Claw Meat Clinging to the Shell

[Uncle Nicky]

Any tips on how to loosen claw meat from the shell after cooking? I got a bunch of packed crabs the other day, very full & meaty. Seems like the claw meat is clinging to the shells a lot tighter than usual on this batch. Would freezing the cooked claws a couple days loosen the meat any?

[U812OHNO]

Get yourself a crab picking knife   

[bgfishhook1]

Any tips on how to loosen claw meat from the shell after cooking? I got a bunch of packed crabs the other day, very full & meaty. Seems like the claw meat is clinging to the shells a lot tighter than usual on this batch. Would freezing the cooked claws a couple days loosen the meat any?

Question : Did you steam them crabs or did you buy them ?? Either way I can tell you if you bought them chances are they were over steamed which is why the claw meat is sticking to the shell. Or yet another reason might be the store that you bought them in might have had them for a few days, that is not to mean that the meat is not good to eat but it will stick to the shell if it is let to dry out. When you steam your own there is a fine line when steaming them. Too long and the meat sticks to the shell. I like to get a roaring head of steam going put at least twenty crabs into my stainless steel stock pot and steam them for no more than 18 minutes on my kitchen stove. If I am steaming a full bushel at once in my home made steamer then they steam for 20 minutes . You can pull a claw off of a freshly steamed crab and the meat should come out of the cracked shell right behind the two claws . Try it and let us know , good luck.

     BGFISHHOOK1

[Uncle Nicky]

Question : Did you steam them crabs or did you buy them ?? Either way I can tell you if you bought them chances are they were over steamed which is why the claw meat is sticking to the shell. Or yet another reason might be the store that you bought them in might have had them for a few days, that is not to mean that the meat is not good to eat but it will stick to the shell if it is let to dry out. When you steam your own there is a fine line when steaming them. Too long and the meat sticks to the shell. I like to get a roaring head of steam going put at least twenty crabs into my stainless steel stock pot and steam them for no more than 18 minutes on my kitchen stove. If I am steaming a full bushel at once in my home made steamer then they steam for 20 minutes . You can pull a claw off of a freshly steamed crab and the meat should come out of the cracked shell right behind the two claws . Try it and let us know , good luck.

     BGFISHHOOK1

I steam them all of the time, same way, vinegar, beer & water, never used a clock, just steamed until the shells are bright red. Coincidentally caught another batch from a different bay a few days later, and the meat came out fine, I really think it had to do with the fact that the first batch of crabs were very packed & muddy. I have made up my mind in the future to boil "muddy" crabs at the end of the season, the meat comes out much easier & there is very little taste difference (other than having JO or Old Bay all over your fingers)  I hate wasting meat, we enjoy eating them so much at Casa Uncle Nicky.

[Stabilizer]

I have no idea how to loosen the meat after the fact.  But the tips of beer, vinegar, water and not overcooking seem spot on.  I do cook mine to a bright orange than red though.  For my 4 dozen CBC yesterday it was about 22 minutes.  I bag a bunch of claws for eating the next day.  So today I had a bag of claws from the refrigerator that cracked beautifully and tasted awesome with an occasional touch of cocktail sauce.

[discover]

I used to steam my crabs top shell up for the last 30 + years, but the last three batches of crabs I steamed I put them in the pot upside down after chilling them on ice for about 15 minutes. The friends I shared the crabs with all agreed that these were the juiciest and best tasting crabs that we have eaten. No meat stuck to the shells, even the fullest of crabs and they were juicer and seemed to have more flavor. Plus the mustard does not stick to the meat as much so you get cleaner crab meat and still get the flavor of the mustard. When I take them out of the pot I keep them upside down and refrigerate the leftover crabs upside down. I know for me I will always steam them this way from now on. Give this method a try sometime and see how you like it. You may become a fan.

[bgfishhook1]

I used to steam my crabs top shell up for the last 30 + years, but the last three batches of crabs I steamed I put them in the pot upside down after chilling them on ice for about 15 minutes. The friends I shared the crabs with all agreed that these were the juiciest and best tasting crabs that we have eaten. No meat stuck to the shells, even the fullest of crabs and they were juicer and seemed to have more flavor. Plus the mustard does not stick to the meat as much so you get cleaner crab meat and still get the flavor of the mustard. When I take them out of the pot I keep them upside down and refrigerate the leftover crabs upside down. I know for me I will always steam them this way from now on. Give this method a try sometime and see how you like it. You may become a fan.

Please take it the way that this guy told me. The last bushel of crabs that I steamed were awesome, I never had crabs this good and I might add I have been killing crabs in my beer barrel steamer for over 45 years. I have got to admit it this is by far the best way to steam crabs. This up side down method is without a doubt the only way that I will steam them again. I do not know what it does but the crab meat is tender , sweet, and moist and there is a better taste to them for some reason. I might suggest that when I removed the crabs from my steamer and laid them on a cookie sheet I kept them up side down. Try it you might just like it just like I do !  THANK YOU ED .

  BGFISHHOOK1

[discover]

You said it perfectly Bob. Can't believe we have been missing out on this way of cooking them all these years. Not no more.