We'll here are some instructions on how to clean the crab and get to the delicious meat in four easy steps. While eating crab in restaurants is fun, it's always a good thing, and a whole different experience, to buy one from the market and cook it at your own leisure. This will stun the crab and prevent nasty pinches during the cleaning process. Cook them for about 25 to 30 minutes. If you're drying the shell, give it a soapy scrub as well before leaving it in a warm, dry spot to dry out. To cook the crab, fill about 3/4th of a big pot with water and throw in a pinch of salt. Chesapeake blue crab has a stronger, richer flavor than mild Asian blue crabmeat, which is whiter in color. Crack claws, and remove meat with a small cocktail fork. After the crab is cooked, let it sit to cool down. Take a layer of foil wrapper and wrap the blue crab again. Growing up with grandparents on the Potomac river in Coles Point, Virginia, it was only natural that from a young age picking crabs on a picnic table loaded with newspaper was something I call a food "Life Lesson. Place the crab directly into the boiling water, if its shell is intact, and cover the pot with a lid. DANGER. 3. Now you're ready to fill it with crab salad, or a seasoned crab/breadcrumb mixture for baked stuffed crab. If you're new to … Allow each crab to cook for approximately 15 minutes (once they float to the top, give them an extra 2-3 minutes). Let me know if you are headed my way, and I will get the crab lines ready! This prevents them over-cooking from the boiling water left trapped within the shell. Blue crab is one of my favorite crustacean; the others are snow crab, king crab, Dungeness crab, lobster tail.. 6. Cover the pot, put it on the stove or over a hot campfire, and bring the water to a rolling boil. Spray the inside of the crabs with a hose and set aside. 1. Lay crab on its back and using the knife remove the apron/abdomen of the crab. Clean Before You Cook. Using the tongs, pick up a crab and place it in the bucket of ice water. Toss the whole cleaned crabs (or halves or quarters depending on the size) with some olive oil and maybe a minced clove of garlic or two, plus some chopped rosemary or thyme leaves if you like. Then, clean your crabs. With your fingers or a knife remove sections a, b, and a (these are the lungs and innards). Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil over a stovetop. Put an couple inches of water into a big, sturdy pot. Watch and learn as Captain Vincent Russo shows you how to clean your catch. Take pains to clean them well.Then thoroughly wash them under cold running water and set them aside to drain. Put thumb on back of top shell fingers on Once you have them sedated you will need a knife, running water, a huge trash bag and a place to put the clean crabs. Tie a chicken neck on the end of the line. Similar to baking, grilled crabs should be pre-cooked half way—about 5 minutes in boiling water or the steamer—cooled and cleaned before heading to the grill. 2. Clean the crab (see Resources 1 for crab-cleaning instructions with pictures). When the water is boiling, drop your crabs into the pot. Putting a crab in the fridge will kill them and you should never cook a dead crab. Of course, lots of folks enjoy simple steamed blue crabs with some melted butter, cocktail sauce, … This double insulation will prevent any air from getting to the crab. Invert the crab, and pry off the apron (or tail flap), and discard it. Crabs don’t take long to cook at all, 6 or 7 minutes should do the job for a regular size crab. Maryland Blue Crab. Bring the water to a roaring boil and use a pair of tongs to add the fresh crabs into the pot. Whether you catch the crabs yourself or buy them at your local fishmonger, you'll need to clean them thoroughly before cooking and eating. Advertisement Soft-shell crabs about to … ; Set them on a hot grill until cooked through and browned, about 4 minutes per side. Pour the beer and vinegar in the bottom of the steamer pot. Get maximum yield with EVERY CRAB! To prevent the crab from drying out, you must boil or steam the meat. I bring the water to the boil then drop in a couple crabs and place a lid on to speed it up coming back to the boil. Live crab (fresh meat) should not be stored in the fridge. Get a bucket and put a wet rag in the bottom. "All in all, everything you have heard is true: it is messy, it requires some patience, it is work to get to the meat, but in the end, it is well worth it. Tie a piece of line on the pole long enough to match the handle. Here’s how it’s done:Remove the top shell, scrape away the gills, cut off the mouth, snap off the claws and the legs, and scoop out the fat. Scrub exterior shells and remove entrails, as chemicals concentrate in the crab’s digestive organs. 