Mussels are usually cooked alive although you can kill the mussel before cooking it.
You can buy mussels already cooked and vacuum-packed in a sauce, or cooked and frozen.
Mussels must be alive to ensure their freshness and their shells should be closed to make sure they are alive.
If any are open, they should close when tapped or squeezed.
Mussels do not open when cooked when they are dead.
Mussels that are open before cooking are most likely still alive.
Give them a tap either with your finger or on the side of a bowl and wait for the shell to close up.
If the shell does not close after tapping, then discard.
Try to time your mussels when you're cooking to ensure they are all fully open and cooked!
Mussels can be eaten raw.
Although it's not recommended to eat mussels raw because there's a potential of getting sick from bacteria.
However mussels as well as a lot of other fish are edible raw.
Raw mussels may contain bacteria or viruses that cause illness.
Avoid eating raw mussels if you're pregnant or have a compromised immune system and don't serve them to young children.
Keep the raw mussels away from other foods you're preparing to avoid cross-contamination in the kitchen.
Mussels are dead when the mussels do not float in the water.
Also the mussels are dead when they don't open and close on their own when you tap them.
Eating dead mussels can make you sick as they can contain bacteria.
Eating dead mussels can be dangerous to your health.
Mussels are a shellfish that contain omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B-12.
The meat of dead mussels deteriorates, increasing your risk of microorganism contamination, food poisoning, infectious disease and other health problems.
Mussels are bad when they are dead and when the mussel floats.
You should always discard any floating mussels that float to the top of the water as the floating mussels indicate the mussel is dead.
Good and alive mussels should close by themselves, and although some might close slowly, they are still good and alive.
If the mussels do not close, throw them out.
Discard all mussels that have broken shells or an unpleasant odor, as well as any that feel unusually heavy or light compared to the rest.
Mussels that are floating are dead and should be thrown out.
Give any open mussels a sharp tap with a knife, and discard any that fail to close (they are dead).
Place cleaned mussels in a fresh bowl of cold water until ready to use.
Change this water two or three times to remove any salt or sand that the mussels may expel.
When the mussels are alive they should not float and you should keep the mussels alive until you're ready to cook them.
Dead mussels could contain bacteria and parasites which can make you sick so you should throw out any dead mussels that are floating.
When the mussels float they are either dead or empty and if the mussels float they are bad and should be thrown out.
The mussels should not float and if the mussels do float it's an indicator that they are bad and dead and should not be eaten.
Eating already dead mussels even when cooked can make you sick because they can contain bacteria.
Partly opened mussels can also be dead and to test whether the mussel is dead or not squeeze the mussel shut and if it stays closed then it's good and if it does not stay shut then it's bad and should be thrown out.