Any idea how to cook crab legs?

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Turin39789

Originally posted by: Common Courtesy
Salted water retains the flavor of the crab when you boil/steam them

straight salted water or a herb/salt mix, like cavendars or tonys or a homeade ?

C'mon....

http://www.roflcat.com/i-are-s...-is-serious-thread.php

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: Sinsear
While boiling seems the consensus here, don't discount the good ole bbq. That's how I do em. Chuck em straight on the grill for about 10 minutes or so. Tasty, tasty.

Same here. I don't chuck them straight on the grill though. Brush a tiny bit of olive oil on the outside - just a very, very thin film - but make sure to dry the outside of the crab as well as possible first before putting on the olive oil. It seems to help retain the moisture in the crab meat. The reason I prefer the grill over boiling or steaming is that you tend to get a nice crisp snap instead of potentially ending up with a soggy leg that folds when you try to break it.

Even though the Costco king crab legs/claws are frozen, they're still damn good. The wife and I are having them for dinner tomorrow night.

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: Turin39789
omg I has never cooked the crabs before. Never bought them from the store anymore either.

Thinking about doing it tomorrow now. What is the best value to get, and best general preparation.

How to clarify butter? Butter + magnifying glass FTL?

melt butter and skim the foam off

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: LS21

Originally posted by: Turin39789
omg I has never cooked the crabs before. Never bought them from the store anymore either.

Thinking about doing it tomorrow now. What is the best value to get, and best general preparation.

How to clarify butter? Butter + magnifying glass FTL?

melt butter and skim the foam off

I use a different method. I melt the butter and then turn it up a bit until the majority of the water has evaporated and the milk solids on the bottom start to brown, then pour it through a damp cheesecloth. It'll seperate out the vast majority of solids and you'll get some very clear clarified butter. It can be a bit tricky though. You have to make sure you don't turn the heat up too high and begin browning the butter fat itself.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: Turin39789

Originally posted by: Common Courtesy
Salted water retains the flavor of the crab when you boil/steam them

straight salted water or a herb/salt mix, like cavendars or tonys or a homeade ?

Your preference but I usually just stick with salt and lemon juice for whole Dungeness crab or king crab legs. I also skip the butter as I like the natural sweet flavor of the crab meat.

If I'm cooking blue crabs, I like to use seasoning like crab boil packets, Old Bay seasoning, spices and herbs if I'm doing seafood boil with shrimp, crab, crawfish, smoked sausage, potatoes, and corn. I also cook blue crabs with soy sauce and asian spices. mixture. Although blue crabs are really good and one of the best tasting crabs, I usually don't cook these often because it's a pain to eat them. Too much work for too little meat.

It's Dungeness season right now so I'll recommend you try that. It's not too hard to find live Dungeness for sale and it's pretty cheap per pound. If you can't find live ones, Costco has precooked whole for sale usually around $5-6 /lb. Or you can get Red King Crab legs for $12.99 /lb non bulk.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: NL5
I don't think most people in this thread are aware that they are buying COOKED crab most of the time. I cook fresh crab all the time though - how do I know it's fresh? The little buggers tried to pinch me when I yanked em out of the ocean.......

:music:can't pinch me
*dom-dom-da-dom-dom-da-dom-da-dom*
can't pinch me
:music:
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/spidey07/lob2.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/spidey07/lob5.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/spidey07/lob8.jpg

can't pinch me

looks small, the bigger ones i've gotten i've had to kill with a knife and put in the oven.

also, I always heard you should steam legs, seems like some of the flavor would be lost from boiling since they are cut open already.

 

[Rubycon]

Definitely not like this! :laugh:

 

[Savarak]

if precooked and frozen.... microwave.

if uncooked, frozen or not.... steam.

if you love losing flavor... boil

 

[tw1164]

Microwave

 

[shocksyde]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Definitely not like this! :laugh:

Haha, very nice.

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: cherrytwist
steam>boiling ftw

Steam FTMFW

 

[Linux23]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Definitely not like this! :laugh:

LOLOLOL.

But on a more serious note. Crabs are like the pigs of the sea. Filthy creatures.

 

[Casawi]

How else can you really cook them, we have always boiled them. Seafood sounds real good for dinner tonight.

 

[Squisher]

I've never done it, but a guy at work roasts them in the oven. He sprinkles them with a little olive oil and wraps each leg in aluminum foil.

He said he started doing that when Costco had such big crab legs that they wouldn't fit well in a pot and it's made it easy to do it on a grill too.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Linux23

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Definitely not like this! :laugh:

LOLOLOL.

But on a more serious note. Crabs are like the pigs of the sea. Filthy creatures.

Pigs are actually very clean creatures.

If we are talking about live crab, steaming is the way to go. On the beach (where you just came in from crab grabbing off the beach), you would just put in some salt water and sand and steam the crab that way, Wash sand off first before you eat it though.

The frozen cooked stuff, I would say broil, but with some water below it so it doesn't dry out. You don't want to lose its moisture.

 

[Quasmo]

Originally posted by: lyssword

Originally posted by: swtethan

Originally posted by: lyssword
HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO MY BRETHREN! THE CRABS WILL UNLEASH UPON YOU THE FURY OF ORANGE ONSLAUGHT IF YOU DARE THINK ABOUT IT! :|

-Department of Crab defense


:laugh:

orange is the color of cooked crab!

COOKED OR NOT, THE ONSLAUGHT WILL COMMENCE! :| YOUR ANNIHILATION BY CRAB ALLIANCE IS IMMINENT!

Crab People?

 

[ktehmok]

This thread makes me think of the second book of Stephen King's Gunslinger series "The Drawing of the Three"



Did-a-Chum?



And I'm very hungry now.

 

[Alistar7]

Double boiler for making clarified butter, no burning that way.

 

[slag]

Originally posted by: Alistar7
Double boiler for making clarified butter, no burning that way.

shrug. i microwave it and skim the top. no burning that way either.

 

[Fritzo]

Yeah, boil them is salt water. I like to wrap 1-2 "leg racks" (not sure what you call the group of legs) in foil for easy serving. That way you just stack the wrapped legs on a plate and everyone grabs one. It keeps them warm too.

Cook about 10-15 minutes- make sure the water is a full boil before you put them in though. Serve ASAP as the shells tend to get rubbery and hard to crack when they cool.

 

[SmoochyTX]

Y'all have made me crave seafood. I want to eat some crab now!!!