On 1/8/2021 8:59 AM, Gary wrote:
> On 1/7/2021 9:29 PM, cshenk wrote:
>> Gary wrote:
>>
>>> jmcquown wrote:
>>>> If I was boiling the crab I'd have added beer to the water along
>>>> with crab boil seasonings.
>>>
>>> You should try 50/50 water and vinegar (plus Old Bay seasoning)
>>> Good for crab and shrimp. But you don't like shrimp.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Also...you steamed those crabs live so you had a mess when eating
>>>>> them? That's about as evil as it gets...steaming live crabs.
>>>>>
>>>> I must have missed where he said he steamed them.* Boiled, steamed,
>>>> doesn't matter.* What would you expect him to do?* Surely you know
>>>> freshly caught crab is cooked alive.
>>>
>>> I found a better way. Told by local commercial crabbers in the area.
>>> I start with still alive crabs and kill each one by hand. lol* It's
>>> more personal but it's more humane.
>>>
>>> I kill and clean them right before cooking. This way, the seasoning
>>> goes right on the meat and no mess to open and eat them later.
>>
>> Don 'piths' them just before cooking.* He actually has a tool for it
>> that looks like a long thin sharpend nail on a wood handle.
>>
>> <https://www.instructables.com/Live-C...ntly-and-Human
>> ely-Cooki/>
>>
>> That one is a lot bigger but same process only he just does the head
>> then steams them.
>>
>
> That's a very odd method to kill live crabs, imo.
>
> I rip off the shell (that kills them immediately), then run a finger
> down the gut trench, and rip off the face. Very dead crab in less than 2
> seconds. Finally, remove the apron on the bottom.
>
> Season, then steam the batch. No messy eating when done.
>
Sounds horrific. I don't buy live crab. I haven't actually helped cook
any freshly caught blue crab since the late 1980's. I don't go looking
for live crabs.
The type of crab I prefer the *taste of* is definitely from the Pacific
northwest. Much colder water. Alaskan Snow crab claws and legs come up
from time to time at the seafood counter. For me, they are a very rare
treat. Of course they are already cooked and on ice. Can be served
cold but I prefer to steam them to heat them up a little.
Of course, I happen to have crab crackers and crab piks and I know how
to use a small crab fork to cut right down a crab leg and fold it back
to get to the meat.
Jill