Enjoy A Fresh Crab Meal

You will find all you need to know right here to cook and clean crab. Although there are 4,000 various species of crab, the common variety cooks up much the same.

With just a few items, and of course some crab legs, you can easily put on the best seafood spread you have even enjoyed.

There are two different methods for cooking crab legs, you can either steam them or boil them. The clear advantage to steaming your crab is flavor. Steaming will retain more of the crab taste that so many of us crave. The drawback to steaming is that some of the meat is lost when you cut the shell in half.

While boiling the crab will produce a meatier meal, leaving more of the meat in the shell, some claim that this method tinges the crabmeat a yellowish color and the meat is less sweet.

Gather Your Equipment

You will need a crab Steamer, salt, and a pair of tongs. If you plan to boil the crab, you will need a large crab pot. We use a crab boil, Zatarain's Shrimp and Crab Boil, but this s optional.

Seasonings are optional, some like the pure taste of the meat, and some like to enhance the flavors with some zest of lemon or ready made seasoning such as Mrs. Dash.

Fill Your Crab Steamer With Water

Fill the crab pot with fresh water, just barely over and into the area with the holes. This allows some of the water to evaporate into steam and leaving enough water to fully steam your crab legs.

How Long Should You Cook Them?

When you use the steaming method, most crab is fully cooked between 15 and 20 minutes. The beauty of using a steamer is that you cannot over-cook the crab, and the legs stay nice and hot for a good long while.

It is OK to leave them in the steamer as you prepare the rest of the meal, or are eating in shifts.

Does It Take Longer To Boil Them?

No, actually it takes a few minutes less because the crab legs are fully immersed in the boiling water, and it is hotter than just steam. Be sure to check them after 10 minutes, removing the legs as soon as they are cooked through or they may become rubbery.

When boiling a whole crab body, allow a bit longer, as much as 20 minutes. You can tell when the whole crab is done because the shell will turn red.

Using your tongs, carefully remove the crab from the water and layer them on a clean, dry towel to cool.

Cleaning Crab

Cleaning crab is simple and there are step-by-step instructions on my website to get the crab from your pot to the table without much fuss. You will find easy directions on how to clean most every type of crab, including Dungeness Crab.

In just a few steps your dinner is ready and waiting for you.