Red Lobster chain, AmeriPure oysters, and more.

The Wall Street Journal weekend edition has lots of interesting articles; this one on Red Lobster's newest efforts to improve its image caught my attention.

[Probably won't try Red Lobster even without this review except in desperation -- as far as I know, the only time I bought anything at Red Lobster was years ago, when I lost my credit card, and the finder bought eight $2000 computers with it. He also spent $5.47 on a meal at Red Lobster.]

WSJ:

Several weeks after our Red Lobster foray in Inglewood, we did score a lobster at a Red Lobster, the very urban 425-seat branch in Manhattan's Times Square. Here, too, the lobster tank was empty, but at the bar, we ate a passably tender 2-pound lobster ( for $53.98 ) -- the kitchen, we were told by the harried man in sole charge of the 80-seat bar area, had run out of the smaller ones. While we waited, we ordered some "hand-shucked" oysters. They were by far the worst oysters we have ever eaten, tasteless and with a strange, cushiony, al dente texture.

Red Lobster proclaims in its menu that it serves oysters treated in a sequence of hot- and cold-water baths to eliminate bacteria rife in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This copyrighted AmeriPure process is the brainchild of AmeriPure Co. of Franklin, La., which asserts on its Web site that its Gulf oysters are "raw" even after AmeriPurification, but I will bet any amount of money that I can distinguish their dreadful product from untreated raw oysters in a blind tasting with 100% accuracy.

Of course, I wouldn't be risking a liability suit, as Red Lobster would, if I got sick eating an unAmeriPurified oyster at one of its branches (AmeriPure indemnifies its customers against "bona fide customer claims of illness" caused by their oysters). I'd just get sick. But I'm willing to take that risk, at upscale or downscale independent seafood restaurants that somehow manage to serve untreated oysters every day. Such places also almost always have the lobsters they advertise.

AmeriPure sales pitch:

AmeriPure Oysters undergo a very simple warm and cold water temperature treatment to reduce the potentially harmful Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria to undetectable levels for added safety.

AmeriPure oysters are harvested from waters that met the strict requirements of the National Sanitation Program (NSSP).

Live harvested oysters are pressure washed to remove natural grit and debris from their shells, then culled by seasoned professionals to ensure half-shell quality. After grading for size, the oysters are individually banded.

The oysters are then placed into a warm water bath. Heat levels are maintained with computerized temperature controls calibrated to kill off bacteria. The warm water bath is followed by an ice cold shock bath to further shock the bacteria and stop the transfer of heat.

The oysters remain in their natural liquor, sealed from the fresh water of the process at all times. There is no filtering, purification, depuration or chemicals involved. These in-shell oysters are still raw and have to be shucked fresh.

http://www.ameripure.com/

I will not set foot inside of a Red Lobster Restaurant - never, ever, never, ever, never. No way, no how, not in anyone's lifetime.

My understanding is that in order to kill bactieria, temperatures have to be in excess of 160 degrees F. Seems to me that that temperature is warm enough to slow cook the oyster. How can one go through that process and still be "raw" and "alive?"

Bob, as a kid, my parents used to schlepp us to the Red Lobster on Route 46 in Wayne. When I moved back to Nutley, they schlepped my kids there, too, who used to love it. (Now, they hate it.)

Me? What bothered me about Red Lobster was the messy table. They brought all sorts of stuff (crackers, bread sticks, pats of butter etc.) and just left the trash there (empty wrappers). If they brought more biscuits, the empty biscuit basket would be left behind. And then, if the anyone was eating crab legs or anything else that left a shell, the table just filled up with that refuse as well. I felt claustrophobic, oddly revulsed, and as if I couldn't get near the table without being contaminated. Weird, huh?

Out of curiosity, I've gone into Red Lobster restaurants in other parts of the country as well ... always the same.

I will not set foot inside of a Red Lobster Restaurant - never, ever, never, ever, never. No way, no how, not in anyone's lifetime.

My understanding is that in order to kill bactieria, temperatures have to be in excess of 160 degrees F. Seems to me that that temperature is warm enough to slow cook the oyster. How can one go through that process and still be "raw" and "alive?"

Red Lobster: Awful. Done with that topic.

Ameripure: Good. Not done. I contacted them the year after they were founded. Good company and the eprocess is absolutely legitimate. Your understanding is incorrect. They have a patented process to kill bacteria while leaving the oysters alive. It works.

Thanks, Chef. I had real doubts. Your reassurance sold me.

Regards, Bob

My understanding is that in order to kill [MOST] bactieria, temperatures have to be in excess of 160 degrees F. Seems to me that that temperature is warm enough to slow cook the oyster. How can one go through that process and still be "raw" and "alive?"

Ameripure: Good. Not done. I contacted them the year after they were founded. Good company and the eprocess is absolutely legitimate. Your understanding is incorrect. They have a patented process to kill bacteria while leaving the oysters alive. It works.

I am quite willing to learn more about this, being a lover of oysters, on the half-shell, roasted, baked, scalloped or whatever; as long as they are properly prepared!! Please note slight addition to statement above.

I suppose it's a step up from Long John Silver >ugh<. But when I used to go to Red Lobster (in another lifetime) with a friend who liked the place, I noticed that if you closed your eyes, all the various types of shrimp on combo plates tasted exactly the same. TV commercials sure looked better than the real thing. Surprise, surprise.

My understanding is that in order to kill [MOST] bactieria, temperatures have to be in excess of 160 degrees F. Seems to me that that temperature is warm enough to slow cook the oyster. How can one go through that process and still be "raw" and "alive?"

Ameripure: Good. Not done. I contacted them the year after they were founded. Good company and the eprocess is absolutely legitimate. Your understanding is incorrect. They have a patented process to kill bacteria while leaving the oysters alive. It works.

I am quite willing to learn more about this, being a lover of oysters, on the half-shell, roasted, baked, scalloped or whatever; as long as they are properly prepared!! Please note slight addition to statement above.

http://www.ameripure.com/