How do you store/freeze crab?

[gasman]

Just curious to what the best method to store crab.

Do you freeze them whole, cleaned, de-shelled 

I have froze them cleaned and shelled, but never whole, I know when you buy crab it is frozen whole, but how do you get rid of the excess moisture in the head after cooking? are they only steamed? does steaming help with less moisture in the head when steamed ?

Having a conversation at work and thought I would ask the question here.

[Quackwhacker]

I don't have an answer to your question, but I just ate three fat dungies and they were awesome. Wish had an over abundance to throw in the freezer. Guess I will know which elk camp to stop at.

[WAcoueshunter]

I've shelled and vacuum sealed, and it has held up for multiple years.  Last year I tried to hold over a few whole crab to take to hunting camp a month later.  Froze them in ziplocks, and they were dry when we ate them.  You really can't vacuum seal them without poking through the bags.  I think you need to freeze them in water somehow to keep the moisture in.  Would love to hear if others have come up with a good solution.

[MIKEXRAY]

We just clean them, boil them, let them drain good for a while in a colander and put in one gallon freezer bags.  Seems to work for us, have eaten up to a year later and we don't notice much difference to the fresh stuff. I'm sure there is an official way to do it but this has worked for us for years.

[barracuda163]

Shell them, and add milk to ziploc bags with crab meat, submerge in water to remove excess air, and voila!  Frozen crab that tastes just like fresh....I Know I know, milk?  But try it with your precious crabs.

[gasman]

I don't have an answer to your question, but I just ate three fat dungies and they were awesome. Wish had an over abundance to throw in the freezer. Guess I will know which elk camp to stop at.

Dude, with any luck, I will have crab and salmon for hunting camp 

a few years ago, when we hit the crab hard, we always had crab in the freezer, didnt crab much last year but this year is a different story with having the new boat 

Planning on dropping pots every time I hit the sound for salmon and hit the Hood Canal for some crab too, just need to get the wife out there to add to out limit count 

[BigD]

We split ours at the shoulders, clean them up, steam them and finish processing then vacuum pack in small portions. We used to put them in zip lock bags after steaming but its way better to finish them up and vacuum pack in my opinion.

[Hunterman]

Pete, we always cook them, clean them, then freeze them in a gal. zip lock freezer bag. As long as I can keep Erin out of them we've kept them for up to (well almost) a year    I've always got crabs from the coast, cooked them up at the camp site, put them in ice water right after they are done boiling, clean, split in half, and on buried in the ice chest until we get home, the directly into the freezer.

Hunterman(Tony)

[Rick]

Freeze the meat in whole milk

[Encore 280]

 

[b23]

Maybe it was just how it was frozen but any crab that I've ever eaten that had been frozen seemed to have lost nearly all its flavor.  I've personally never had any that had been frozen that was worth eating. 

[mtbeav]

How much milk do you use?   

Freeze the meat in whole milk

[Stein]

I've tried just about everything (except the milk idea which I will).  Summary of my experiences:

• If you don't shell it you will be sorry.  Dry, overly fishy taste, almost inedible after a short time in the freezer
• If you do shell it and vac pack it you will end up with something edible but the taste and texture are nothing like fresh

It just doesn't freeze anywhere near as well as something like red meat.

[Encore 280]

Maybe "google" it.

[Igottanewknee]

I store as much as I can in my belly!! 

[Ridinshotgun]

Milk is definitely the way to go it's been working for me great and holds in the fresh moist flavor

[C-Money]

Good question gasman, sounds like some good answers!

[Blacklab]

Never heard of the milk thing, So so curious do tell. I'm trying to google it.

[singleshot12]

never tried the milk thing either and don't think i ever will. Canned crab with a pinch of kosher salt is the only way to go imo

[L-ofalab]

Frozen crab is always inferior to fresh. Crab meat is too delicate, when it freezes the ice crystals break the cells in the flesh and all the juices run out of the meat and so does the flavor! Freezing in milk does not stop the cells from rupturing. If you can't eat it 3-4 days give it away but don't freeze it. You can freeze oysters and clams after cooking them. The best way to cook crab is to clean them first then steam them 15 minutes.

Cleaning Crab the easy way.  Lay your crab on its back.  Take a sharp butcher knife and whack it with a rubber mallet. Sometimes I use a hatchet but just hit it with my hand. The crab is now in two pieces and no longer trying to pinch you.  Now it’s easy to take the shell off, pull off the gills and wash out the crab butter.

[pips4bucks]

The way that works best for us is to 'par freeze' the shucked crab on cookie sheets, then vacuum seal 'em.  Just spread the meat out and freeze it until the meat just barely firms up, not totally frozen, you just don't want any juices running, it shouldn't take long.  Then vacuum seal.  Done deal.  We've had crab meat from 2 years ago that tasted just fine.  It's not at good as fresh, but it's pretty darn close.  We use it for crab dip, pasta, crab cakes.... YUM!

[Halo]

Now that I have gout I have had to give up the crab  But diving for years and having multiple sources of fresh (live) crab for years I am a firm believer that Dungeness crab is too good to eat any other way than fresh. Fresh meaning live within the last 24 hours. I just never could bring myself to ruin good crab by freezing. When you get used to fresh you can tell the difference big time.