How long do crabs keep. We caught them last week cooked them same day after we got back in put them in plastic bags and in an ice chest with ice all around them. (since last wednesday) when we got home saturday we transfered them to the fridge and when you open the fridge they stink. is that normal or maybe spoiled?
Location: Mountaindale- between the Girl Scout Camp and the Nudist Camp :)
Posts: 5,633
Re: Crabs
Were they cleaned? Should last a week if they were. THat's pushing it though. By the way- if the bags get any holes in 'em and the juice leaks out, everything in the fridge and freezer will eventually taste like a rotten lemon or lime smells. Ice, meat, ice cream, everything! :shocked: Kind of an ammonia/acidic soemthing smell/taste.
Don't ask me how I know this! :grin: [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]
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Mel
I only WORK (used to be fish)on days that end in y
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten.
Location: Mountaindale- between the Girl Scout Camp and the Nudist Camp :)
Posts: 5,633
Re: Crabs
Mr Wolfer. Clean them before you cook them. You'll be amazed how much easier and quicker. Wear a pair of good gloves (I use Kevlar and leather water sking gloves). Grab a crab and place him on his back. Using your fist (just like you were gunna punch somebody) give that carb a good hard smack right in the middle of his underside. Grab one set of legs in each hand pull the legs from the shell, give a good couple of shakes and your done excepts for pulling the gills off. Some folks grab them by the legs and pul lthe back off on an edge, but I find the "smack" quicker and easier.
You can cook about 3 time as many crab at a time without the guts and shell, they cool off much quicker, and no messy hot guts left inside. Cut the cooking time back to about 10 minutes after the boil comes back.
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Mel
I only WORK (used to be fish)on days that end in y
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten.
Bruce Lee...er... Miss B is right on. I usually use a fish whacker or rock, but the effect in the same - and it kills them instantly. Then it's in the pot with no muss or fuss.
Location: Grand Haven on the inland seas (Michigan)
Posts: 886
Re: Crabs
MISS B, don't you find that alot of the flavor is lost when you clean the crabs before hand. I definitely agree about it being easier, it just seems that alot is lost in the process.
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"To cease smoking is the easiest thing I ever did; I ought to know because I've done it a thousand times."
~Mark Twain
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model
~Vincent Van Gogh
Had two good crab trips this year. Did evening
incoming tide in Waldport got 19. The seals beat the heck out of my pots and was not using salmon. Did the high tide next morning got 14 in two hours. Got blown off ocean a few weeks ago in Newport and we limited on one tide and some large reds as well.
Clean crab first...no meat in outer shell. I freeze 4-6 for the next week. Crab cakes, crab chowder, crab salad, lump crab, baked crab....etc all week until I don't want to crab for a while.
Then I get fishin' again.
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Give a neighbor a fish and he will always be there when you are cleaning your boat. Teach a man to fish and he is always looking for a seat.
Crabs
Ice, meat, ice cream, everything! :shocked: Kind of an ammonia/acidic soemthing smell/taste. 
skein
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