Escargot husbandry

My farm used to be part of a magnificent Aristocratic Plantation. They had imported Escargots from France in the 1700's.
The escargots have established themselves nicely and are plentiful especially by the riverside where the soil is rather moist.
Just an idea I would never have thought of!

Wonderful! I have all kinds of snails in my garden, including the Helix pomatia which is the largest, and most often used as food. Last year I wanted to process some of them, I even bought a cookbook only about snails ;) but in the end I didn't, as it was rather complicated. Maybe I'll try again this year. Actually, I have a nice large container which could be used for collecting them...

Oh dear, do eat them! I am a professional chef de cuisine, and have prepared them for quite a lot of wealthy customers.
Prepparation is really easy.
Put the poor souls into the pan. Top with mixed
Butter, garlic and a herb (I prefer coriander).
Bake.
Enjoy.
❤

Kaarina, are you cooking snails straight out of the garden in this way?

In my book, the procedure was something like this:

1. Put snails in a container from which they can't escape.

2. Feed them something edible for humans and visible when it comes out the other end (different in color than their regular poop), for example carrots or moist flour.

3. Continue for a few days until all their poop looks "clean" (a lot of container cleaning).

4. Feed them nothing for another day or two, but keep moist so they're active, move around and get rid of remaining poop (more container cleaning).

5. Wash them clean, put in a mesh bag, hang the bag up in a dry and well ventilated place. They should hide in their shells and close them, making a "lid". This can take a week or more - they must be really dry.

Preparing to cook:

6. Boil water with salt and some vinegar. Add whole snails and boil for 10-15 minutes. Strain and cool down with cold water.

7. Boil 4 glasses of water (or 2 glasses of water and 2 glasses of white dry wine), vegetables, salt, pepper and other spices. Remove veggies, add snails, and cook for about 60 minutes.

Then snails can be used for other recipes.

Anyway, that's how I'd probably do it! Maybe I'll try this year. Thanks for a reminder :)

Wow thanks ❤❤❤
I bought the farm las fall and I am now finding Escargot shells all around. So I have not gotten around to cooking any yet.
I am tremendously grateful for the advice! You know, as a profi cook we just get them "from the supplier" with no idea how they have been prepped for their death 🙂
Thanks again!!@

Oh it seems there is another thread on this topic. Although, they are feeding these delicacies to their chicken 🙄
I don't kmow how to copy a thread.. but:
HELICICULTURE= Farming Snails

I suppose the part 6 (vinegar-water cooking) is actually meant to cleanse the snails. In cooking, we never boil anything in that kind of a brine.

The last step, cooking with wine, herbs and veggies, is the same as for clams.

Thank you for opening up my eyes. We always got the snails "ready to cook", but I had no idea they had been given an intestine-cleaning treatment for a week before that!

Explains also the fact that Escargots are a high risk food in unsanitary restaurants.

Kaarina Kreus wrote:The last step, cooking with wine, herbs and veggies, is the same as for clams.

Indeed, I cooked clams recently in a similar manner. It was easy but also a lot of cleaning, because I wanted to use their shells in an aquarium later on.

The other topic about heliciculture is linked below, so no worries. I heard that snails are also a good bait, for carp and other fishes. Seems like there is plenty of uses for them!

The internet says that slugs are edible too, but I don't believe it.

I'm doing it! The snails are at the end of step 3. I gathered 13 small garden snails and one larger (Helix pomatia) and I keep them in a faunabox (I got three of those, numbered so I keep track of moving the snails). Faunabox is a container for small critters, usually kept as food for pet snakes and lizards.
I discovered that snails are surprisingly picky. Their favourite food are dandelions (all parts, but especially flowers... they also love all flower petals).

They seemed to HATE mint!

I cut some and used it as mulch in the garden, around a lily which they always destroy, and... the lily seemed to be less eaten the next morning. Even grew a little bit. If that works, I'll plant mint everywhere, haha.

Also, now when I remove dandelions I don't use them as mulch and I try to put them away from tasty plants and fruits.

Unfortunately the slugs are much less picky than snails, and they all like the most delicate plants - just like us humans.

When it rains I will collect another group and this one will move on to step 4 and 5...

What a wonderful problem to have1

Found the firs one today!

Snail diaries!
The pack seems to dislike very fresh plants. They didn't want to eat fresh water spinach leaves (chose wet paper towel instead...), but after several hours, they ate the spinach too. Today I gave them pieces of asparagus (these hard ends which we remove by breaking off; I later boil them in a broth to give it some flavour). They devoured the soft asparagus right away. Especially the big guy (helix pomatia) loves it. So they do have a proper role in the ecosystem - they prefer to eat plants that are getting weaker and softer.
Of course ripe fruits are usually soft and juicy too. Bonus points if the food is also slimey. Slime is really their thing, you know...
It's interesting to observe these creatures up close and learn their habits in more detail!

A strong storm is supposed to come tonight, so I'm expecting lots and lots of new snails coming out in the garden. It's really hot and dry lately, and only the slugs are coming out... they really seem to be more hardy than snails.

