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The price of one kilo of mussels (blue mussels) here in my town is around 60–70 SEK (9–11 USD). I think that makes a large enough portion for two people, but when checking if all of them are alive and when cleaning them, the price runs higher. I'm interested in what the price per kilo of the edible part (the muscle) of the mussels are. In one mussel, how much by weight is shell and how much is muscle?

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  • That's really expensive. In Toronto, Ontario,( where they have to be flown in), I regularly see them for 1.99/lb or 4.40/kg. Sep 17, 2012 at 21:45
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    Please don't mark correct answer until a few days have passed or you may discourage others whom have other answers
    – TFD
    Sep 17, 2012 at 22:42

4 Answers 4

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It depends on where you live, and what type of mussel you are eating

The blue mussel popular in Europe and North Pacific typically has an uncooked meat ratio of 25% to total weight, and 20% when cooked

The New Zealand Greenshell mussel (available flash frozen in Europe) typically has an uncooked meat ratio 55%, and 50% when cooked

New Zealand Greenshell mussel

Around US$2 per Kg. These will vary by season and supplier of course

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The Tourism PEI site says that one pound of mussels is 20-25 mussels, about one cup of meat, and that you can serve one person that for a main meal or two people for an appetizer.

The Food and Agriculure Organization of the United Nations says:

One bushel of whole mussels should yield from 6 to 9 pounds of cooked meats. Percentage yield by weight may range from about 8 per cent to as high as 20 per cent of the whole mussels.

Finally, this is 500g of mussels (my lunch in Brussels on a hot day - my companion has the same): cooked mussels

And this is how I can remember it was 500g:

enter image description here

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  • +.5 for the answer and +.5 for the photo of Belgian fries <drools> Sep 17, 2012 at 15:17
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    Why if FAO using bushels and pounds when only one member country uses that unit?
    – TFD
    Sep 17, 2012 at 23:02
  • @TFD, good question - the document is very UK-centric so perhaps the research group that produced it used the measuring system they felt like using? Sep 17, 2012 at 23:35
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I can't tell you about price since I was given a kilogram of blue Scottish mussels but I can tell you about the meat % of total. I had guessed it would be about 20% but I was wrong. I weighed the shells next day using the local supermarket's digital scales & the result was only 428g so the meat was a massive 572g ~ 57% meat. I recommend them.

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  • I've just done the same dish again. This time the meat ratio was 52.8%. Oct 28, 2016 at 13:06
  • ... & a 3rd time. 55% meat. Nov 6, 2016 at 16:18
  • ...& a 4th time with a sample size of 1486grams. 54.8% meat ! Aug 10, 2017 at 14:34
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Toronto, Canada: 2#/908g PEI rope-grown blue mussels (per tag, packed 25 Sept, best by 9 Oct), Ca$4.49 which has been the local "on sale" price for about the last year. Cooked today. Shells = 428g, approx 47%, incl uncooked discard of 2 dodgy ones & one 1/2 shell. Flesh & broth approx 53%. Sipped off most of the broth, moistened flesh approx 180g, so about 20%.

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