Down east, we steam them, so they are semi-cooked, and easy to open. Some of them slosh around, but many are done enough to actually chew, rather than swallow!
To make the best cooker, get a 3x3 steel 3/8 plate, weld sides on three sides, and weld handles on the sides. Make them so they are pipe fittings, with screw out handles.
Take a 55 gallon steel drum, and cut it in half, and weld feet on it. find a tobacco barn gas burner (or similar high BTU), and hook it to a tank.
Heat up the plate, and dump a bushel basket of oysters on it. take a few burlap sacks and soak them in a bucket of water, then place them on top, covering the oysters, and trapping the steam.
When they start opening (10-15 minutes, usually), dump them on a table, and grab an oyster knife, a bottle of texas pete, and a plateful of slaw and hushpuppies. Wash it all down with that syrupy sweet NC ice tea...
But, the shrimp are great, fresh from the boats, and there is nothing finer than pig, cooked by a bbq pit guy, from the backroads of eastern NC.
If you wander around, try Cavenaughs' Supper House,between Chinquapin, and Wallace, on Hwy 41. You can go on I-40 (drive east on 41), or drive up from Hampstead, or Holly Ridge (drive west on 41). they have an old black guy that has been around as long as the restaurant, and he knows pig. Mrs Cavenaugh is a bit over 4 ft tall, now, but still wields command of the place, but he's the secret weapon...
