I have over the years found that for me cooking and freezing in the shell is not the best way to go. If crab spends much time in the freezer it tends to dry out and reheating but whatever method seems to run the risk of over cooking and it tends to come out chewing and not all that tasty no matter what you do. It may be less of an issue if you are very careful about overcooking and not keeping it frozen for long.
If for some reason I have more crab than can be eaten fresh. I cook it, shell it, vacuum pack it (sometimes takes several sealing line efforts and wiping with paper towels because of the moisture to get a seal) then freeze it. When it is unthawed I usually use it to make crab cakes or corn and crab chowder. You can put it on a salad or in sandwiches put I find it is just not quite the same as fresh; but what seafood is.
All of this is done at my permanent place of residence. We do see a lot of guys take off the carapace and clean them at the dock cleaning station which we all know is not legal and the reason is obvious, because DFO can no longer measure and determine they are of legal size.
If for some reason I have more crab than can be eaten fresh. I cook it, shell it, vacuum pack it (sometimes takes several sealing line efforts and wiping with paper towels because of the moisture to get a seal) then freeze it. When it is unthawed I usually use it to make crab cakes or corn and crab chowder. You can put it on a salad or in sandwiches put I find it is just not quite the same as fresh; but what seafood is.
All of this is done at my permanent place of residence. We do see a lot of guys take off the carapace and clean them at the dock cleaning station which we all know is not legal and the reason is obvious, because DFO can no longer measure and determine they are of legal size.