By the way, have a helper with a canister of table salt in hand to assist. Place layers of live crabs in the pot, adding your spices on top of each layer (this takes a bit of time). If you are going to steam them yourself, you put them in the steamer (or very large pot with a wire shelf on the bottom) and add your water and vinegar. If you purchase steamed crabs, they are ready to enjoy as soon as you get to your destination. Besides aiding to keep them alive, chilling live crabs makes them less active and easier to place in the steamer.ĭon’t forget to consider the time it takes to do the steaming. You might want to consider placing the live crabs under refrigeration if possible. Live crabs can last 6 to 8 hours out of the water, but the sooner you can steam them, the better. You might want to spray some water on the bushel basket the evaporating water will help keep the crabs cool and thus less likely to die. When you get the live crabs home, place them in a cool, shady spot. (By the way, best to wear shoes when steaming so when you drop a crab, your toes will be protected from very painful pinches.) If you have the time, equipment, seasoning and are willing to put up with being pinched by a crab or two, you can achieve the satisfaction that you steamed the crabs yourself. Let’s face it, steaming crabs yourself is a messy task, and it is usually only worth the effort if you steam at least a bushel (5 to 7 dozen depending on size) of the crabs. Assuming you found a Carryout Crab House that you can trust to provide fresh crabs, should you purchase them steamed or live? First consider how many crabs you want. A bad smell and a bad taste is an indication the crab was DOA to the steamer! If you open a steamed crab and it does not smell right, do NOT eat it. You can get very sick from eating a crab that has died before it was steamed. That is also why you will see the Cravin’ Crabs staff check each live crab for some movement before it is placed in the bag for you to take home and steam yourself. Professional Crab Carryout Crab Houses, such as Cravin’ Crabs, always check each crab to be sure it is alive before putting the crab in their commercial steamer. It is best if you purchase your crabs directly from a Carryout Crab House that is owned and operated by the crabbers themselves.īesides having a better, sweeter taste, freshness reduces the likelihood that a crab will die before it reaches the steamer. Many purchase them from local crabbers, but that means they really do not know how long these watermen have kept the crabs before delivering them to the store. Do not be timid to ask where the Carryout store gets its crabs. You want to know they were crawling in the Bay waters just hours before you stack them on your table to enjoy. Let us help you by explaining the things to consider before purchasing either steamed or live crabs.įirst, you have to be sure to purchase the freshest crabs possible. Some consider steaming, but are not sure what is involved. However, some customers prefer to purchase live crabs, and steam the crabs themselves. That’s fine with us, because we specialize in steamed crabs. Most of our customers purchase Steamed Crabs. Steaming Crabs Yourself Should you purchase Steamed Crabs from a Carryout Crab House or should you purchase Live Crabs and do the steaming yourself?
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