My snails are now at step 5 happily going to sleep, so I looked up their nutritional value:

- they contain similar amount of protein as pork or beef (and the protein in snails is complete – like in any other animal-derived protein), but much less fat.

- they also contain Omega-3 fatty acids, shown to improve heart health and reduce the risk of heart disease.

- snails are sources of iron, calcium, vitamin A, magnesium, zinc, and other minerals.

Pictured below are the faunaboxes where snails lived for the last few days - the length of them matches the width of a paper towel so they're quite convenient for cleaning.

These pictures are probably somewhere on permies but I couldn't resist sharing again.  A few years ago I was explaining that most garden snails were escargot to my mother.  My youngest niece heard and asked to try.  We gathered about 2 lbs and kept them in a terrarium on a diet of garden herbs... mostly parsley.  I can't remember if I baked or boiled them before shelling and putting them back in the oven to finish cooking in parsley butter.  I am not a fan of shell fish but these were pretty good even though they reminded me of class.

She's thinking about doing it again this year.  

When I go out for fishing in Thailand my will walk through the shallow parts of the lake and gets here share of apple snails.
She easily picks about 10 Kilogram in one hour.

Same as all snails you purge them in two steps.
1st step feed them some good food
2nd step purge them in freshwater for min 48 hrs

then she boils them properly: Worms and diseases can be transferred to humans if eaten raw!!

I can't get a hang to it as they are pretty chewy but my wife and neighbors are going through a bucket full in not time.

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/flagler/2016/12/21/non-native-island-apple-snails-common-in-florida/23427103007/

I knew I had heard about invasive apple snails in Florida.   According to this article they have been found all along the gulf coast into Texas.  The native species doesn't get over 2 inches so I am pretty sure you can safely harvest as many of those beasts as you can find.  Much more useful than the zebra mollusk that has recently arrived in the LCRA lakes.

I will say that our snails where tender and not chewy at all, while I have eaten escargot in a restaurant and that had the texture of a pencil eraser.  That's theoretically caused by overlooking.  Maybe the size of the apple snails requires more cooking time.  Is it possible at that size to slice them into thinner pieces to see if a faster cook time would improve the texture?  Probably not worth it for everyday but it might be an option for special occasions or introducing the food to others.

Wow, See Hes, these are huge!

Casie Becker wrote:Maybe the size of the apple snails requires more cooking time.

I think so too. Yesterday I bought some Burgundy snails (escargots de Bourgogne) - ready dish with garlic butter, only to be heated. I wanted to taste those before cooking mine. They were delicious and very soft, I think even softer than shrimps - my other favourite!
Their taste was also similar to shrimps, which is amazing.
Later I tried to crush the shells like I usually crush egg shells, but they were much harder!
So I think if apple snails are so huge and their shells are also thick then they may need some seriously long cooking time.

Snails from my ready dish were Helix aspersa (more popular in snail farms, because they grow faster), and below is a photo of my Helix pomatia - along with some garden snails.

They're being fed lovage, ground ivy, oregano and some dandelion leaves, scalded with boiling water to soften.

I found a Spanish recipe for a soup which uses the smaller snails - Caracoles al poleo. I think that's what I ate in Spain and it was delicious. "Mata poleo" used in there is "mentha pulegium" - also known as pennyroyal.

Another Spanish recipe is Caracoles en Escabeche - pickled snails?

Helix pomatia and green strawberries... I'm not sure if l'll win the battle this year, guess I'd have to watch the strawberries 24/7 till they're ripe ;D "farming" snails is much easier.

I have eat them, never cooked them.
Harrow magazine had a article on on growing snails in five gallon buckets with bran to clean out the system, before harvesting.

I raised Helix Aspersa. Takes 3 years for them to grow to full size. They have more predators than a rabbit. Mealy bugs, frogs, toads, garter snakes, birds, chickens and the list goes on and on for what eats them. I cannot protect them enough.
Slugs do far more damage to my crops than snails. Snails are picky eaters. Their favorite food is anything in the cabbage family and banana w/ skins (and most fruit except citrus).
I normally purge them on cornmeal for several days, then nothing the 3rd day. I boil them in shell for 3 minutes then dip into cold ice water. I hate boiling them. The kids love these snails to play with, a favorite.
As well, my son lost most the skin on the front of his body when an unseen tank in a bonfire blew up on him.
He allowed me a large patch on his body to place the escargot snails. We used aloe vera on the remainder of his body. The area where I kept introducing the snails healed with no scars. I learned the Japanese burn centers use this process with the snails. Affirmed, works great! Just let them crawl all over until area is slimed. Repeat often until skin has all grown back.

I have a snail problem looking for a solution. I just laughed at the thought of selling my snails. I could get rich quick at almost any price. I was always under the impression French snails were a different, edible breed, while our CDN or Nor Amer varieties are too sluggish. Looking fwd to reading from this thread. Thanks for running it, however at a snails pace, cuz this couldn't have come too soon.

