Best way to keep crab and clams in the freezer?

[Evoac05]

What are the best ways to keep crab and clams in the freezer? I have some crab that I have in the freezer and wanted to know which is the better way keep it. I have a few that I cleaned, cooked, and froze and a few that I cleaned and froze uncooked. Can you tell a difference? And with clams do you freeze in the shell, shuck and freeze, or?

[L-ofalab]

Good news- clams freeze well, I would shuck them then vacuum seal. Bad news crab sucks if you freeze it. No matter what some say it ruins it to freeze it because every cell ruptures from ice crystals and when you thaw them all the juice and flavor runs out. I have never heard of freezing them before cooking and don't think that is the way to go either.

[wheels]

shuck  put in ziplock plastic containers

[Buckmark]

Clean cook and then either freeze in a manner you wish or can them, i only do the meat never whole crabs or clams, have cleaned, steamed and froze clusters that would be used in a few days.
Some people freeze in salt water, others in milk.
I just shuck the meat out and freeze it using my sealameal and never have any problems.
Does not taste as good as fresh (i have never had crab frozen that did, no matter the method used) but i use the frozen stuff in recipes anyways, crab cakes, mac and cheese, crab dip etc etc...

I am not sure, but i dont think freezing uncooked crab is a good idea? Maybe someone else knows more on that....

[chester]

I think it's better to can the crab if you want it to keep for awhile.


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[pianoman9701]

crab should be pre-cooked before freezing. Like someone else mentioned, cell damage makes the texture pretty bad if you don't cook it. If they're cooked/steamed first, they come out well after a short dip in boiling water. King crab is almost always frozen cooked (unless it's shipped live), often right on the boat. With the clams, clean them and remove the stomach, freezing just the steaks, raw. Portion them out in 1 lb packages.

[notellumcreek]

ALWAYS cook crab as soon as you can after cleaning, pretty sure you will get very sick from not cooking it within an hour of the crab dying- never waited long enough to see the effects myself. Tried to vac seal some but too much juice, you won't be able to get a seal. Heard from the ol' ladies grandpa that freezing crab in milk will preserve flavor best, but I have personally never done that yet. We usually eat fresh for a few days then crack everything else and put into sandwich Ziploc baggies, you can usually get a good seal without air and it will last for 8-10 months unless you don't mind freezer burnt crab.

[Buckmark]

ALWAYS cook crab as soon as you can after cleaning, pretty sure you will get very sick from not cooking it within an hour of the crab dying- never waited long enough to see the effects myself. Tried to vac seal some but too much juice, you won't be able to get a seal. Heard from the ol' ladies grandpa that freezing crab in milk will preserve flavor best, but I have personally never done that yet. We usually eat fresh for a few days then crack everything else and put into sandwich Ziploc baggies, you can usually get a good seal without air and it will last for 8-10 months unless you don't mind freezer burnt crab.

2 tips for using your vacsealer with juicy stuff, if you have a "pulse" button use it to suck the bag down till the juice starts to run towards the sealer then press the seal button, viola sealed bag.
Or what i do is put the meat in the bags then set them into a small box or stock pot standing up and put into the freezer, after a few hours or the next morning if its late pull them out and vacseal them as they are now frozen, works great every time i do anything that is liquid (i do this with homemade stock and it works great) 

[wildweeds]

May as well throw the uncooked crab away,my neighbor tried it and said it was REALLY AWFUL,turned to nothing but  tasteless slimy jello when he cooked it.He tried everyway ever heard of and told me that vaccum packing was the best of all the methods he tried freezing in solid blocks water and milk were gross,ziplocks weren't any good either.I froze some after picking them out and vaccum sealed,works plenty good for cooking something like whiskey crab soup or creamed crab on toast.Not even close enough to good for salad additive though.

[Bean Counter]

I believe iceman has a canned clams recipie that is all the rage. Perhaps someone will post a link to it. I'm on my phone and too lazy.

[lokidog]

ALWAYS cook crab as soon as you can after cleaning, pretty sure you will get very sick from not cooking it within an hour of the crab dying- never waited long enough to see the effects myself. Tried to vac seal some but too much juice, you won't be able to get a seal. Heard from the ol' ladies grandpa that freezing crab in milk will preserve flavor best, but I have personally never done that yet. We usually eat fresh for a few days then crack everything else and put into sandwich Ziploc baggies, you can usually get a good seal without air and it will last for 8-10 months unless you don't mind freezer burnt crab.

2 tips for using your vacsealer with juicy stuff, if you have a "pulse" button use it to suck the bag down till the juice starts to run towards the sealer then press the seal button, viola sealed bag.
Or what i do is put the meat in the bags then set them into a small box or stock pot standing up and put into the freezer, after a few hours or the next morning if its late pull them out and vacseal them as they are now frozen, works great every time i do anything that is liquid (i do this with homemade stock and it works great) 

 

Clams I just freeze in their juices in a ziploc, seem to last years for me...     since I seem to forget about them.