By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. The best tool for the job is a mallet. Remove the legs from the crab, reserving the claws. Last season red tide crushed the bounty, however, knocking the haul down to about 2 million pounds. Crack the crab cavity in two. The claw serves as the perfect handle for dipping this meat in cocktail sauce or melted butter. Use the crab mallet to gently hit the knife until it is halfway through the claw. When caught Stone Crabs are removed from the traps and just one large claw is taken, and the live crab is returned to the ocean. Kill the crab humanely before you remove the shell. These crab crackers will allow you crack any crab you want be it king crab, blue crab or snow crab. But I have a ton of friends from Maryland that LOVE crabs (of course) and put Old Bay on everything. xo, Every day at wikiHow, we work hard to give you access to instructions and information that will help you live a better life, whether it's keeping you safer, healthier, or improving your well-being. If you're choosing crabs from a tank or cooler, look for feisty specimens. However, you might not have yet tried Jonah crab.You will find that Jonah crab claws have an excellent taste. FLORIDA'S SEASONAL FAVORITE. We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. No plates needed here! Let it boil without removing the lid for 15 minutes. I’m with Tori on the heebie jeebies, but I bet this helps crab-lovers! The blue crab is known to scientists as Callinectes sapidus(kal i nek’ tes sap’ i dus). Take either halves and cut it in half again. Louisiana Blue Crab. This was so helpful! Lobster Claw. Using the back of a metal spoon, strike the back or rounded side of the two ‘knuckles’ and the claw with a quick snapping motion, with approximately the force used on a soft-boiled egg. Equipment Needed: Hand Towel, Metal Spoon. Thanks for sharing!! Because then there might not be enough for us! I highly recommend that you crack them a few hours before you plan to serve them then put them back in the fridge and let the excess water drain off, it makes eating the claws much less messy. Cracking Stone Crab Claws – How To Cook Stone Crab Claws. Order online and bring a true Maryland tradition to your table with an all American Crab Feast! Last Updated: September 3, 2019 3. Brown meat: the first section of the crab claw with part of the shell removed. I love crab! Be careful not to get pinched. Remove the two large pincer claws by breaking them off at the body. Preparation. Love the video! Set the claws aside for cracking and removing the meat later. Once the water starts to boil, move the pot to a cool burner. Even smaller crab claws will need to be cracked since the shell on the claw is thicker than on the other legs. There is nothing quite like the deliciously rich meat that comes from these bad boys. The claw will open and make it much easier to grab the crabmeat. PREPARE – Make sure you have all the right tools. All you need is a big metal spoon and a rag to protect your hand. The Spruce / Molly Watson. Thank you for sharing. To cook stone crab claws, start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. You can use your fingers or thing metal seafood picks to pull the meat out. Pull the legs off or not, your choice. Once your blue crabs have been cleaned and cooked, you might want to save the claws for other recipes, like sautéed crab fingers or crab cocktails. How To Crack Stone Crab Claws. 2. Dip it in butter and eat it! These steps explain a method suggested by experts which should enable you to eat a crab so you enjoy every last bit of it. https://www.sheknows.com/.../articles/1127481/how-to-crack-crab-legs Rinse the crab claws thoroughly under the cold running water Leave them dry for about 10-15 minutes before putting them in a large bowl Add cold water and 1/3 bowl of ice cubes or leave the bowl in the fridge at least one hour before cooking. 5 Minute Steamed Stone Crab Claws. The meat in the claws and the legs is going to be pink-brown in color, and also have a stronger taste than the rest of the crab. Leave the point intact. Maryland Blue Crabs are thought by many to be the best tasting crabs available. 7 expensive beauty products you can make yourself. The perfect appetizer or snack. CHOOSE – First, choose a favorite type of hardshell crab. If you get meat while your pullin’ thats a bonus! http://www.thediaryofadebutante.com. Step 1. All content and images are copyrighted via Tilley's Threads unless otherwise stated. Step 1: Break It Down. Blue Claw Crab! Consider wearing oven mitts to protect your hands because the … Cracking a crab can be difficult and messy but these tips are helpful. Eating crabs. How to Eat Blue Crabs Like a Pro. Remove the claws from the crab and set them aside. Diary of a Debutante The claw will open and make it … You can also place the claws on a rack above a pot of boiling water and steam them for about 6 to 8 minutes. The commercial stone crab industry in Florida harvests as much as 3.5 million pounds of crabs a year. If you're new to this amazing food though, don't worry. And even better, they are super easy to prepare. