header

How To Boil Crab Legs

boiled-crab-legs
Want to know how to boil crab? And how long to boil crab? You have come to the right place. Crab-O-Licious.com will show you the in's and out's of boiling crab. Please note Crab Facts over on the right side, before we get started.

Now, you know that boiling crab is basically for the processing of whole crab that hasn't been previously cooked. Some people like to clean crab first, which is fine, then go to cooking crab and eating them right away.

However, others like to freeze the whole crab and process it later, which is fine, too, but the crab needs to be boiled first. Some believe that boiling the crab and freezing it whole helps preserve the fresher taste of the crab when steamed at a later time than freezing just the crab legs. Either way works just fine, it's really a matter of personal choice.

So, now, you have your whole crab, just caught it and want to get it ready for eating or freezing, here we go about boiling crab...

Things You Will Need To Boil Crab

Before you know how to boil crab, there's a few things you should have handy...
  • A big pot, depending on how many crab you have to boil. A pot, like the picture above, can hold 2 good size whole crab. The picture below shows what I use when we catch a lot of crab. It's an old canning pot and works great for getting a lot of crab boiled fast.
  • Salt or Sea Salt, which ever you prefer. Our preference is Sea Salt-course. You want boiled crab legs, but you want them to be healthy to eat, too, don't you?
  • A Pair of Tongs come in handy for handling the crab in and out of a hot pan with boiling water.
  • Seasonings (optional) you can really give your boiled crab legs some zest with crab boil or other seasonings, like, Mrs. Dash. If this is your first time boiling crab legs, I would suggest using just the salt, then experiment when you boil crab again.

You can find this some of these products in our Crab-O-Licious Store.

boiling-crab

How to Boil Crab

  • Fill your pot to about 2/3's full of water, add salt (about 1/2 cup/gallon of water) and seasonings (optional/your choice), then, bring to full boil.
  • Carefully add the whole crab to the water. Make sure the crab are all covered in water. Boil the crab until the shells turn red, for approximately 20 minutes counting time after the water comes back to a full boil. They're done!
Now, you know how to boil crab.
dungeness-crab-boiled

Now, you can cool the crab down by either laying them out on a clean dry towel, like I have illustrated with dungeness crab. Or, you can cool them down by placing them in cool water in a clean sink. Either way is fine. Now you are ready to clean the crab or you can eat the crab. We'll show you how how to crack them and get their meat out.

Custom Search

Look for more "how to's" and delicious crab meat recipes, too, here at Crab-O-Licious.com.

Back to the top of How To Boil Crab

Boiling Crab Facts:
If your crab legs are already pre-cooked you don't need to "boil" them. In fact, you don't want to. Boiling already pre-cooked crab legs will water down the taste and you will also run the risk of having "crab soup" instead of crab legs. You want to "steam the crab legs" for eating.

Also, don't shrink from trying different herbs and seasonings in your crab boil. Just make sure you use plenty of sea salt, about 1/2 cup per gallon of water. We will show you how to cook crab legs, here.

This is the perfect all in one crab pot. You can use this for boiling and steaming crab...

Check out Crab Chat for more helpful tips on freezing crab. If you have any questions or in need of any help with boiling, freezing or cooking crab, feel free to ask your questions and we'll answer them ASAP! to the best of our ability.


Note: This website is for your free information only. For medical advice, please, consult a healthcare professional.

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Infopublishing
Copyright© 2008-2012 www.Crab-O-Licious.com "Catch 'em! Clean 'em! Cook 'em! Eat 'em!"