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Started By
Message
Tips on buying live blue crabs
Posted on 3/10/16 at 1:54 pm
Posted on 3/10/16 at 1:54 pm
There's a local Asian supermarket here in Auburn that usually has a stocked fridge box of live blue crabs. Every time I've been, about half of them are completely still (dead?) while some are moving around.
Should I insist on buying on the live ones moving around, or are the others okay?
Also, what's a good price for them? How should I store them until ready for cooking?
Should I insist on buying on the live ones moving around, or are the others okay?
Also, what's a good price for them? How should I store them until ready for cooking?
6
Posted on 3/10/16 at 1:57 pm to StringedInstruments
quote:
Should I insist on buying on the live ones moving around
Yes. Moving ones only.
quote:
what's a good price for them?
How bad you want them? You have any other option?
quote:
How should I store them until ready for cooking?
Cook very quickly, best that day to prevent spoilage, and keep damp and cool.
Posted on 3/10/16 at 1:57 pm to StringedInstruments
Are they dead or dormant? If you put lobsters in the fridge they sort of go to "sleep".
Posted on 3/10/16 at 1:58 pm to Degas
quote:
Are they dead or dormant? If you put lobsters in the fridge they sort of go to "sleep".
Not sure. I guess I could swipe my hand through them to see if they wake up.
To the other comment: I don't have to have them. Just looking for something interesting to do tonight.
Posted on 3/10/16 at 2:16 pm to StringedInstruments
Price is dependent upon location and availability.
If in a cooler in the 38 range, most will not be moving, even if alive. Pick them up by their back leg against shell. If claws fall limp, it is dead. If you are boiling them, dead ones will be mushy. You have no idea how long they have been dead. If using them for gumbo or other, buy frozen gumbo crabs. They will be cheaper and frozen "freshly dead".
If in a cooler in the 38 range, most will not be moving, even if alive. Pick them up by their back leg against shell. If claws fall limp, it is dead. If you are boiling them, dead ones will be mushy. You have no idea how long they have been dead. If using them for gumbo or other, buy frozen gumbo crabs. They will be cheaper and frozen "freshly dead".
Posted on 3/10/16 at 2:21 pm to Fratigerguy
quote:Break off the claws on the dead ones and send 'em my way...
If you are boiling them, dead ones will be mushy
Posted on 3/10/16 at 2:41 pm to StringedInstruments
Unless the crabs are literally on ice or directly from refrigerated storage, they should move a bit. Don't buy dead ones. You can poke em in the eye stalks...even a cold/lethargic crab will move its eye stalks in response to a poke/touch.
If you're looking for the "fullest" or fattest crabs, look at the undersides. Clear/translucent bluish white indicates a crab that has recently shed, so it will have lots of empty room in its shell. Instead, pick a crab with a yellowish/ivory cast to the white parts of the underside. The darker color shows an older shell (and even growth of the new exterior tissue beneath the existing shell), so the crab will have grown to capacity and thus is full of meat. It should feel heavy for its size.
Some of my days at LSU were spent feeding crabs in a basement lab of the old Life Sciences building.
If you're looking for the "fullest" or fattest crabs, look at the undersides. Clear/translucent bluish white indicates a crab that has recently shed, so it will have lots of empty room in its shell. Instead, pick a crab with a yellowish/ivory cast to the white parts of the underside. The darker color shows an older shell (and even growth of the new exterior tissue beneath the existing shell), so the crab will have grown to capacity and thus is full of meat. It should feel heavy for its size.
Some of my days at LSU were spent feeding crabs in a basement lab of the old Life Sciences building.
Posted on 3/10/16 at 3:31 pm to hungryone
Hmm. . That's interesting. I did not know that bit about the coloration of the shell corresponding with the fullness of the crab. 
Posted on 3/10/16 at 3:35 pm to StringedInstruments
Just because a crab isn't moving doesnt mean it's dead. When crab factories sort crabs they put the whole crate in a vat of ice cold water for 10 minutes, it makes them very lethargic. They sort them and put them in a sperate crate.
Try to buy the Dirty looking ones, they tend to be more full.
Try to buy the Dirty looking ones, they tend to be more full.
Posted on 3/10/16 at 4:02 pm to StringedInstruments
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