[fishbait]

Fresh crab is ........ well not much else compares. But when crabbing is good and you have extra how do you freeze it.

I have shelled and vac packed and also frozen in the shell. Never happy with the reults and only use it for cooking or stuffing halibut or such. Perhaps I'm just spoiled or too picky, but would like to hear what others do and what kind of results you get.

Has anyone ever frozen the whole crab after cooking and not cleaned it?

Anybody ever home canned it?

:cheers:

 

[HOGGEMIN]

yea this I too whould like to know.

 

[Lipripper]

Canned crab is a bit like oatmeal--mushy,tasteless. We vac pac ours with a 1/8 or 1/4 tsp of Old Bay. While nothing compares to fresh the Old Bay seems to help with the flavor a bit. We use this for patties,stuffed hali/salmon etc. Fresh is dipped in drawn butter, put in salads, omlettes or just consumed as we pick it out of the shell. Just don't use fresh crab for what you use vac pac crab for as you will find you no longer like the vac pac crab

 

[Nordic Sun]

Steve

We have tried it all............This year we are trying freezing the crab meat in a Ziploc with WHOLE milk. then after that pillow shaped package is frozen, I removed the baggie and vaccume packed it.

1 month old....... So far so good...........I'll let you know in January how it's holding up.

Bob

 

[Mello-Yello]

So true, nothing beats fresh crab. I've found that second best is...

Crack enough meat for the desired size of package, put this meat and the juices from it in a foodsaver bag. Stand the bag upright in a tupperware container or other suitable container. Once you've cracked all you can crack, place the upright bag(s) in the freezer long enough to freeze the juice. Remove from freezer and prompty vacuum seal all the bags.

If you find yourself doing this more than once in awhile, date the bags and always eat the oldest first....duh.

The most difficult thing I've found about preserving crab is...having crab left over to preserve. Remember these three steps and you'll do better than me. "Crack crab, place in bowl, not in mouth"

M-Y

 

[RODACTION]

We just put the crab in ziplock freezer bags, filled to about 1/3 of the bags capacity. Then with the crab in the bottom of the bag, laying the bag flat on the counter top, roll the bag up, crab end first, getting as much air out of the bag as possible, burp the bag and seal it up.

I have had it stay good for months.

 

[gerberman]

I have frozen the whole live crab, then taken out thawed and cooked, it is the closest to fresh caught that I have done. A little strange putting live crab in the freezer in a plastic bag. Just cook it the normal way, a little salt water for about 20 minutes. good luck

 

[spinnergal]

Fresh crab is ........ well not much else compares. But when crabbing is good and you have extra how do you freeze it.

I have shelled and vac packed and also frozen in the shell. Never happy with the reults and only use it for cooking or stuffing halibut or such. Perhaps I'm just spoiled or too picky, but would like to hear what others do and what kind of results you get.

Has anyone ever frozen the whole crab after cooking and not cleaned it?

Anybody ever home canned it?

:cheers:

We've never home canned but the last couple of years we've decided that trying to give it away when we'd get back to the valley was difficult at times. As everyone says "fresh is best" & after 2 days or so we believe the quality is "less than fresh" so we just starting picking what we had not consumed. Yes, sometimes this takes a matter of hours as we have ended up with a gallon (even 2 gallons at 1 picking)
We have not tried the milk trick for freezing but have heard about it-
what works best for me is that when I'm ready to prepare it for freezing- I take maybe 2 cups or so & kind of form a log by pressing my hand together & lay the log on the saran wrap. I roll it up in the saran wrap & lay the logs on a cookie sheet & place it in the freezer until the juice freezes (couple hours or over night) then I place the frozen saran wrapped log into my food saver bags & seal it up. I do this as a way to help protect my sealer from moisture.
I also use the picked meat in soups/chowders/pasta dishes & the list goes on..............
Have seen others do the whole crab after cooking but I don't think the results were any better than this method.
Hope this helps others.
SG:flowered:

 

[Tip-Sea]

If you are going to freeze it do it in salt water. You will notice a difference.

 

[INSAYN]

I was thinking about this on my last trip. Since I really like the body meat better than the leg meat, here is my plan. While cleaning my crab before cooking, I would separate the legs from the bodies.
:smash:


I would take the joints apart raw, and place in several quart sized heavy Ziplock. Add salt, garlic and 2% milk to cover all the parts and squeeze out all of the air. Let is sit for 2 hours to marinate. Then freeze them all as solid chunks. Once I get home, I could seal-a-meal the frozen lumps and see how they cook up at various month intervals.

While still at the camp spot, I would just steam the body parts for immediate consumption. Easier to crack and eat!
:food:

 

[skiffman]

Tried the freezing in milk technique based on previous Ifish posts and it does seem to work well. Just started so the oldest we have is about a month - have to see how long it stays good. The wife tried different milk and says the nonfat worked well too but haven't done a side by side.

 

[Cloud-Nine]

I just use a plastic container. Put in crab meat to 1/2 inch from top, fill with fresh milk, put cover on and freeze.
To use, just thaw out, pour off milk. rinse with cold water then eat.
Dick

 

[Pete]

I'd sooner eat surimi-Krab than frozen crab. Freezing just doesn't preserve enough of what I like about crab to make it a worthwhile option.

 

[Twitch]

I just use a plastic container. Put in crab meat to 1/2 inch from top, fill with fresh milk, put cover on and freeze.
To use, just thaw out, pour off milk. rinse with cold water then eat.
Dick

I did this with my last batch, actually was eating some about 5 minutes ago... and it tastes great. Its my new go-to technique!

 

[Bigmaverick]

Thanks for the tips, I am also in need of a way to freeze all the Crab we catch. Thanks!!!:clap:

 

[deepsix]

Canned some for the first time last year. You have to soak the meat for a short while in lemon juice. Then drain and pack into jars for canning. It will never be the same as fresh but I found the canned meat worked well for pasta dishes and killer clam/crab chowder. I just never liked any of the frozen methods I have tried. If interested I could dig up the directions. I found them on the web with a search. I'm sold on this method for the extra crab meat.

 

[BBQJohn]

Steve

We have tried it all............This year we are trying freezing the crab meat in a Ziploc with WHOLE milk. then after that pillow shaped package is frozen, I removed the baggie and vaccume packed it.

1 month old....... So far so good...........I'll let you know in January how it's holding up.

Bob

:yeahthat:

We learned about the milk trick several years ago. We just ate some tonight that we caught over a year ago. Still tastes great...not as good as fresh...but the best thing next to it.:clap:

Be sure to make it Whole milk. We tried skim and 2%.....yuk! Must be something in the cream that keeps the texture and flavor.

 

[Net fun]

Fresh crab is my fav, so I am happy to catch a few at a time and go more often.

 

[Stick'em]

We double wrap it then vacuum pack it. Not as good as fresh but better than none when you want some.

 

[greenbuttskunk]

pick it, keep the juice. lay onto a cookie sheet and let freeze for 1/2 hour or so. then package up into vaccume bags and seal. the pre-frozen crab helps you get a very tight seal, since the juice is also frozen. works great!