Cooking Frozen Dungeness Crab

[BigBadBrad]

Hey guys. Me and my family went crabbing last month and brought home our limit of Dungeness crab. We ate 1/3rd of them then I cleaned and froze the other 2/3rds of them raw. When I cooked (boiled) some of the frozen raw ones yesterday they turned out terrible. Meat stuck to the shell and was all watery. I tried another one tonight and boiled it less and turned out the exact same....... is this just the way frozen crab are to eat? Any suggestions?

Thanks,

BBb

 

[Aces]

Never freeze crab

 

[N2013]

Hey guys. Me and my family went crabbing last month and brought home our limit of Dungeness crab. We ate 1/3rd of them then I cleaned and froze the other 2/3rds of them raw. When I cooked (boiled) some of the frozen raw ones yesterday they turned out terrible. Meat stuck to the shell and was all watery. I tried another one tonight and boiled it less and turned out the exact same....... is this just the way frozen crab are to eat? Any suggestions?

Thanks,

BBb

I’ve found that crab always needs to be dealt with ASAP. We transport home whole (need to keep shell at least incase you are checked), clean, knuckle, then boil. Into the fridge overnight & then pick in the am. Place meat on cookie sheet with parchment paper & partially freeze, then vacuum seal. The work that goes into preparing crab meat, shows why folks usually just eat fresh & whole. It’s a labour of love.

If you want to transport them home in their “knuckles”, boil them first then freeze. Good Steve Rinella Crabbing, there’s some good videos there. Guy is a great story teller & a good cook. Crabs also need to
kept alive for as long as possible before heading home. Multi day trips usually mean storing them in a sac at the dock.

 

[Deepaaaar]

If you're gonna freeze crab, cook it and remove the meat from the shells then vacuum-seal the meat. It still ends up a bit rubbery, but the taste holds up.

EDIT: cross-posted with N2013. Good advice there.

 

[donnie d]

Hey guys. Me and my family went crabbing last month and brought home our limit of Dungeness crab. We ate 1/3rd of them then I cleaned and froze the other 2/3rds of them raw. When I cooked (boiled) some of the frozen raw ones yesterday they turned out terrible. Meat stuck to the shell and was all watery. I tried another one tonight and boiled it less and turned out the exact same....... is this just the way frozen crab are to eat? Any suggestions?

Thanks,

BBb

I’ve had success half cooking whole 5 mins the. freezing, then back in the pot after pulling out of freezer to finish it off for another 5 mins. Put in a quick ice bath straight out of the pot should help meat contract and pull off shell. I’ve only really done this for transport, certainly prefer to eat immediately!

 

[Rockfish]

I have frozen shelled crab meat, but no matter how you do it, it is never close to the quality of fresh crab. It comes down to how to use the crappy frozen crab to make it as tasty as possible. I have found throwing it in chowder with other seafood works to get rid of it. The best use I have found is mixed with cream cheese and spices and stuffed in mushroom caps and baked in the oven. The frozen crab stuffed mushroom caps are really not bad at all, and have been a hit at pot luck dinners.

 

[Rain City]

Cook for 5 minutes and freeze. Steam to reheat.

 

[Tips Up]

Cook, shell, put in ziplock, freeze, remove crab ice block from ziplock and vacuum seal.
14 oz bag makes 1 batch of crab cakes. Yum.

 

[CatchAll]

Don’t any of you do the milk trick? Cook the crab and pick the meat. Put the meat in a ziplock. Add just enough milk to cover the crab. Squeeze out the air and freeze. Keeps really well. Thaw it and drain in a colander when you want to eat it.

 

[Corey_lax]

I've always done the 5 minute half cook, cut the tips of the pinchers so that it doesn't puncture the bag, then vacuum seal. The meat stays pretty good after another 5 minute cook.

 

[Sharphooks]

I've always done the 5 minute half cook, cut the tips of the pinchers so that it doesn't puncture the bag, then vacuum seal. The meat stays pretty good after another 5 minute cook.

That’s a hot tip. Never heard of that. I’ve frozen cooked sections in brined water so it’s totally immersed (Yoghurt containers etc) Not rubbery, but yes, a bit salty

 

[Corey_lax]

Also, I never cook a crab whole. Gotta get the legs off and pull the lungs out. Just cook the legs. I don’t like cooking the crab in all it’s guts even though I know most people put them in whole. It’s better to split them down the middle and rip the legs off

 

[dance a jig]

I have had good success with full cook, followed by shelling everything, then meat in a zip lock bag with whole milk, just enough to cover it when bag is laid flat. when thawed out, it makes great crab chowder or other. good luck. DAJ

 

[eroyd]

Also, I never cook a crab whole. Gotta get the legs off and pull the lungs out. Just cook the legs. I don’t like cooking the crab in all it’s guts even though I know most people put them in whole. It’s better to split them down the middle and rip the legs off

Tried that. Easier, but it ruins the body meat. I'm back to cooking them whole, in there own juices and cleaning them after.

 

[Rain City]

Tried that. Easier, but it ruins the body meat. I'm back to cooking them whole, in there own juices and cleaning them after.

Ruins how?

 

[eroyd]

Ruins how?

Loses it's flavor/texture and is watery.

 

[scott craven]

Usually if the crab is watery, it's because the shell is soft and underdeveloped.
In Oak bay crabs are about 80% soft shell.
the commercial guys weed out most of the good ones..
I almost always clean my crabs before cooking.

 

[dance a jig]

I have had good success with full cook, followed by shelling everything, then meat in a zip lock bag with whole milk, just enough to cover it when bag is laid flat. when thawed out, it makes great crab chowder or other. good luck. DAJ

I should have added I always clean crab first before cooking, as I don't want to have the "crab butter" (fat and guts) clouding the water i cook the crab in. More important though is occasionally there are water conditions with algae "blooms" which create conditions of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, and although one typically is concerned about eating clams, mussels, oysters, geoduck, and scallops during such conditions, other marine species, such as sea cucumbers, might be affected. Because crab feed on shellfish, they also can become toxic. Even if the crab meat is safe, toxins tend to accumulate in crab gut and butter (the white-yellow fat inside the back of the shell). Accordingly, clean crab thoroughly and avoid eating the crab butter and guts. good luck. DAJ

 

[eroyd]

Been boiling in the shell for 50 years and I'm doing OK. Never keep soft shelled crabs, they taste like they've been cleaned before they are boiled.

 

[Bugs]

I have always found it weird that you can't freeze raw lobster and crab but prawn freeze fantastic raw. In fact raw prawn far easier to shell if they have been frozen. Both lobster and crab brutally stick to shell when cooked if they have been frozen raw. Both can be frozen after cooking (as indicated in many comments above)