How do you cook a crab?

Answer 1

Plunge it in boiling water as you would with a lobster. If you don't feel comfortable doing that while it is wriggling around, stick it in the freezer. Its nervous system will shut down. Cook for 6-10 minutes. If the crab is already dead, it is probably cooked too as they don't keep well once dead if they are not cooked.

Answer 2

Crabs can be boiled or steamed.
Steaming them requires some kind of rack to keep the crabs above the water level. Add equal amounts of vinegar and beer to just below the level of the rack. Layer the crabs, sprinkle each layer with seafood seasoning and salt. Cover and steam until crabs are red.
Boiling the crabs is a little simpler. Boil enough salted water to cover how ever many crabs you have. Add crabs quickly and bring back to a boil. Cook 10 minutes and drain. I like to add the following to the salted water for more flavor.
2 lemons cut in half
6 or so bay leaves
pepper
splash of vinegar
2-3 cloves of garlic (mashed)
Hope this helps!!!

Answer 3

like that one guy said - you dont necesarialy have to tie the legs, its probably goood if its still alive tho... boil it until the top carapiece (shell) is a brightish red, depending on what kind of crab it is, some dungeonous (sp.?) will turn bright. lipstick red, and some king crab will just go pink. then pull it out, seperate the body, and you can pretty much eat everything. open the claws and other leg bits and stuff with some nutcrackers, and serve it up with an herb-lemon-butter sauce --- i use like a 1/4 stick of butter (for lots of people, you can change this around), juice of one or two lemons, mince some garlig up really fine with some salt, pepper, and other spices (i like cajun seasonings) and put all it together, or put the spice mix on the crab, or seperate. whatever. WHITE WINE IS A MUST!!! probably like a chardonnay or something similar. its up to you! be creative. peace.

Answer 4

You tie the legs and claws together as a live crab should be packaged. You then dump it in a pot of boiling water. Add butter when it is cooked.
Make sure the shell is bright red in colour- that means it is cooked. If ot still has a dark red colour to it, it needs to be in there a little longer.

Answer 5

This is how we cook crabs in Sweden:
Cook 3 l water, 1 dl salt, 1-2 lumps of sugar, ½ teaspoon caraway (seeds), heads of dill (a lot) for about 10 minutes. First of all, be sure to put the head of a crab into the boiling water. Cook crabs 15-20 minutes. Let the crabs cool in the salted water.

(1 liter (l) = 2.113 pts. = 1000 ml = 1.057 qts. = 33.8 fl.oz. = 0.26 gal )

Answer 6

Best way is to put an elastic band around the claws and put it into really boiling water while still alive. Just like lobster. It dies instantly. Bring the water back to the boil and cook for no more than 15 minutes, depending on the size.

Answer 7

1 large cooked crab, weighing about 1kg-1.5kg/2lb-3lb or one live crab of the same weight

To serve
slices of brown bread
good-quality mayonnaise
lemon wedges
fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)

Method
1. If you're cooking a live crab, first bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil. (If using a ready-cooked fresh crab, proceed to the next step.) Add the crab to the pan and boil for 20-30 minutes. Remove from the water and stand on its nose to allow the water to drain away as the crab cools. (NOTE: for more information about cooking live crabs please refer to the Cook's Guide Shellfish section).

2. To prepare the cooked, cooled crab, first remove the legs by twisting them off where they meet the body.

3. Remove the claws by pulling them off from the body.

4. Separate the crab body from the central part of the crab by placing the crab on its back (hard shell-side down). Put your hands under the edge of the crab and push upwards until you hear it break. You may need to use a heavy knife to help you lever the crab apart.

5. Remove all ten of the spongy 'dead men's fingers' and discard.

6. Drain any excess water from the shell of the crab and remove the stomach sac and hard membranes inside the shell.

7. Use a spoon to remove the brown meat from the shell and any soft shell that has formed. Place it into a clean bowl and mash with a fork.

8. Press down on the edges of the crab shell, breaking away the outer edges to form a 'dish' for serving.

9. Break each claw in half. Use the handle of a teaspoon to scrape the white meat out of the thick end of the claw. Place into a separate clean bowl.

10. Use the back of a heavy-bladed knife to crack open the remaining piece of claw and the pincers. Remove all the white meat and flake into the bowl. Remove the piece of cartilage inside each of the claws, pick off the meat and discard the cartilage.

11. To remove the meat from the body of the crab, take a sharp knife and cut the crab body in half then in half again. Pick out the meat using your fingers.

12. If the legs are large enough, it's worth picking the meat out of them. Snap them in half and discard the thin end of the leg. Using the back of a heavy-bladed knife, smash the shell on the thicker part of the leg. Pull the meat out and add to your bowl.

13. Run your fingers through the white meat in the bowl to break up the meat and to pick out any remaining bits of shell.

14. Return the prepared white and brown meat to separate halves of the prepared crab shell.

15. Serve on a plate with some good-quality mayonnaise, some brown bread and a wedge of lemon. Garnish with fresh parsley, if you like.

Answer 8

In a crab pot, put a small amount of water. Drop in live crabs. Cover with Old Bay Seasoning, and steam till they quit making noise.

Answer 9

im guessing it would be the same as a lobster in which case you would have to drop it into a pan of boiling water and cook for 30 minutes.

Answer 10

drop it into a pan of boiling water mmmmmm delicious