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crab transport

5K views 29 replies 29 participants last post by  jb 
#1 ·
i was told you dont want to cook dead crab. so how do you transport your crab from the ocean home ive heard of wet newspapers to just a 1/4 inch of water in the cooler but im sure someones got some better ideas out there?
 
#6 ·
Transporting crab in water without an aereator will kill them quickly. I don't think a bunch of ice benefits anything, we aren't crabbing in the Bering Sea, drastic temp changes generally aren't beneficial to live fish/shellfish. You don't want them getting warm, either.

If you clean them first, I'd put them on ice. Otherwise, cool and dry-ish does the trick.
 
#8 ·
I had 1/2 a cooler full of crab back in September that spent the night submerged in saltwater and ice. In the morning they were all totally dead. I've also heard "you don't want to cook dead crab". I did some research and found that if you caught them and they've only been dead a few hours, and they are chilled, there is no problem. The saying comes into play when you don't know how long the crab has been dead or how it was taken care of. We cooked all of them up and they were great. I'd still like to cook them alive so now we make sure they are not submerged in water, kept cool, and have fresh air (prop the cooler open), and they can live for a couple days.
 
#9 ·
We keep our crab in sea water until we head home,then I drain the water out of the tank or cooler and bring them home. Never have had any deadloss doing this only fisty mad crabs bent on trying to pinch off my fingers while trying to get them to take a nice warm bath!
 
#12 ·
I routinely put them in a cooler, no water, iced down, fish or whatever, drive to Salem, and they are still in a very lively state. Clean and cook. When the pot is hot in Newport, I like to clean them and have them cooked there.
 
#15 ·
I live in vancouver so when we take the boat out to tilly and come back with crab i generally just clean them at the dock (making sure I am on land before I take their top off of course). Then u dont have to worry about not being able to cook them for a while as long as they are on ice. To me they taste a lil better when cooked alive but then u arent taking a chance of getting sick or anything.
 
#18 ·
Do not keep them in water, it will kill them. I place them in the bottom of my cooler, then I cover them with a wet berlap bag. They will stay alive for days this way.

The old man at the cleaning station told us to do it this way. That is how they ship live crab.
 
#20 ·
I transported a few in water while crabbing in S OR over the summer and they were dead about 6 hours after leaving the crabbing site. Then, at Charleston a few months ago we were with friends and a guy at the RV park at the harbor was cleaning his crab BEFORE he cooked them. He had met a guy there that did this all the time and said it was much easier to clean them before being cooked than after. He also said cooking dead crab was only relavent if they had not been cleaned before. I have always heard you cannot cook a dead crab but I would like to know scientifically why this is so and if in fact you can cook crab that have been cleaned while alive and then cook them a few hours later? Anybody know the "FACTS".
 
#23 ·
Fishbuck, your friend was correct, yes you can cook a crab that was alive then killed while cleaning. The crab processing plants do that (called sectioning) for all crab that will be frozen, held in freezers and picked out at a later time. Saves them a lot of freezer space! Otherwise they whole cook for the supermarkets.
 
#24 ·
If you can clean the crabs without losing a finger, that is the way to go. Once you remove the bottom flap, shell and gills and the yucky stuff, hose them out and put them on ice. If is a cooler, be sure the drain plug is out. You don't want to have them sitting is water, even cold seawater. I have done this many times and the crab will last with no signs of degradation for 12 hours or more. When I transport in a cooler, I lift one edge to inusre the water drains out on the way home. Also, I find the crab has better flavor after cooking them without the shells on.
 
#25 ·
Last summer my buddy and I got our limits as well as some bottom fish so we covered everything with ice for the trip home. While he unloaded the boat I dealt with the crab. Being tired from the long day we decided to clean the crab before cooking so as to only need to cook one pot full. The crab were slow but alive and when halved seemed to be jellied inside, from the cold, which made it super easy to clean them. One shake and a quick strip of the gills and they were clean. He couldn't believe I was done in 15minutes but that is how it went. Ice'm and dice'm:D!
 
#28 ·
I transport crab and it doesn't matter if it takes two hours or two days to get home. Below is a post from awhile back.

Rich

Quote:
Originally Posted by SummitOne
SC - How long will the crab stay friskyt for? I live in central Oregon and have often thought about trying the setup you described to make the four hour journey. In the past we always just cook them on the coast and pack them in ice.

While on the water, we simply put them in ice as many have described above.

Paul


SummitOne,

I have two aerators that I bought from Cabelas. One is 12 volt that I use to keep the crab alive when I travel from Orcas Island back to Longview. When I get home I plug the 110 volt one in. I keep crab alive for a week and they are as frisky as when I caught them. Use a big cooler (150 qt.) so they are not too cramped. Check the water temperature once in awhile and add a little ice if necessary. If the water feels too warm, I like to throw in a plastic milk jug that was filled with water and then frozen.

Rich
 
#29 ·
The way my dad explained it some 35 years ago, when in water, the crab breath all the oxygen and drown. If you have an aerator your OK. When thrown in a five gallon buck or cooler, they can last 24 hours if not submerged in stagnant water or get too hot. As a kid, I remember putting them in a bucket and keeping them beside the camper till the next day when we cooked them. Of course this was typical Fall Oregon coast weather. Rainy,nasty,windy and cold. Best weather for crabbing! Others may not agree, this is just what my pa taught me years ago and I have found to work for me.
 
#30 ·
We have been crabbing down at Hammond this fall and have been bringing them back home in the fish box or cooler. I have and have not added ice. I have not noticed that it makes a difference. They have been alive and well before taking the hot water plunge sometimes 6 hours after being taken out of the traps. The ice seems to slow them down a little which insures that the two little boys playing with them do not lose a finger! I always cook them whole and alive.

jb
 
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