• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

urchins

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Jon, try the reddish/green ones, with shorter spines. They are about tennis ball up to fist size. Those are the best here, and same in California thousands of miles away, they may be the best eaters there too
 
Is there any way to keep urchins for later, like for special occoasion? Does the raw survive freezing, or what would be the best way then - keeping raw in the shell or scoopng and bagging.
 
it can be frozen, out of the shell in dense packs, but it looses a lot of taste and texture. good for a rainy day though. try google, I am really no expert.
 
Regarding their "special" qualities.I ate a load in preparation for visits over the weekend of my ex wife, wife & girlfriend.None of them turned up so my right arm is now in a sling ; )
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yeti
I only just tried some urchins recently; I had them before at a sushi place and been unimpressed. But fresh ones I pulled up out here were quite good and I think I am hooked. So far though, of the half dozen I've brought up and tried, the tounges are TINY compared to photos I've seen of other food urchins... from researching it we have mostly what are called red urchins (they are actually closer to a deep purplish black, with the females being more red), and purple urchins. The purple urchins are typically rather small, with the shell (not counting the spines) being not much bigger than a golfball. The red urchins get really large; the shells are frequently 3-4". Many spots I dive however are just packed with them. The spines on both species are very sharp and stiff; you could never hold one in your hand like people seem to do with other species. I am going to keep an eye out for them now though since I know how yummy they are. Just a bother to collect since they are difficult to fit into a game bag and there is not much meat on them...
 
No- they were too fast for me :)

I'll get some next time I'm out - prob tomorrow night and see what they're like.
 
Ok - the 'white' urchins Im referring to are actually Edible Urchins, although any I've seen don't have such a vivid red colouration, more of a subtle tint.
 
I don't know what your terrain/conditions are like but we have many areas that are urchin barrens where the urchins have eaten everything so it is just rocky bottom and urchins. Previously I had taken urchins from those areas since they were so numerous. Tasted okay but tiny tounges. I did some research and last time grabbed some from small colonies in deeper water in a healthy kelp forrest with much better results--better tasting uni, tounges 2 or 3 times larger than the ones starving in the barrens.
 
what do you want?!?! a feckin bar code! :head :D

Give me strength! It would appear the longer you're stuck out in the N Sea the more psychotic you're becoming :)

Barcodes will not stick to urchins, you should know that by now!
 
I don't know what your terrain/conditions are like but we have many areas that are urchin barrens where the urchins have eaten everything so it is just rocky bottom and urchins. Previously I had taken urchins from those areas since they were so numerous. Tasted okay but tiny tounges. I did some research and last time grabbed some from small colonies in deeper water in a healthy kelp forrest with much better results--better tasting uni, tounges 2 or 3 times larger than the ones starving in the barrens.

I wouldn't say our urchin populations are out of control in any way but they do seem to be relatively large compared to the ones I've seen discussed here. Typically they are around 4-5 inch diameter.
They do seem to prefer the rocky areas and there are fewer in the more mixed sandy/rocky terrain.
 
Give me strength! It would appear the longer you're stuck out in the N Sea the more psychotic you're becoming :)

Barcodes will not stick to urchins, you should know that by now!

aye but there's plenty of urchins I'd like to stick one on these days....ken!? :D
 
ken kenny? kenny kens ken. ken? :D

What do you reckon is gunna be the best way to transport urchins? just fire into a coolbox of salt water like scallops? I'm sure they'd keep like that untill you get home. Been looking at various other recipies and these look like they could be a very tasy addition to the menu. Looking forward to trying them.
 
urchins can be kept unopened for couple of days, maybe three. To transport them put them in a box with wet seaweed between each layer. They can be frozen but I would say they loose 50% of their flavour and 75% of their texture. Still great for that pasta dish above though.
 
I wouldn't say our urchin populations are out of control in any way but they do seem to be relatively large compared to the ones I've seen discussed here. Typically they are around 4-5 inch diameter.
They do seem to prefer the rocky areas and there are fewer in the more mixed sandy/rocky terrain.

From what I read, the urchin barrens do sometimes happen naturally for unexplained reasons--the population just explodes, eats everything and then hangs out for a very, very long time. That being said, they don't have a lot of natural predators in southern California, at least right off the mainland.

urchins can be kept unopened for couple of days, maybe three. To transport them put them in a box with wet seaweed between each layer. They can be frozen but I would say they loose 50% of their flavour and 75% of their texture. Still great for that pasta dish above though.

I do wet seaweed for lobsters but usually put a little frozen bottle of water or gelpack in to keep them cold; works really well to keep them happy. In my limited experience with them I feel like urchins are one of the hardier shellfish, less susceptible to heat and drying out than most other intertidal creatures I have run into...
 
DeeperBlue.com - The Worlds Largest Community Dedicated To Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing

ABOUT US

ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright © 1996 - 2024 deeperblue.net limited.

DeeperBlue.com is the World's Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy and Diving Travel.

We've been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news, features and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996.

ADVERT