Fresh Crab Claws .. HELP

Wowbagger

Hi all,

As the title says I have fresh crab claws for dinner today but am unsure as to how to go about cooking them.

The claws I usually get are from supermarkets and are washed/trimmed etc, the claws I have came off the crabs yesterday evening.

Any ideas/tips on how to get the best out of them?

Thanks in advance

W

duploelabs

Nutcrackers will sort you out or one of those little hammers for hanging pictures. Anything bigger, like a meat tenderiser or regular hammer, and you run the risk of smashing the meat too

kylith

I was told by a fishmonger to boil them for ten minutes and serve them with melted garlic butter for dipping. We used a range of implements to break into them; ISTR that a sharp smack with pliers worked well.

duploelabs

Eh guys, crab claws that you buy are already cooked, this is due to crab meat has to be cooked whilst the crab is still alive. The flesh starts to deteriorate minutes after the crab has died so that's why you can't buy 'raw' crab claws. If you buy whole live crabs then they should be cooked for 18 minutes per pound from a rolling boil in water that is as salty as seawater (or very clean seawater if you can get it)

CJhaughey

Not all claws are cooked, you can commonly get raw claws here and they aren't a risk because they are separated from the main body of the crab.
Salted water, bring to the boil and put the claws in.
Bring back to the boil and cook for 8-10 mins.
Drain and plunge into ice cold water to stop the cooking process.

Break the claw at the first joint back from the pincer end.

Lay the claw on a hard surface and using a meat tenderiser or back of a heavy chopper hit it in the middle on both sides.

Separate the two halves of shell left on the claw and the meat should come out in one piece with the bottom of the claw attached to it.

Break the next joint up and use an implement to remove the meat from inside the two segments.

This is all time consuming but worth it!