after you take the quills and guts out you can turn the sqid inside out, just put something round on the tip of the tube and push gently

Scaler bag! I tried it and didnt really get all the skin off, but really cleaned the crap out of the inside. No ink left at all.

My method of cleaning them is pull the head off, slide fingers under the pen as far as you can to work it loose then pull out most of guts (you can do this without removing the head and may get more guts). Then I slide my fingers under the wings and run them up. Removes them very easily and takes nearly all the skin off really easily. If the tubes are long, i cut them in half, scoop out the guts and then cut up. I'm not overly clean with squid though, but the methods work well if you are. All mine are always slurried so dont know how that affects the ease of the above. Always easier to do main cleaning on the water too.

Also, another tip was to get one of those long skewer cake testers with a rounded handle (wire bent into a circle). Spike it through the squid from the top and then you can pull the tube inside out and clean easily.

On the boat, I spike them, then dunk them in the net to get the majority of the ink out (seem to loose a lot more ink spiked than when their heads are ripped off) then into an ice slurry in a collapsable bucket. At the end of the squid session, i turn the bucket into the water (which keeps the squid thanks to a mesh zippable top), then into the esky, either collapsing the bucket or into a plastic bag. A lot less ink in the esky that way. Degutting them before the esky then dunking them in water (in the bucket with the mesh lid zipped) also means you get no ink in the esky.

I got my bucket from BCF. Boss brand. Pretty awesome for squid/whiting!

thanks fellas, i pretty much do the same as u hlokk but i seem to just get ink everywhere. i normally just slide my fingers as deep as possible rip everything out i can grab including the head. And then pull out the plastic film then remove the skin. What i have probs with is the ink going everywhere and the skin can be hard to get all off

okay thanks mate il give all that a go tomorrow morning:)

when we go squidding we use beach sand. while i pull the boat out me mate goes down and uses the sand to get the slime off and then its just pull its wings off slide ya fingers down its back pull the plastic out with the guts. comes out very clean and the pelicans love us

sorry for a bit of a hijack,

but does anybody know the simplest easiest way of cleaning a squid?

cheers

I use a strip of plastic about 2-3mm thick, 50mm wide and about 300mm long with a rounded end with a notch cut into it. Just slide the plastic down inside the back of the tube, this separates the guts from the boddy letting it fall away with the head and tentacles. Thats the inside done, no mess or ink.

Just rip the wings off and slide your thumbs up under the skin to peel it off.

All up should be done in under a minute and a half at the very latest.

I take the wings and skin off in one move, then cut the head off for future bait.

Then slice the squid lengthways through the edible meat only, so as not to pentrate the ink sack. open out flat , Then you can clean the guts, quill etc easily.

You end up with strips instead of rings but it is so much easier to clean than trying to turn them inside out .

Once you get a bit quicker you can get each squid under 30 seconds, makes you actually want to eat them. I used to get lazy and just use them as bait because it was too messy to clean.

Slide thumbs in the crack between the flaps and the tube, separating the flaps from the tube and the skin just comes off in one pull, Stick your fingers down as far as you can down the tube and just pull the guts out, quick and easy.

I have come the full circle,,

If i brought the squid home i would rub the skin of with cheap scourers and clean as normal,,

A couple months back i started useing the sand method,the skin comes off really easily, first time i did it tho my sister asked if i was cooking it with new herbs because it was so crunchy,lol , so you have to clean them really well (a bit of sand can go to the bottom of the tube).

After 30 odd years of squidding i now do what Flangies and others suggested (done it the last 2 times and will stick with it) that is pull the flaps off and the skin comes off as well,,if you want to eat the flaps go with the scourer,sand method if you are useing the flaps for bait, feeding pelicans etc pull them off with the skin,,

And i always turn then inside out by putting a finger or thumb at the closed end of the squid and pushing, just started this as well,,sometimes takes me a little while,,

If you are cleaning at home put the squid in the freezer or fridge for a little while and firm up the skin, as Flangies says it might only take you 30 seconds (or even a minute)  cleaning squid used to be a chore and something i avoided,,now its no dramas,,,

drag it along behind you on the way in for a couple of minutes and they come out looking bleached. Then its simply a case of sliding your finger up behind the quill and pulling it all out. And hey presto, perfectly clean squid including body and wings. There is no easier way to do it.....

Give'm to the wife ! haha

oops , sorry honey ,only kidding !

No,  that's physically impossible,they wont fit up  there

Im with huggy , except in a different order . I remove the head for bait , cut the hood open and pull the quill out and throw them in side the scaler bag . Only down side is no squid rings but strips are just as good .