When you rinse them in cold water, they should close. Take the clams out by hand. Scrub the clams with a brush to get rid of any barnacles or residual sand, and rinse with cold water. They should be added at the last minute and only heated through, otherwise they go from sweet and tender to rubbery. Farm-raised clams are usually cleaned and flushed of sand before they’re sold, so cleaning them isn’t as much of a concern. To soak the clams in saltwater, mix 1/3-cup salt (100 grams) with 1 gallon (3.8 liters) of water. Then you have to wash them with cold water; you will see the sand will build up at the bottom of the container where you left them. wikiHow's. Keep in mind the clams are alive. Thank you. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. This process should be repeated 1-2 more times. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/b\/bd\/Clean-Clams-Step-3-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Clean-Clams-Step-3-Version-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/b\/bd\/Clean-Clams-Step-3-Version-3.jpg\/aid1357876-v4-728px-Clean-Clams-Step-3-Version-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":259,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"410","licensing":"