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. 2.) Remove the gills from each side of the crab and discard them. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. Now the tough part, how to prepare and boil! I’m scared to cook crab and lobster at home because I have no idea what to do with it after it’s boiled. Crabs’ claws are sharp and, before you submerge them, the crabs are likely to be active. Picking blue crab meat can be daunting at first, but all it takes is a little practice and patience to master this craft. Lastly, swivel the knife to the side. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Marinate them in your favorite lemon or butter/Worcestershire Sauce. The best tool for the job is a mallet. Crab fingers. A nutcracker or lobster cracker is a popular choice. How to Crack a Blue Crab: Step 1: Pull off the legs. A flat meat tenderizer—one solid whack and the claw cracks open enough to pull apart—works as well. Crab Feast!!! You almost always find crabs in the market frozen for this reason, as fisherman either boil their catch on the trawler or the dock, depending on the size of the operation. 1. Hold the claw in the palm of your hand, using a hand towel to protect your hand. Crabappeal Is The Only Shellfish Tool You Will Ever Need **Package Contains 2 Crabappeals** Easy To Use Too Crack Open Crab Legs, Lobster Tails And Lobster Claws. But don’t bite all the way through…there is a tricky shell in between the meat! The crabs I purchased happen to be male crabs, known as "Jimmys." Remove the crab’s back shell and discard it. Eating crabs. The crab crackers have 3 different places where you can crack the crab or lobster shells according to the size and then just use the fork to cleanly scoop out the meat with ease. …and I know in the video I am piling up my meat but in reality, I dip it in butter and eat it immediately! During the summer months, we offer a superior quality, previously frozen claw. 2. For these, all you need to do is to crack the shell and pull it open. If you are going to use the claws, you'll want to break them off at the first joint. For these, all you need to do is to crack the shell and pull it open. To prepare these blue crab recipes, leave the point of the claw intact, and remove the rest of the shell from the claws. wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. A crab mallet is best used to crack open a crab’s claws. Females are known as " Sook." If you’re using a live blue crab, submerge the crab in a large bowl of ice water for 2-3 minutes to stun it. Step 2. Next we're going to crack open the claw. To obtain your very own "How to crack into a crab" wall poster, please visit their online store. My mouth waters just thinking about it! Aluminum stone crab claw cracker on cutting board material base,hand made in the Florida Keys.The best thing for cracking claws without smashing them! You'll want to cook the crabs before you clean them. Remove the apron completely. I alwayssss make other people do this for me haha I need to learn!!! Peel off the shell and gently remove the meat. Drop a whole stick of butter, whole peeled garlic cloves and the 1/2 lemon onto the pile of claws. I love crab but always feel ridiculous trying to eat/prepare it so thank you! Bring the water in the covered pot to a rolling boil. Preparation. Thanks to the carving fork, you no longer have to wrestle with these giant pincers (or send shell pieces flying every which way). Let them cook for 8-10 minutes. Whether eating them chilled or heated, you can simply use a mallet or other tools to crack the shell on the claws. All you need is a big metal spoon and a rag to protect your hand. Loved this! Step 3: Crack the body down the natural middle. But call your local seafood stands, I bet they can tell you! Crab Houses of the Chesapeake Bay. For steps 2 and 3, the joints have cartilage, so break downwards with the white part facing up. Place the metal … Cook the claws for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the shell and pull out the meat, which can then be dipped into a sauce of your choice. Bring the water to a boil and place the crab claw into the pot. If you get meat while your pullin’ thats a bonus! Hold the claw in the palm of your hand, using a hand towel to protect your hand. Fresh crabs freeze well if you keep them alive on the way home, but they deteriorate rapidly if you don't clean them within two hours. If you get meat while your pullin’ thats a bonus! lol. This male blue claw crab has a "tab" that looks like the 'Washington Monument', a female crab has a tab that looks like the US Capitol. You may want to have some melted butter in small dipping cups, as well as paper towels, and something to crack open the crab claws. Crack open the ligaments on the legs too, that meat is very flavorful! If you love seafood and you are a fan of crab meat, you might have heard of several different types of crabs, such as Dungeness crabs and blue crabs. 