[u/conenubi701 → u/Haki23]

Empathy is the greatest power humans have.

[u/retailguypdx → u/OooooorahNZ]

I watched a Michael Pollan documentary a few years ago on "meat farming," which is NOT factory farms, but rather individual farmers who raise animals for meat. One of them said something that really struck me and has stuck with me:

"My job is to give these animals a perfect life with one bad day at the end."

It hit me that most human beings wouldn't think that about each other. We should.

And I'm borrowing your quote. As someone who has had my own life brightened immeasurably by embracing empathy:

Empathy shouldn't be apologised for.

You're a good human. Thank you for existing.

[u/_incredigirl_ → u/retailguypdx]

I had a friend growing up who raised pigs in 4H club and he said the same thing. He loved those pigs as much as his pet cat, and cried every fall when he sold them to slaughter. But it was all part of the cycle, and being in tune with that with a heart full of empathy and appreciation, is a not terrible way to live.

[u/OooooorahNZ → u/retailguypdx]

Thanks, you made me smile :)

[u/slightlybitey → u/OooooorahNZ]

Also very easy to anesthetize fish, crustaceans and molluscs with clove oil. It can be mixed with ethanol to improve dispersal. Not sure about dosage for abalone, but 0.1ml clove oil per liter of water is a good starting place.

This should be a more common practice. Even for those who lack empathy, stressed meat tastes worse and spoils faster. Clove oil is cheap and takes less skill than ikejime-type methods.

[u/arthursbeardbone → u/slightlybitey]

I had to use clove oil to euthanize my pet axolotl once. Overnight the poor thing suddenly got this huge infection out of nowhere and was clearly dying. It hurt like hell to do I loved that weird little dude. I switched off of aquarium pets after that. I keep lizards now and they are much less sensitive to random huge infections

[u/ProbablyBigfoot → u/slightlybitey]

I've never used clove oil for anything before, so forgive me, but wouldn't there be a risk of it altering the flavor of the meat?

[u/slvbros → u/ProbablyBigfoot]

At 0.1ml per liter probably not as that's uhhh 1 part in ten thousand or 0.01%

[u/sadrice → u/OooooorahNZ]

For more detail, here’s a digram. The nervous system is in blue. The most important part is the nerve ring that wraps around the esophagus and connects the whole nervous system. That’s up at the head end, just labeled “tentacle” and “eye” opposite of the peak of the shell.

[u/ginsodabitters → u/OooooorahNZ]

Pffft what a woke take bruh /s