How to Cook The Perfect Crab

Cooking Crab Legs: How to Cook The Perfect Crab

Crabs legs are a bit of a delicacy to many people especially those that don’t have the privileged to live near the coast where fresh fish is caught on a daily basis and sold to locals. However, did you know that frozen crab legs which you can find in most supermarkets and grocery stores are perhaps tastier than fresh crab legs?

You see most of these shop purchased crabs legs have been frozen straight away. Crab catching boasts have the facilities on-board to be able to cook them and freeze them instantly locking in all that fresh flavour. This is usually done because these type of fishermen are at sea for long periods of time so cooking them and then freezing them prevents any bacteria from spreading, and spoiling the catch.

There are two main differences you need to look for when buying crab legs.

  • Those that have been cooked will give off a red or orange colour
  • Those that have not yet been cooked will be much paler in comparison

Cooking Crab Legs: Boiling

Cooking Crab Legs: Boiling

There are many ways you can cook crab legs but the best has to be boiling them in a nice large saucepan with some extra ingredients.

To start with you want to fill up a big enough saucepan with cold water, then add some seasoning. Usually salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice and even beers or ales can be used to give the crab a unique but amazing taste when you come to eat it. Now get the heat up to a high level, and at the same time get your crab legs washed under cold water before you add them to the boil.

Turn down the heat when you see the water boiling and then drop in your crab legs for a good 5 minutes by which time the legs should be thoroughly cooked. Strain the water and take out the red/orange crab legs ready to eat.

Cooking Crab Legs: Grilling

Cooking Crab Legs: Grilling

The second option which isn’t as popular as boiling crab legs is grilling them. Now, not a lot of people tend to use this method but plenty of people are known for grilling them. One thing you will find is that the legs will be much meatier than boiling them because of the lack of moisture in the cooking process. So if you want your crab to taste less fishy and stay hotter for longer because of the direct heat on the shells then this is the process for you.

Firstly, don’t bother oiling them first because at the end of the day the shells are hard surfaces so it’s pointless doing this as they won’t stick to the grill. Place the legs on your grill on a lower heat to begin with for around 8 minutes (again, dependant on the actual size of the legs as they can range from small to big). Once you have cooked them on a low heat for 8 minutes turn the heat up a notch so that you are running at a medium heat and cook them for another 5 minutes making sure that the thicker parts of meat are getting the most of the heat.

Cooking Crab Legs: Grilling

Once you have cooked the crab legs you should notice that they hold a nice orange or red colour to them, it is at this point in time that you can now take them off the heat ready to serve up to your guests.

Take note that crab legs do go cold very fast so if you are not going to eat them immediately then it’s worth wrapping them all up in some tin foil to keep the warmth in, or if you happen to have some kind of hot plate then use this so that they don’t go cold.

Cooking Crab Legs: Ideas for Recipes

Cooking Crab Legs: Ideas for Recipes

Eating crab legs on their own is great, there is no doubt about that but sometimes adding other ingredients to your plate really compliments the crab legs and makes for the ultimate dish to have a dinner parties.

Aside from asparagus and the usual greens that you see on a plate you can make garlic butter sauce which goes well with most type of fish such as shrimp. They can be served with fresh potatoes to make an exquisite dish for your dinner guests.

If you are also looking for a drink to have then almost any type of fish goes well with a good bottle of wine.  For crabs legs you want to match them with a chardonnay, pinot gris or a dry riesling. All of these tend to give a vibrant taste that works very well with crab legs.

Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About the Author Electric Smoker Center Team

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