Clean the oyster shell first. You will probably be using the shell to present the oysters in, and it would be difficult to clean them once opened.

Wrap the oyster in a tea towel. The shells are rough, and we don't want to lacerate our fingers.

Hold the oyster firmly with one hand, take an oyster knife in the other and shove the point of the knife into the hinge of the shell. You need to do this with some force, the hinge is quite strong.

Twist the knife to break the hinge. Again, you need to be forceful. When the hinge has broken, slide the knife round the side of the shell to the point where the oyster is attached to the top shell by a ligament, and cut through the ligament.

The top shell will now come away.

Do not use an ordinary knife to do this. You will bend it if you do.