Watery Crabs after steaming

[De crabber]

  Sometimes my crabs are watery after steaming.. I put my crabs in a steaming pot for 40 minutes is that to long? thanks Mark

[Crabbeer]

20 to 25 minutes after heavy steam starts pouring out from the pot.  Sometimes lite crabs will retain alot of water.  Heavy crabs rarely have water in them, they are too packed with meat.

[horsefly]

Maybe you have too much liquid in the pot. If this is the case it's probably just the bottom 1/2 dozen or so with too much juice. But also as crabbeer said if they are on the whitey side they to can be juicy. I cook a full 1 1/4 bu. (I have xlarge pot) for about 45 mins. My "hard" crabs come out just right and the light ones have a little juice. Does'nt hurt em, just more slop everywhere. Hint wear a bib

[R D]

Clean them first and you wont have that problem, 

[mreinke]

Oh, RD. now you know your gonna start a ruccus with that remark. 

[mdjohn]

yea, he does 

[R D]

Who me ?? 

[tattoo]

cooking them for too long. should only take about 20 min.

[horsefly]

Cooking them too long? How do "you" know how long is long enough? Is cooking them too long making/keeping them watery? Does your cooking method pertain to already steamy water? Tightly sealed lid with a petcock for vent?  Crab backs on/off. ice cold crabs or room temp. Are you cooking 2-3dz or a bu. or more. Lots of Variables.

[tattoo]

never had a problem. cook for 20 min , the crabs are at room temp.

[fisheyed]

This has been covered a lot so look at past posts but here we go:
1) make sure rack is ample distance from bottom of pot ( at least 2 inches)
2) have secure lid
3) Fill bottom with about .75-1.25 inches of water ( yes you can add vinegar or beer) personally I like to drink my beer.
5) Get a heat soure that can adequately keep a full rolling boil and keep pot very hot
6) Heat said pot untill hot to touch and full of steam
7) Load pot with crab, leave a little room at top, use a weight to keep the buggers in.
Steam for 30 min
9) set on well papered table and dig in.  Those who refuse to take the shells off there crabs don't need to eat and should bring more beer.

Typically you know they are done when a little fat comes out of them and the apron is a little loose.  You have steamed to long it all the claws fall off or if they become very mushy.  Watery crabs are often indicative of light crabs or crabs that have come in contact with water from the bottom of the pot.
An interesting fact I learned this weekend from procrabber is that it only takes about 7 min to steam a crab the time lag is the result of having to adequately heat the surrounding air.  The other crabs often absorb the heat.  This is why one should have a good heat source.

[horsefly]

 Fisheye, I agree with your method. If you read mine you'll agree also. I've cooked crabs at a picking house for about 5 years, but they used pressurized steam. Cooking that way in a sealed vessel you cook at 250 deg. f maintain 15psi for about 10-12 mins. Granted you're talking about 800-1400 lbs crabs per cook. The ladies will let me know if I messed up a batch. So you see where my 45 min cook time comes from. Also my crabs are soaked in ice(to prevent "claw pop")20 mins then seasoned started from cold water brought up to temp. I use outdoor burner. I also have lid "super" sealed so only a little stream of steam comes out of wee hole. Maybe after 30-35 min I breifly open lid to extra coat crabs(if no in-laws over) then close up finish for 10-15. Comes out perfecto every time. The thought of a crab being under cooked and runny with all the bacteria swimming it,is like asking for a death sentence.

[R D]

Always "borrow" brother n laws cheap beer to steam in and drink your good stuff, 

[tattoo]

  Thats good.