How to Cook Crab: 4 Different Ways

Crabs provide two kinds of meat: white meat and brown meat. White meat is paler and more delicate than brown meat, which has a stronger flavour. If you want white meat, choose cock (male) crabs with larger claws; if you want more brown meat, choose a hen crab (female).

What to Look for When Buying Crabs?

If you live in a coastal community, find out where the local fish market is and visit it to find the freshest catch. When in season, buy from local waters whenever possible, and you can always ask sellers for recommendations about how long to cook crabs for.

Live crabs purchased in season and from local waters will be the freshest and have the best flavour. If your crab has been on a transcontinental journey this will mean more time has been spent between catch and plate, and your selection might end up less robust and meaty.

Look for live crabs that are active and moving around, and avoid those that appear to be sluggish. A general rule of thumb is that a crab’s meat accounts for about 14 per cent of its total weight. It should have a nice weight in hand, indicating that the shell is full of juicy meat, rather than light – indicating that the crab is mostly shell.

Cleaning and Preparing Your Crab Before Cooking

Crab meat is one of the world’s most delicious seafood meats. Despite its amazing taste, cleaning and cooking crab meat at home is tough because of the crab’s sharp spiky edges. You might be wondering how to cook crabs or how long to boil them, but cleaning is the first thing you need to do with your crabs.

If you enjoy this delectable crab meat and want to prepare it at home, follow these simple steps to prepare a crab before cooking.

Step 1: Humanely Dispatch The Crab.

When buying a live crab, note that it would be risky to clean it when it’s still active. It is also inhumane to toss it into boiling water. The most humane way to dispatch a crab is to use one of two methods – spiking or freezing.

Spiking is stabbing a knife or other sharp object into the crab’s brain and nerve centres. You will find them near the eyes and the tail. When done correctly, this will instantly kill the crab.

Freezing is the easiest and most humane way to dispatch a crab. Just toss the live crab into your freezer and leave it there for an hour to put it in a coma-like state. This will make it easier for you to clean and butcher before cooking.

Step 2: Brush Your Crab Shell

Before you toss your crab into the water to cook or slice it up, you must clean the shell properly. Just take a clean brush and thoroughly brush the crab’s shell, legs, and underside. Rinse with cold water until your crab is clean. Use a damp cloth when handling raw crab.

Step 3: Remove the Gills and other Unnecessary Parts

If you plan to cook the whole crab, you can skip this part and directly toss your crab into a large saucepan or steamer. But if you want to butcher your crab, you must also clean the insides. Before you crack open your crab to clean, remove the flap found on the crab’s underside. Get a sharp pair of scissors and cut off the pointy and sharp tips of the legs. 

Remove the top shell or the carapace and start removing the gills. You will find the crab’s mouth, and you will need to remove the mandibles and discard them. You will find tomalley in the middle of the crab’s body, which you need to remove and preserve for later use. Inside the carapace, you will also find some tomalley. Remove it and preserve it for later use also.

Step 4:Rinse Your Crab

After you have butchered and removed the unnecessary parts of your crab, you need to wash it again. In this step, you can decide whether you still want to butcher your crab further to smaller pieces or keep it as is. Your tomalley (crab mustard) must also be washed. There is some grey-coloured membrane along with the tomalley. Separate and discard the grey membrane. The tomalley is the liquid gold of crab. You can use it to enhance the flavour of your crab dish.

How to Cook Crab in Different Ways?

Of all of the crustaceans, crab is one of the easiest to cook. The ways to cook crab are quite simple and sometimes don’t require a lot of ingredients. Some basic seasonings and spices in your pantry can be used to make a dish, and the cooking process is easy to follow.

Before trying a crab recipe, learn the basic ways to cook crabs.

Boiling

Boiling a crab is one of the easiest ways to cook a mud crab. All you need is  your salt, seasonings and a large pot filled with water.

1. Depending on the size of the crab, fill a large pot with water and add a generous amount of rock salt. The water must cover the crab completely, and the salt should be enough to season the crab to your taste. It should be neither salty nor bland. Bring to a boil.
2. Add a can of beer or white wine with some lemon juice and lemon wedges. This will help to remove some of the fishy smell. You can also add other spices and herbs to enhance the flavour of the crab.
3. Slowly place your crab in the hot water. How long to boil crab? Boil the crab for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. When bright red, remove from the pot and toss in cold water to prevent the meat from sticking to the crab legs.
5. If you boiled your crab whole, you can start cleaning your crab and removing the gills when it’s cool to the touch.

Steaming

Steaming a crab helps retain the crab juice and prevents it from being overly saturated with water. You can steam a whole crab or a sliced up one in a pot using a steamer attachment.

1. Prepare a large steamer pot and fill it with 2-3 inches of salted water. Bring water to  boil.
2. If you want to use the broth later, add beer or white wine to replace a cup of water. You can add garlic, bay leaves, parsley and other herbs you want to use to make the broth savoury.
3. Add the crab to the steamer basket and cook for 10-20 minutes, depending on your crab’s size.
4. Remove from the steamer when cooked and place in iced water to cool before cooking it further.

Grilling

Grilling a crab is unusual, but yes, you can grill a crab. It gives a smoky and charred flavour to the crab. You can use the whole crab or half-back to grill.

1. Parboil or steam your crab before grilling. This ensures that the meat is almost cooked, if not fully cooked.
2. Brush your grilled crab with grilling oil made of olive oil, minced garlic, some chopped rosemary and thyme.
3. You don’t need to grill your crab for a long time, but use a medium-hot grill for cooking it until it’s slightly brown. You will need 4-5 minutes for each side when grilling.

Baking

One of the most common ways to cook a crab is by baking it. Like other crustaceans, baking a crab can give a different depth of flavour.

1. Parboil or steam your crab before baking. You can also leave it half back if you prefer it that way.
2. Prepare herb-infused melted butter to brush your crab with. You can add lots of minced garlic, ginger, shallots, and some lemon wedges to your crab for an enhanced flavour.
3. Lay your crab on a roasting pan and bake at 205 deg C to 260 deg C for around 10 minutes or until it has browned and sizzled. You can also add cheese on top.

Crab is Cooked – Now Enjoy!

There are a lot of crustaceans in the sea, but a crab is one shellfish your friends and family are sure to love. They are messy to eat, but the complexity of flavours make it worthwhile.

Many are intimidated by crab because it’s not easy to make. But once you can handle the live crab, it becomes easier to clean, prepare and cook. In addition to the basic ways of cooking crab, trying out crab recipes will give more depth to the natural flavour of the crab. You’ll be craving more.

FAQ About Crabs

How to cook mud crab? 

• A mud crab can be cooked in different ways, but usually, they are boiled then either grilled or baked. They can also be steamed.

How long to boil mud crab?

• It takes 10 to 20 minutes to boil a whole mud crab, depending on its size.

How long to cook mud crabs?

• If you are using mud crab for a dish, you need to have it parboiled, and it will take around 5 minutes to cook a dish.

How to cook blue swimmer crab?

• Blue swimmer crabs are smaller than mud crabs, so they are best steamed or baked.

How long to boil blue swimmer crab?

• Since they are smaller and softer, they only need 5 to 8 mins in boiling water.

How long to cook blue swimmer crab?

• Blue swimmer crabs don’t take much time cooking for a dish. Toss it in a pan for 3 to 5 minutes, and you are done.