Archive for countrytalkandtips.myfreeforum.org ........................ smallholding, crafts and country life ................................................... IN IRELAND .......................................................
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cooking crab ( not for the squeamish ! )Got chatting to local boat-men who were landing their catch and they gave me a couple of live crabs . Wouldn't take any money -- just said to put something into the Lifeboat collection box . Since I could hardly understand a word they said I guess I must have nodded in the right places . Admitting that I am english but adding that I try not to be might have had something to do with it too .
Anyway , then there is the "cruelty" issue around despatching these things before or during the cooking process . On refreshing my memory I found the following alternatives :-
- You can keep them alive for a couple of days if you cover them with something damp ( eg cloth ) and put them in the fridge . Note that they can be quite agile !
- A couple of hours in a very cold fridge or a short spell in the freezer will put them into a torpour ( sp ? ) . The theory is that they will then not feel any pain when put into boiling water ( pain or distress or nothing in the first place -- debate on that subject is probably best carried out under " Contentious Chat " ! ) . Use a large pan with a lot of boiling water in it . This will ensure that the temp doesn't drop too much , and it will come back to the boil quite quickly after the crabs have been placed into it .
- 1/2 hour in fresh water will drown them .
- a method which I hadn't come across until recently :- place the crab on its back . Lift the tail . Just beneath the point of the tail there is a small but obvious circular dent in the shell . Place the point of a screwdriver onto this and give it a sharp tap . The point will penetrate through to the top shell ( but don't tap so hard as to smash that ) . Sharply pivot the tool so that the pointed end moves to the rear of the crab . Done . This leaves a neat hole and doesn't mess up the meat inside . Place the crab the right way up when cooked and rinsed and any liquid inside it will drain out through this hole .
I have only tried this method once and it seemed very straightforward but I think the crabs were already dead ! That was after only 2 hours in a bag in a fairly cool car . I suspect they would be unsafe to eat if they had been in there for much longer during the summer . Perhaps worth bearing in mind if you pick any up on a day out .
They really are very good eating when that fresh 
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I find that th body mass of a crab is so small that a large pot of boiling water doesnt even drop off the boil when you put one in. But I do try to do just one or two at a time so that it doesnt. And if cooking lots it can take quite a while but they are good cold or hot so its ok to take some time 
Lobsters, on the other hand  I have a LARGE stock pot and it takes ages to boil enough water to keep even close to boiling when one of those goes in
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