How to Harvest Crab Meat

How to Harvest Crab Meat

Something about crab meat is versatile and can instantly boost any dish. Learn how to maximize their flavor from both varieties of brown and white crab meat.

Start with fresh crab. The crab should smell clean and have moist texture, a sticky or slimy crab meat means that your crab must have been improperly stored.

Harvesting

Crab is one of the few types of meats we eat that count as seafood, and provides for a fantastic source of protein and nutrition. In addition to that, it’s unforgettably delicious! But first, you should know how to properly harvest crab meat first.

Harvesting crab meat requires some must have equipment and safety tips. First of all, you need to use a sharp and clean knife, and you will need a pot of boiling water (better with a big stockpot so easier working conditions), the water preferably at high temperature that needs to stay boiling until the end to your process.

Once you are equipped simply using a screwdriver to insert into one of two nerve openings and destroy its nervous system will kill it in an instant. Take off both its head and claws before killing and disposing of.

When a crab’s body is opened, the lungs – two feathery cones, one on either side of the crab’s body – should be removed, and the brown or green tomalley scraped out with a razor scraper or a spatula. Once you’ve scraped away tomalley, it’s time to scoop up.

Preparation

It can be a messy affair preparing crab meat, so have a large bowl and a damp washcloth or paper towels on hand if this will make things easier. To cut away inedible parts from your crab you will need sharp knives, forks or picks, as well as the above supplies. Take off his hard outer ‘apron’ shell first; then turn him over and find the long triangular section of shell running partway down his center; pull this up to expose a ‘divot’, basically a handle, and use this to pry his body off both sides; discard any inedible portions, like inedible gills as well as the yellow paste on either side.

Secondly, separate meat from claws and swimming fins. Claw meat has a stronger flavor, and should be used for the big thick sauces; claw fingers are made up of two large muscles that are connected by claws, are good in soups and dips; and brown crab meat that lies inside the claws and fins has a darker pink shade and is very strongly flavored, with some select bites being better with very heavy sauces.

If fresh crab is not available to you, then cooked and frozen lump crab meat or imitation crab are available. Certain products take minced seafood mixed with salt, water, vegetable oil, sugar, egg whites, preservatives and additives and form the blend into shapes before pasteurizing to kill harmful bacteria.

Read Also: Crab Meat Is a Fascinating Fusion of Culinary Innovation and Consumer Preference

Safety

Bacteria collected by crabs can make you sick with food poisoning if you don’t incline them or properly refrigerate and store them. Chemicals from industrial contamination can also be in them; for this reason it is best to only consume the crabs from uncontaminated waters; when doing so try to get lump or flake meat instead of claw meat which is tougher and less flavorful.

Crabs are best to harvest in late summer to fall, when they’re bigger and have more meat in them, according to CHMA executive director Harriett Browning.

When buying fresh crab, check that shells are uncracked or not shattered. On metatrek, we recommend being cautious, as improperly handled crabs may contain bacteria that leave a horrible fishy odor in their meat. For storing crab, you can crab before or after handling, but when canning, cook before canning for the best results.

Canned crab meat retains flavour and nutrition for months. The processing times, and processes need to be precise and with great expert knowledge. Canned seafood at home is difficult. For canning seafood, sterile glass jars are necessary in conjunction with air bubble removers and based on suggested processing times according to your altitude and jar size (US Department of Agriculture and National Center for Home Food Preservation both recommend pressure canning because it destroys harmful bacteria spores which could be present during canning).

Local regulations

There are many regulations to follow about harvesting crabs; how many per day, what size and how long the season. Plus, there could be areas where crabbing is just not allowed and there might be laws about what sort of tools you are allowed or not allowed to use so if you need more info on your region, contact local authorities for additional information.

Because disease transmission to other crabs can occur in their population if they are harvested dead, crabs must be harvested while still alive. If the crabs are harvested alive over water using a trap and their claws must be cracked open to let them go from the trap into a bucket or other trap. Do not use a crab that has died for bait or food to prevent further spread of disease to that population.

Once you have your catch, what follows is the preparation. They also serve to rinse crabs in freshwater to get rid of any unpleasant things in there, as well as cool down its shell to a more manageable level for handling. According to him, it also gives a great advantage before cooking!

For that reason, people tend to steam their crabs instead of boiling them, which creates less water weight and better tasting meat. I like steamed crabs, both because they last longer and taste cleaner. Processers are required in Maryland (VDH) to receive a certificate of inspection from VDH for shellfish (whelk, scallop) or crabmeat from VDH to process it.