I read most snails eat decayed, more than leaf vegetables.

Does anyone know why slugs are so different; that is to say,why a slug could not be used just like escargot/snails. Seems like the only difference is the shell. I've lots of slugs in my are, but only teeny tiny snails.
Thank you.

I has never actually asked about eating slugs.  They're fairly rare here.  Looking around it seems they have all the same dangerous parasites as snails and their slime might be more unpleasant as every recipe starts with desliming them.

https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/snails-and-slugs-ze0z1906znad/

After a short boil in vinegar water it looks like they can be treated just like escargot.   Just like snails you must be very sure to cook them well.  Apparently there's at least few cases every year of people ending up hospitalized after eating a raw snail on a dare.

As for the parasites, that's why I don't like the idea of using nematodes as a "natural" way of snail population control. I guess they're not the same as those rat lung worms but maybe not very different? Also, this could be a reason to keep them contained longer - to make sure they're not poisoned or infested. And to wash your fruits and veggies (also because of parasites from other critters).

When I make beer traps, usually slugs drown in them, and snails do seem more picky than slugs - in fact there are surprisingly many things they won't eat. They still want to eat my strawberries though ;)

Helix Aspersa don't eat strawberries. I grow tons of strawberries and it's the rolly polly bugs along with slugs that incessantly get caught eating them. I performed an experiment raising my escargot where I actually had snail pens built to protect them. I experimented with over 70 varieties of what I grow here in my gardens.

I also worked with a high school student who needed a science experiment. Her experiment was so thorough we sent it to the FDA who had listed the Helix Aspersa as an invasive species (which I completely disagreed with). The FDA stated that citrus groves in Florida suffered due to them. I believe they were referring to a different snail so she and I set out to see if they attacked citrus.

I grow lemon and tangerine trees in my greenhouse. We plucked lemons, tangerines as well as leaves from both and only provided this as food for 3 days to 200 snails. We placed food stuff I know they love on one side of the compartment and placed the citrus material on the other side. After 3 days, not a one had lingered into the citrus area. Not one single disturbed leaf but the other side, with primarily cabbage family greens was devastated, destroyed, gone!

Conclusion was that the snails must obviously have been starving to death to even bother with the citrus. Best ploy would be to plant broccoli, cabbage and such in the area then collect the snails that way. They love to nestle under boards or pieces of plywood with one corner setting off the ground about an inch or three. Just low enough that the birds cannot nab them.

dame frank,
I think the citrus grower should grow cabbage as a trap plant.

slugs have a teeny vestigal [?] shell. It's underneath the surface & yucky if you bite it -ask me how I know   =0

Nick Dimitri wrote:I have a snail problem looking for a solution. I just laughed at the thought of selling my snails. I could get rich quick at almost any price. I was always under the impression French snails were a different, edible breed, while our CDN or Nor Amer varieties are too sluggish. Looking fwd to reading from this thread. Thanks for running it, however at a snails pace, cuz this couldn't have come too soon.

Take a wood barrier around the plots and nail on top a or a few strands Copper wire.
Snails do not cross this.
But make sure there is no snail inside the border, because it cannot escape and is depending on your plants...

I'm (still) not good at cooking snails :(
I cooked them differently today: first boiled with vinegar and salt, then removed from shells and boiled with a (organic, beef) stock cube and a clove of garlic.

Then I cooked fava beans (with some garden herbs) and some broth veggies, and I thought to mix the (clear) "veggie broth" with the "snail broth" to make something resembling that delicious sauce I remember from eating snails in Spain.

So I discarded the veggies and the snails, feeding them to my dog (with some carrots). He, again, didn't eat the big ones (Helix pomatia) which are considered a delicacy, and only ate the small garden snails (but not all of them and wasn't very excited).
I guess it might be that my dog just doesn't like eating snails, but he normally wouldn't refuse any animal food (on the other hand, I used to experimentally feed him kibble made of insects, and he wasn't excited about that either).
Anyway, I became suspicious and discarded everything (except the fava beans which were cooked separately).

Another thought: the snails were drying in a laundry net for a few days before being cooked, and I didn't check if all are alive (another reason why I discarded the whole thing). The big ones (there were five of them) started moving on their own, but some of the small ones remained tucked away deep in their shells. I guess they were all alive, because the broth didn't smell bad or anything, but some were really hard to remove from shells. I think they should be allowed to emerge, not only to make sure that they are alive, but also to make it easier to pull them out later.
I guess there may be an easier way of preparing them; people seem to skip the drying part, maybe it's just for packaging? I liked the idea of them "sleeping" while being killed in the hot water, but at least they don't suffer very long (and they seem to enjoy being fed great food earlier).

Joe Grand wrote:I have eat them, never cooked them.
Harrow magazine had a article on on growing snails in five gallon buckets with bran to clean out the system, before harvesting.

Hmmm.  I am buying genmai -- brown rice direct from the farmer and just harvested this year -- and using a mechanical polisher to make white rice.  To date, I've just pitched the bran in the garden, but feeding it to the snails is a great idea!