Cooking Live Crab

Cooking Live Crab

Pre mixed crab boil seasonings are available but not necessary. Put the crab straight into boiling water which will kill it within 10 seconds.

How To Cook And Clean Fresh Crabs Cooking Dungeness Crab Cooking Crab Recipes

To prepare the crab lay the crab on its back and twist off the front black tipped claws.

Cooking live crab. However this method does carry the risk that the crab will shoot it s claws. Depending on the size of your pot and your crabs you ll likely want to cook one at a time. Cooking the crab is the easy bit using the largest saucepan fish kettle you have half fill with fresh water and add plenty of salt.

Thankfully there s a decent margin for error in crab cooking. Lower in the crab and simmer for 12 mins per kg then leave to cool in the pot until cold. You could also poke a butter knife or icepick into the head area of the crab after pulling it out of the ice bath to kill it instantly.

Before cooking your live crabs immerse them with tongs preferably really long bbq tongs in a bowl of ice water for a few minutes. Remove the crabs from the freezer and using a pair of tongs grab them from behind so you don t get pinched see photo above. Bigger specimens may need longer.

Lower each crab into the boiling water with its legs facing down. If you re boiling you can add some seasonings to your water. Here are a a couple of methods of killing a crab to cook.

Cover and cook 10 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the crabs. Allow each crab to cook for approximately 15 minutes once they float to the top give them an extra 2 3. You ve got some time as long as you keep him cool probably a good 6 hours or so but it s almost never a good idea to wait until the next day to cook a live crab.

Cool and strain the liquid into a jug discarding the vegetables. This is only really a problem if the crab is to be presented whole. Bring an inch of salted water to a boil in a large pot.

Next cook the crab in plenty of boiling salted water for about twelve to fifteen minutes for a normal sized half kilo brown crab. While the crabs are cooking prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with cold water and ice. This will stun the crabs a bit so that they are less aware of what is going on.

We use half a cup to a gallon of water 150g to 4 5 litres and bring to a vigorous boil drop the crab in and bring back to the boil. When the crab is done take it out of the boiling water and run the cold tap over it briefly to cool it enough to handle then twist the claws and legs off. Place the crab in the boiling water to cook a 1kg crab should take 8 10 minutes.

Return the liquid to the pot and bring back to the boil. Put the crabs in a steamer basket or insert or simply pile them into the pot and let the bottom crabs boil slightly and act as a platform for the other crabs to steam. Remove the crab from the water and leave to cool before preparing.

Do not put the crab into iced water as this will cause it to become waterlogged. Dungeness crab need to be cooked while they re still alive so the clock starts ticking once the crab has been removed from the water. Add salt or use sea water a bay leaf some celery chunks a carrot some pepper corns and any other whole spices you ve got sitting around.