How To Cook & Clean a Dungeness Crab

Dungeness crab, in my opinion is the sweetest best tasting crab of them all...

It's easy to cook live crab.  I prefer to cook crab in plain old salted water.  If you use seasoning like old bay, all you will taste in the seasoning and not the sweet meat...

Fill a large pan up with enough water to cover the crab,  Add 2 teaspoons of sea salt.  Over high heat bring the water to a rolling boil.

Place the crab or crabs upside down into the water.  "Don't feel bad, they eat their young".  When the water starts to boil again, set the timer for 20 minutes.

Now here's the trick that makes picking out the meat easy!  Fill the sink or bucket up with cold water, and add some ice.  Using tongs place the cooked crab into the water, and let it cool down all the way.  This process makes the meat pull away from the shell.

Once the crab has cooled, about 10 minutes.  Place the crab upside down under running cold water, and pull the shell off.  Now wash out all that brown stuff, and pull off the white gills and the long tab on the underside.

Now take off all the legs by twisting them, and crack the body in half.



Using a cutting board and a mallet, crack all the legs a little, so you can see the meat.

Now with the white body parts, place the flat side down on the cutting board, place a sharp knife between wear the legs were and cut through.

All you do now is pick the meat out using one of the pointed claws.

Crab and seafood risotto recipe to follow.  Enjoy!

Bon Appetit!  Chef Hobbes