5. Follow these steps to clean the live crab. After spraying the crab clean, there will be nothing left but shell and succulent crab meat. The only bad way to eat blue crabs is so slowly that there's none left for you to have more. Removing the Meat: 1. Rinse under cold running water. Cooking Live Crab: Cooking crabs alive – This can be a bit of a challenging feat because live crabs are feisty but the scrumptious rewards make the undertaking worth your while. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. With this said, a layer of ice should be placed on the bottom of the ice chest, followed by wet burlap, and then the crabs. To get to cooked meat, first twist off crab legs and claws intact. Pull off the top shell … Brush the crab meat with butter or olive oil mixed and the seasonings and herbs of your choosing and cook on a medium-hot grill for approximately 4 minutes per side. Plus, it's an interesting enough sea food, that is surprisingly rather easy to cook. Step 2: Boiling the whole crabs To boil 3 pounds live hard-shell blue crabs, bring 8 quarts water and 2 teaspoons salt to boiling in a 12- to 16-quart pot. Boil or steam the crabs as outlined above for about 5 minutes, let them cool, then clean them. Put thumb on back of top shell fingers on front pry up and forward to remove shell. Insert thumb under shell by apron hinge; … Once it has completely cooled down, take a layer of cling wrapper and wrap each blue crab individually. Rinse under cold running water. They must be kept alive (typically in aerated water) until they are cleaned and cooked. Stun live blue crab by placing in ice water for five minutes. Before you heat precooked crab, thaw the meat in the refrigerator for 24 hours if it is frozen. Bring the water, vinegar (or beer), and salt to a boil in your large pot and add in 2 tbsp of the Old Bay seasoning. Be sure to remove the crab's green gland (tomalley). When cooked, the crabs will turn a bright red. Be sure not to pack them in too tightly. Grasp crab by its legs and under top shell spine (stunned and can be handled bare handed). I also love crab legs and crawfish.. sadie423 from North Carolina on June 24, 2012: I have wonderful memories of crabbing as a child. There Are a Myriad of Ways to Prepare This Sea Creature. Step 1: Prepping the whole crabs Grasp live crabs from behind, firmly holding the back two legs on each side. Add water until there is about 3 inches in the bottom of the pot. Start brushing the underside with a toothbrush or wait when the crab is lifeless. To clean the crabs: remove the top shell, the gills, the yellow "mustard", the eyes and the apron. 3. Once they are done, drop them briefly into the ice bath to stop the cooking process. Leave it in the water for five minutes. Turn crab right side up again. How to Clean Blue Crab before Cooking On a deep large pot submerge crabs in running hot water. 2. They will go limp or lifeless after a while. Let the crab cool for a minute before beginning the cleaning process. I’ve used numerous blue crab recipes over the years. This instantly kills the crab. They go on to say if facilities for slushing do not exist, the blue crabs may be kept alive with ice, as long as they are protected from direct contact with the ice. I cook my crabs in fresh water in a large pot and to the water I had approx 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Use a garden hose to spray out the crab, leaving it clean and free of digestive tract and gill material. Carefully take your live crabs out of the ice water with tongs and place them into the … Place the steamer section into the pot, making sure the steamer is not touching the liquid. 1. For most of us, eating blue crabs is something that we've learned over the years from watching our dads and older brothers. The crabs are now ready to be cooked. Pry off the top shell using the shell's spine for leverage. Once they are deemed ready, let them sit in some cold water for a while and cool down a little. Mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins are especially harmful to babies and young children. To clean the crab: begin by removing the top shell. Once you have them sedated you will need a knife, running water, a huge trash bag and a place to put the clean crabs. Use water pressure from a garden hose to spray out the gills and digestive tract. know where to start 5. CBYC. The crab is native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and through the Gulf of Mexico. 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