Freezing crab
Ryan Hoyer
I plan on going crabbing this weekend and hope to get my limit of
crab. Does anyone have any experience freezing crab. Does it change it
much? or does it freeze well? Thanks.
Sandra K Collins
Ryan Hoyer (hoy...@ucs.orst.edu) wrote:
: I plan on going crabbing this weekend and hope to get my limit of
: crab. Does anyone have any experience freezing crab. Does it change it
: much? or does it freeze well? Thanks.
:
When we freeze crab (North Carolina crabs) we pick it and then add a
litle milk to the container. The thawed crab is great for crab cakes.
Sandra
LB COLVIN
Hi, we live in Port Arthur, Texas, on the Gulf Coast. I have tried freezing
Blue Crabs that were freshly caught, but the meat turned mushy. If anyone
knows how to keep this from happening, I would sure appreciate the
information.
(Some of the crabs were frozen whole, and some were cleaned, minus the top
shell, and broken in two. Also, there didn't seem to be a difference in
results between males and females).
We usually end up cooking and eating them right away now, rather than trying
to freeze them.
Kathie
lbco...@ih2000.net
George Shirley
freeze whole crab. We always steamed it, picked the meat out, cooled it
in the fridge and then froze it in the big freezer. Stayed good for
months that way. I think that if you want to freeze whole crab you gotta
invest in a flash freezing process. Wife was raised on the banks of the
Chesapeake Bay and says they did the same as my family. I only married
her cause she was good at picking out crab meat. <VBG>
George
Alf Christophersen
George Shirley <gshi...@iamerica.net> wrote:
>I was raised down the road from you in Orange, Texas and we never could
>freeze whole crab. We always steamed it, picked the meat out, cooled it
>in the fridge and then froze it in the big freezer. Stayed good for
>months that way. I think that if you want to freeze whole crab you gotta
>invest in a flash freezing process. Wife was raised on the banks of the
>Chesapeake Bay and says they did the same as my family. I only married
>her cause she was good at picking out crab meat. <VBG>
I heard about someone who tried that. The content of the stomach dis
obviously diffuse out in the meat, and people had a big time vomiting
afterwards. (Lots of histamine there, so the reaction mimics the effect
of an allergic outbreak (freeing of histamin is the final step in an
allergic/asthmatic reaction and has great effect on the surrounding
cells)
In Norway it is possible to get shells with meat inside, but it is
always the cleansed meat that is there. Stomach and the other inedible
parts are removed and the shell is filled with the different part of the
meat and 'slur')
George Shirley
beyond me. We pick out the body, leg, and claw meat and freeze that. I
don't think anyone is dumb enough to try to eat the rest of the crab.
Particularly people, like myself, who have caught and eaten crabs their
entire life. Read a little closer Alf.
George
Charles W. Baker
On Tue, 24 Feb 1998 20:24:56 -0800, Ryan Hoyer <hoy...@ucs.orst.edu>
wrote:
>I plan on going crabbing this weekend and hope to get my limit of
>crab. Does anyone have any experience freezing crab. Does it change it
>much? or does it freeze well? Thanks.
>
I have been freezing Dungeness crab for some time, and can really
tell little difference between fresh and frozen when I've taste
tested. I do it as follows.
I keep the crab live in a bucket while on the water. As soon as I
come , I clean and split the crab. The marina I use on Hood Canal in
WA has a cleaning station where there is a 'tool' (a hay mower
sickle-bar tooth nailed to a short block of 2 x 4) which you push
through the bottom breast-plate of the crab, killing it and mostly
splitting it into halves - these are 'lifted' out of the top shell,
leaving most of the 'yukk' behind. I remove the gills and insides,
and take the split halves home - about a 20 minute drive. As soon as
I'm home, I bring about 3-4 gallons of water with 2-3 tablespoons of
salt to a boil, add the crab (can usually get 6-8 in this much water),
and continue on heat for 10 minutes (water will reboil after 3-5
minutes).
Cool the crab and place those to be frozen in bags and vacuun seal
with a food saver, taking care not to draw too much vacuum, or the
sharp shells penetrate the bags. We freeze two (four halves) to a
bag.
We were eating them by the bunch at Xmas - only complaint is if you
don't drain them well enough before freezing, they're 'leaky'.
Hope the season is as productive this year as last - I'm running low!!