Got Crabs??

Now What Do I Do?

We got to go grocery shopping at the local docks! It was so exciting! You just never know what to expect, what you'll see, or what you'll learn. And the creatures that come out of the sea are always an adventure.

This time we came across a boat selling Alaskan King Crabs!! How did we know? They had this big guy on a leash out on the dock in front of their boat! :) How creative!

Alaskan King Crab! One of my favorite foods of all time! So of course we had to get a couple. And these things are huge!!

Then the thought hit me, "I don't know the first thing when it comes to processing something that looks like this!" Luckily the nice fisherman graciously offered to "butcher" them for us. What took him seconds would have probably taken us hours! Plus it was completely gross and if I didn't know how good King Crab tastes, it probably would have prevented me from ever trying it!

He then bagged them up for us and we were on our way. More questions started coming to mind...their spines pierced the bags, now what? Well we saw some veteran Alaskans showing up with their 5 Gallon buckets to take these creatures home in...Well Played Alaskans, Well Played!

So we get home...what do we freeze these things in? We quickly realize, we don't have anything big enough to freeze them in so.....trip #4 to town for the day to get Gallon Ziplocks and Freezer Paper. Convinced one of them would work.

Next step,I knew they had to be "pre-cooked" before we freeze them...but I didn't know if that meant steamed, par-boiled, full-boiled, in shell, out of shell???? The questions kept coming!

So of course I am on the internet looking for what to do with "fresh" crab, "raw" crab, "How to XYZ with Crab." Surprisingly there is little information to find. It was all geared towards the crab you buy in the store or from a wholesaler. That crab has already been pre-cooked and frozen for you. In that case all you need to do is thaw them and steam them til they are warm. Easy as that.

But what about if you just got this thing off the docks? Straight from the fisherman, who got it straight from the sea? Its raw, and a little scary looking....Not like what you get delivered to your table at one of PNW's amazing restaurants, accompanied with clarified butter. Hmmmmm Yum!! But where is the adventure in that?

It took several hours of searching on both our parts to finally find a Fish and Wildlife site that had instructions on for us. So I wanted to post this here for you all so you can bypass that ordeal and have answers at your fingertips.

So when you find yourself in possession of such a tasty creature, this is what you need and this is what you do.

Need:

A quality, reputable, licensed fisherperson who will sell, barter, trade, you one of these beauties. And hopefully they will "clean"/"butcher" it for you. I don't even want to learn this step. :)

Cleaned Crabs

5 Gallon Bucket to transport the Crab home.

Rubber Gloves (these things are spiny)

Gallon Ziplock Bags

Giant Pot or Kettle for Boiling Crab (We used a 30Quart Turkey Fryer Kettle)

Large Stainless Steel or Glass Bowl to ice bath Cooked Crabs (Plastic will absorb smells and leave future food tasting and smelling a little fishy.)

Water

Salt

Ice

Tongs

Hot Pads

Do:

When you get home, fill your giant pot with water (enough water to fully submerge the crab in) and add salt. We added about 1/4 cup into our 3/4 full 30 Quart Kettle. To make things easier, we also broke the cleaned crabs in half to fit in the pot and our stainless steel bowl. (You can use the rubber gloves when handling the crab since their spines are sharp.)

Once the salt water is boiling, use your hotpads to life the lid, and your gloved hands to place the crab sections in the kettle. Boil for 12-15 minutes. Over cooking can lead to the meat sticking to the shells. So just be watchful. The guy at the docks said to crack open a leg and see if its done. So that's how we tested doneness. But be careful, now they are sharp and boiling hot! While they are cooking, set up your ice bath using your giant stainless steel or glass bowl, ice and water.

Once they are fully cooked pull them out of the kettle with your tongs and straight into the ice bath. You could skip this step and go straight to your table with your dishes of melted butter and dig in! But we wanted to save ours via freezing, so the crab went into an ice bath. The goal here is to cool them down quickly to help prevent the meat from sticking to to the shell. And then get them out of the water so they don't get water logged and soggy.

From there we just bagged them up in our Gallon Ziplock Freezer bags. The spines did pierce the bag, so we double bagged them to help with freshness. You could also cut the spines off with a scissors.

Then into the Deep Freeze! They say they will keep for up to six months in the freezer, but I doubt we will have to worry about that. :)

Alaskan King Crab