Learn how to clean fresh clams and pick the best ones for classic dishes, including linguine with clams and clam chowder. Learning how to clean clams before cooking—steamed garlic-butter clams, anyone ...

Soft-shell clams tend to be more sandy, Horst said, so before steaming, be sure to purge them in salt/cornmeal water. The clams don't like the cornmeal so they spit it out, Horst said.