Steaming Crabs

by Gloria Martin
(New Hope, VA)

We bought crabs at the market and they were alive. We put them on ice. They are not moving at all and can't tell if they are stunned by cold or if they are dead. Are they still ok to steam?

Did the market tell you to put them on ice? Did you have them cleaned before putting them on ice?
Putting them on ice (whole crab) simply "stuns" them. Keeping them alive till you can cook them up is imperative, especially whole crabs.
If you take them off ice and put them in cool water and they don't come around (start breathing and moving, you can tell by poking one of their eyes or an antenna) then they are dead and it's too late to safely cook them and eat them.