How are ordinary garden snails prepared for human consumption?

First check that your snails are edible! The common garden snail Helix aspersa (native to Europe but a widespread pest in the western US) is edible, but others may not be. read more

To remove fragile shells from your garden snails, crush the shells between your fingers and peel away the shards. Extract the contents of sturdier shells with a nut pick or seafood fork. As you remove each snail from its shell, peel the skin from the meat and cut away the black portion at the end of the tail. read more

most snails that are eaten are a farmed version of a common garden snail (Europe). When you buy some pre cooked "in shell" types of snail and you see a pretty and big snail shell that it's served in yhan looks nothing like a garden snail it's because it's not the actual snails shell. read more

Rinse the snail several times under running water. The snail meat is now ready to be used in a recipe or packaged and frozen for later use. To prepare the empty shells for use, boil them in boiling soda water (use a quarter-teaspoon baking soda per pint of water). Drain and rinse in cold running water, then dry. read more