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How to clean crabs

Measuring and preparing the crabs to be cleaned

Despite popular belief crabs don’t take bubbly baths with their favorite friend rubber ducky. Instead this tried and true method will get all the greasy grimy goo out of the crab and make it ready for eating.

 

Six Easy Steps to Cleaning Crabs

  1.  Cook the crab and run under cold water so it can be easily handled.
  2.  Flip the crab onto its shell so the belly is exposed. Find a trangle shaped flap, called the apron, and tear it off.
  3.  Put your strongest thumb into the hole you just created from the missing flap and slowly with pressure remove the entire shell away from the body. If you work slowly most of the guts will spill into the shell and save you on some clean-up.
  4.  Flip the crab over and remove the gills (a series of grey/brownish long triangle looking things on both sides of the interior crab) with your fingers. These gills will come away from the body quite easily.
  5.  Remove any extra shell bits that are hanging off the body. Hooray! You are now left with the legs attached to the meaty body with a center of gooey globby guts.
  6.  Rinse the guts under cold water and use your fingers to help with the stubborn bits. All should  be  remaining after rinsing is the white flesh.

Now that you have a clean crab…

How to Remove the Crab Meat From the Shell

Break the crab in half and remove all the legs. Working on the body first, pull the meat away from the cartilage (the crusty hard white pieces). This meat is the sweetest and also referred to in recipes as lump crab meat. Use kitchen shears to cut through the shells of the legs and claws.

You can use one of the pointy end pieces to help reach the tough to get places in the legs.

 

 

How to Clean Crab
 
 
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