Cooking Crab Properly – You Should Pay Attention to This

Cooking crab properly – this is how steaming works

Eating crayfish in restaurants can get a little more expensive. With the following points, we will show you how you can easily and inexpensively prepare the shellfish yourself.

• So that the animal no longer feels pain during the preparation, you must first stun it. You can do this by putting the crab in the freezer and waiting a few hours. Depending on the size, it may take longer. This will stun the animal and also make it easier for you to handle.
• After that, you should check the sensitivity of the crab by gently touching it. The animal should not react to touch near the mouthpart.
• You can also tap on the crab’s shell and see if its eyes respond. If not, the cancer is desensitized and should be prepared as soon as possible.
• To spear the crab, you should turn it over and place it on a non-slip mat or cutting board. You can then lift the tail. You should now find two holes that resemble small dots.
• Since cancer’s nerve center lies underneath, you need to poke these holes with a knife or awl. Pay attention to an angle of about 85 degrees for the rear hole and 60 degrees for the front hole.
• In less than ten seconds, the nerve center loses its properties and you can start cooking the crab.
• To do this, you need to bring water to a boil in a large pot with a steamer insert and a tight-fitting lid. If you don’t have a steamer, you can form a long piece of aluminum foil into a rope. You can then shape this into an eight and then place it in the pot – your homemade insert should be thick enough that the crab will not touch the cooking water later.
• After this step, you can grab the crab with tongs and place it in the steamer with the spine facing up. Then put a little water in the pot. Make sure that there are a few centimeters between the water surface and the crab – after all, it should only be dampened.
• Now you can close the lid and let the water boil over high heat. The cooking process takes about a minute for half a kilo of crab, but up to seven minutes at medium heat.
• Now you can carefully remove the crab with the tongs and let the hot water drip off over the pot. Then place the shellfish in a sieve and hold it under cold running water. Optionally, you can place the crab in a bowl of ice water for the process. This prevents the animal’s meat from further cooking and becoming tough.

Boil several crabs in a saucepan

Another method, and more effective for multiple crabs, is to cook all the shellfish at once.

• To do this, place all the crabs in a sufficiently large pot and make sure that there is still eight to ten centimeters of free space at the top.
• Also note the approximate height of the crabs and remove them from the pot. Now you can fill the pot with water until the water level is two to three inches above where the crabs were.
• For more flavor you can put lemon slices in the water or use vegetable broth.
• Now you should bring the water to a boil over high heat and then carefully put the crabs in it. Set a timer for 15 minutes for a half-pound crab or two, or 20 minutes for larger specimens.
• After boiling, turn the heat down a little so that the water just simmers. Otherwise, constant cooking can make the meat tough and rubbery.
• The last thing you have to do with this method removes the crabs from the pot, put them in a colander, and cool them with cold water.