Crab boil advice

Same seasoning you use for crawfish. Put the crabs in with some of the ice to help them keep their claws. When it comes to a boil, boil for 10 minutes. I soak about 20 max, but you can soak any length.

This has always been my technique. Works 100% of the time.

Except the ice part. I’ve never heard of that. How do you use the ice to keep the claws on?

Crabs should be kept cold in an ice chest before boiling.

To store the crabs.... put them in the ice chest, cover them with a wet towel. Put a layer of ice on top of the towel. Put the ice chest in the shade and put a 2x4 board under one end and open the drain to let out any water. A small piece of cloth or paper towel can be put in the drain to help keep the cold air in the ice chest.

If the crabs are not kept cold before they are put into the boiling water, they will drop their claws in the boiling pot.

Why is it a big deal? Because markets want to sell crabs with claws on. Other than that, it just isn’t fun picking up a crab with no claws even if it makes no difference.

I boil for 5 and soak until they taste how I want them. IF that means pulling them after 5 minutes of soak, then I pull them at 5 minutes. It varies from batch to batch and how much the first batch soaked up seasoning vs how much more you put in, etc. etc.

For shrimp, I put them in a mesh bag when the crabs reach a boil I put them in and pull them out after 1 minute. I dump them on a table and spread them out to stop them from cooking. You will get perfect shrimp every time. If you have jumbo shrimp you might need to boil a little bit longer but the longer you cook the harder they are to peel.

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I don’t know the rule of thumb per person. Anyone else?

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I think that’s tough to gauge because lots of people get impatient with all the peeling. My wife and I can sit under the camp with an ice chest of crabs and cold beers all damn afternoon.

Other folks are 2-4 crabs then done. They’ll munch on shrimp, corn or potatoes to finish filling up.