Tradition, and desire for the crab meat to be as fresh and tasty as possible, demands that we cook crab alive.
Just as with lobsters, although there is no actual proof that crustaceans feel pain, many of us will blanch at the idea of cooking the creatures alive.
The most humane way of cooking live crab is to lull the crab into a state of unconsciousness prior to cooking, as explained here for lobster.
To cook crab, prepare a brine, again as with lobster - it should be as salty as sea water, and bobbing an egg in it will show you when it's salty enough (the egg will float).
When the brine is at a boil, put the crab(s) in and cook for 15 minutes for the first 500g (1 lb 2 oz), plus 10 minutes for every subsequent 500g (1 lb 2 oz).
When the time is up, lift out the crab(s) and leave to cool before handling.
Here's one way to steam them:
Steps: 1. Mix vinegar, beer and Worcestershire sauce.
2. Pour mixture into a steamer or large pot with a rack.
3. Rinse hard-shell crabs in water.
4. Place one layer of live hard-shell crabs into steamer or on pot rack and add seafood seasoning and a dash of cayenne pepper to them.
5. Pile on more layers of crabs and seasoning until all crabs are in the pot and seasoned.
6. Cover securely with lid.
7. Steam about 25-30 minutes.
Tips: You can substitute water for beer; balsamic vinegar for regular vinegar.
So the whole lulling the crab into a state of unconsciousness involves putting them in the freezer for two hours before cooking them.
The last time we made crab was with Ryan and Beau back in Chicago. We kept saying we should do it again but we suck so we didn't. But we had really little crabs that time, and we just put some water at the bottom of a sauce pot, put a bowl in the sauce pot, and put the crab in the bowl. Boil the water, and it took like fifteen minutes I think, but they were small crab. The steaming works much better if you have a rack instead of a bowl so that the steam can actually get to the crab instead of around the bowl.
I'm thinking if this is your first time cooking crab, the boiling part is the best and easiest way to do it.
How to cook crab
Tradition, and desire for the crab meat to be as fresh and tasty as possible, demands that we cook crab alive.
Just as with lobsters, although there is no actual proof that crustaceans feel pain, many of us will blanch at the idea of cooking the creatures alive.
The most humane way of cooking live crab is to lull the crab into a state of unconsciousness prior to cooking, as explained here for lobster.
To cook crab, prepare a brine, again as with lobster - it should be as salty as sea water, and bobbing an egg in it will show you when it's salty enough (the egg will float).
When the brine is at a boil, put the crab(s) in and cook for 15 minutes for the first 500g (1 lb 2 oz), plus 10 minutes for every subsequent 500g (1 lb 2 oz).
When the time is up, lift out the crab(s) and leave to cool before handling.
Here's one way to steam them:
Steps:
1. Mix vinegar, beer and Worcestershire sauce.
2. Pour mixture into a steamer or large pot with a rack.
3. Rinse hard-shell crabs in water.
4. Place one layer of live hard-shell crabs into steamer or on pot rack and add seafood seasoning and a dash of cayenne pepper to them.
5. Pile on more layers of crabs and seasoning until all crabs are in the pot and seasoned.
6. Cover securely with lid.
7. Steam about 25-30 minutes.
Tips:
You can substitute water for beer; balsamic vinegar for regular vinegar.
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The last time we made crab was with Ryan and Beau back in Chicago. We kept saying we should do it again but we suck so we didn't. But we had really little crabs that time, and we just put some water at the bottom of a sauce pot, put a bowl in the sauce pot, and put the crab in the bowl. Boil the water, and it took like fifteen minutes I think, but they were small crab. The steaming works much better if you have a rack instead of a bowl so that the steam can actually get to the crab instead of around the bowl.
I'm thinking if this is your first time cooking crab, the boiling part is the best and easiest way to do it.
Then save all the shells and make crab bisque. ;)
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