Reheating

[Cabral255]

Anyway to reheat blue crabs? I had to cook before I went put tonight before they died. Bummed that I couldn't enjoy my catch.

[Stabilizer]

I have looked this up from seafood shipping/restaurant services.  What I have gathered - left over steamed crabs should be refrigerated.  The next day and up to several days later can be re-steamed for about 5-10 minutes to heat them through.  There is negligible, if any, loss of flavor, texture, quality.  Also baking on a cookie sheet was discussed as an option, although drying was something to look for, even a quick microwave session is an option.

At this point try some of these and let us know.  I usually eat the claws cold the next day, and pick out the other meat for preparing crab cakes or crab dip, maybe soup or something.  Prepared dished, vacuumed packed and frozen can keep in the freezer for a long long time (years even).

[jack1747]

If you are reheating only a few, put them 1 at a time in a paper bag and microwave.  A minute should do it depending on your microwave.

[Mikie]

I've been experimenting with this a little for the past several weeks. I've re-heated 6 - 12 crabs, one day, two days and four days after the original steam. They come out like they were just steamed for the first time. Even on the fourth day, the claw meat and even the meat in the small legs came out intact and moist. Flavor and texture is just like after the original steaming. Crabs were refrigerated in an enclosed box in the frig after they cooled down from the original steaming. I use vinegar and water for the original steam and season each layer of crabs in the pot.
For the re-heat I used a 14 qt pot which I use for small batches. Put in plain water equal to the amount of liquid that you use to steam your crabs. Put in the rack and layer the crabs right out of the frig. I steam on a regular gas stove, turn the burner on high. When there is a good steam escaping from the lid, cut back the fire to maintain a good, steady steam and cook for 20 minutes. Remove immediately.

[Harford Crabber]

Thanks for this info.  For the first time before hearing/reading this I reheated a few leftover crabs a few weeks ago that had been in fridge 3 days since their original steaming.  I put a mark on each crab with a sharpie so I could tell them from the fresh crabs. I placed them on top of the already steaming crabs for  10 minutes.  I never thought about putting them in a closed box in fridge, thanks for that tip.  These were stored in an open container  in a fridge in my garage that is devoted to crabs and other things my wife won't let me keep in the kitchen...  After re-steaming  I could taste no difference in the meat in the marked or unmarked crabs, except the claw meat was dry.    I would guess storing them in a sealed plastic bag in fridge after they are room temp may also keep the claw meat from drying out.  I'm going to try that next time.   Thanks again Cabrall255 for starting this topic and thanks to all those that added responses.