4. Place the crabs into the ice bath using long metal tongs. Then take one of the side and hold the opening towards you like a hamburger that your going to take a bite of. In the Tilley family, it is a HUGE summertime treat to get a bushel of jimmys (another name for a male crab) and sit around a newspaper covered table! Crab Houses of the Chesapeake Bay. A new claw will regrow. There are just two easy steps to cleaning blue crabs this way: Crack off the top of the shell; Clean out the guts and gills (the easiest way to do this is to blast it all out with a hose) This leaves lots of delicious meat in the corners of the body, in addition to in the claws and legs. After pulling them up from the traps, fishermen break off the crabs’ claws before throwing them back, so the pinchers can regenerate. The stone crab claws should be in under 40°F temperature. This video was actually helpful in making less of a mess! Stone crab claws are a delicious and fun to eat with friends and family. cans. Step 2. Crack the Claws . The blue crab certainly lives up to its name with bril-liant blends of olive-green, blue and red, the ability to dart swiftly through the water and a body of delicate, white meat. Stone crabs are a rare sustainable fishery. I have been eating blue crabs for as long as I can remember. In addition to cracking crabs and lobsters these crab crackers are great for nuts as well. Living in the south and having almost constant seafood boils, I forget that so many people don’t know how to crack them haha. No one wants to go picking through their crab meat for tiny pieces of shell! My sister loves blue crab so I’ll have to share this with her! All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. How to Pick Clean and Crack Blue Crabs timvidra.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-pick-clean-and-crack... Show more Live Crab Boiling Instructions—via Williams Sonoma You will need… 8 qt. The easiest way to open a claw: Take your knife and lay it with the sharp side down on the middle of the red side of the claw. Steamed Blue Crab Claws. Some people start with the body meat, but the sweetest nuggets of meat in the claws are nice to get to straight away. To obtain your very own "How to crack into a crab" wall poster, please visit their online store. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links on this site or any related social media platforms, I may make a commission from that click and/or purchase. Whatever tool you use, start with minimal force and add more until the shell cracks—you want to avoid too much shattering of the shell and thus having too many shards of shell in the crabmeat. I only feature products I truly love and all opinions are my own. Turn the crab over so that its belly faces you. Crab claws, especially those from the blue stone crab, are meaty and tender, making them the delicious parts of a crab leg dinner. For most of us, eating blue crabs is something that we've learned over the years from watching our dads and older brothers. Fill the stockpot half-full with tap water. Once you have snapped the shell open, eat the meat. Local Find: Hip +Innovative Studio Boutique, Nordstrom Sale Items I Own and Would Suggest. This article has been viewed 43,822 times. Then, remove the crab from the ice water and lay it on its back. Use a crab cracker to break open the claws. Set the claws aside for cracking and removing the meat later. Eat! Lastly, swivel the knife to the side. Required fields are marked *. Cut the claws at the joint. Use a knife or ice pick to stab the crab through its shell 1 … Finally, crack open the claws and use a fork to remove the meat from inside. Pull the tab off, by pulling the hard shell away from the crab. Blue Crack’n Crab Cleaner and Showa Atlas 620 Glove Combo $ 30.45; Dungeness Crack’n Crab Cleaner and Showa Atlas 377 Glove Combo $ 33.45; Dungeness Crack’n Crab Cleaner and Showa Atlas 620 Glove Combo $ 30.45; Blue Crack’n Crab Cleaner and Float Combo $ 29.95; Teal Crab LLC. Remember the bending back-and-forth motion used to break the crab leg? How To Crack Stone Crab Claws. Hold the crab in one hand and lift up on one point to remove the top shell. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/9\/92\/Crack-a-Crab-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Crack-a-Crab-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/9\/92\/Crack-a-Crab-Step-1.jpg\/aid5242410-v4-728px-Crack-a-Crab-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"485","licensing":"