Author Topic: Freezing Crab Question. (Read 12280 times)

gasman · « **on:** July 10, 2011, 07:54:30 AM »

I am looking to put a few crb in the freezer, what is the best way to package them to keep them from freezer burning?

PA BEN · « **Reply #1 on:** July 10, 2011, 07:58:30 AM »

Pick out the meat wrap in sirran wrap the vacum pack.

gasman · « **Reply #2 on:** July 10, 2011, 08:04:02 AM »

I was looking at freezing them whole, or cleaned with out the head.

If I crackem and remove the meat, they won't make it to the freezer

NW-GSP · « **Reply #3 on:** July 10, 2011, 09:55:31 AM »

have to be froze at a super cold temp

jackelope · « **Reply #4 on:** July 10, 2011, 10:56:06 AM »

Mine never last long enough to worry about freezer burn burn but I just put them in gallon ziplock freezer bags. Just get rid of the shell and put the halves in, make sure they're pretty dried off...about 4-5 halves in each bag. They usually don't last long in their though.

singleshot12 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2011, 11:01:40 AM »

I used to cook Dungies whole, let cool upside down in fridge, then freeze in ziplocks upside down also.
I Don't freeze crab anymore cuase the quality of the meat goes down the tube fast. Fresh is the only way to eat them.

gasman · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2011, 11:48:11 AM »

I agree, fresh is the only way to eat them but I would like to have some a little later on down the raod and right now the crabbing is decent around here

Got 4 dungees and 3 big rock on friday (between 2 of us)
5 dungees and 4 rock Sat.
One dungee this morning and the pots are rebaited and soaking untill tonight. Hopefully there will be full pots when we egt back to pick them up. I only live 15 min. from an area that I can hand load my aluminum boat to drop pots in deeper water. It takes less then a half hour to unload the boat. drop or check the pots and load back up, so I am hoping on getting some good crab numbers this year

gaddy · « **Reply #7 on:** July 10, 2011, 12:00:19 PM »

cant help you with the freezing part but i am very jealous if your predicument. its been soo long since ive had any fresh dungies.

Hyde · « **Reply #8 on:** July 10, 2011, 12:09:55 PM »

My buddy has a place on Tillamook bay, and they get into the crabs regularly. Fresh is best, that goes without saying. But sometimes you catch so many, or you're crabbed out, and freezing them is ok. He cooks them, cleans them, drains them (upside down), and then packs them away in large ziplocks. Then wraps them in 2-3 layers of newspaper, and pops them into the freezer. That crab only gets used in "cooked" dishes. He claims they last a month or so that way. I haven't tried it personally, but I don't see why that wouldn't work.

robodad · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2011, 12:53:16 PM »

Cook normally then cool upside down, don't clean them then wrap in several layers of news paper and vacuum seal and freeze, the paper keeps the shells from puncturing the bag, have had them several months later and they were fine, just thaw in the fridge and clean when fully thawed, crack and enjoy !!!

Ripper · « **Reply #10 on:** July 10, 2011, 03:05:40 PM »

I cook and clean then break off all the pointy ends of the legs and vacuum pack. I've had them up to a few months later. They are still good, not like fresh, but good. I usually use them in dips or chowders and eat some while preparing. I like the news paper idea to prevent puncturing the bag. I'll try that next time.

BigD · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2011, 08:11:26 PM »

We clean our crab before cooking, so you just have the 2 shoulders with legs and claws attached per crab to cook. Steam don't boil, 10 minutes or a little more for a big pot of dungies. Cool in fridge before freezing, we put them in zip lock bags and freeze the extra. I think the news paper and vacum seal would be better but I'm lazy. When you want to eat them just steam them for a few minutes to heat them up. If they sit in the freezer to long (more than a couple months) we will use them in a pasta type dish with a sauce or something with a little flavor. Sucks to have to many dungies, don't it!

NRA4LIFE · « **Reply #12 on:** July 10, 2011, 08:47:16 PM »

Here's my take. We try to eat up as many as possible fresh (obviously). But last Friday the 10 crab we got were just over 20 lbs, real nice. We ate 7 of them over the weekend so had to freeze some. I admit I can get a little sick of them. If you freeze the cleaned halves, wrap them tight in many layers of plastic wrap and then place in freezer ziplocs. Eat these within a month or 2 though. Cleaning the meat out of the shell and vacuum sealing works well but again use up in a couple months. For longer term storage I have found the best way is to clean the meat out of the shells and freeze in tubs of milk. When frozen, remove the bricks from the tubs and then vacuum seal. We use this in pasta dishes and dips.

jeepster · « **Reply #13 on:** July 10, 2011, 08:58:18 PM »

at any given time of the year we have at least 20 pounds of crab in our freezer. we never did anything beyond cooking the crab, taking off the main shell, rinsing the guts out and then splitting the body in 1/2, tossing it in a ziplock back and into the freezer... if you are worried about freezer burn wrap it up in butcher paper. we dont even vaccuum seal our king crab, its just wrapped up nice and tight in paper and it tastes just as good as the day it came off the boat.

lokidog · « **Reply #14 on:** July 10, 2011, 09:05:45 PM »

I have canned it with the pressure cooker for use i cooked dishes. I have also frozen them in a cup with water then vacuum packed it after poping out of the cup.

I also discovered last year that if you pop the shell off before boiling, they stay fresher longer in the fridge.

Hermit · « **Reply #15 on:** July 20, 2011, 10:09:47 PM »

I cook em, clean em then seal them real good in freezer bags.

JKEEN33 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 20, 2011, 10:16:26 PM »

The meat always gets pretty strong on the ones we froze. We made a bunch of crab cakes last year then vacuum packed and froze those and they were great reheated.

Hunterman · « **Reply #17 on:** July 20, 2011, 10:30:26 PM »

We boil them, then right from the goiling water we drop the crabs in ICE WATER with plenty of ice in it. (That stops the cooking process).. What we don't eat

I clean the crab, split them, put into a gal. ziplock bag, then fill the bag with water, and freeze.. Never had any freezer burn (froze in water, no air can get to it)..When you thaw it out, steam to warm, and enjoy..Taste like the day you put them up..( We have put some crab in the freezer the past few years

)

Hunterman(Tony)

longknife · « **Reply #18 on:** July 21, 2011, 04:16:26 AM »

I noticed the crab you find in the stores are in containers, so i crack all mine, put it in a tub, and freeze it.

YoterHunter · « **Reply #19 on:** July 21, 2011, 02:20:32 PM »

hey Pete i will come take some of your hands . chantrels for crab.

rgalanti21 · « **Reply #20 on:** July 21, 2011, 02:53:43 PM »

As said previously, make sure to vacuum pack them if you want any chance of eating halfway decent priorly frozen crab meat.

DoubleJ · « **Reply #21 on:** July 21, 2011, 03:09:45 PM »

Not to threadjack but, am I the only one that likes rock crab better than dungeness?

singleshot12 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 21, 2011, 03:18:05 PM »

Freezing crab is more trouble than it's worth... It would make more sense to divide up our quata so we could have a winter fishery.. Middle of winter is when most people feel like eating fresh crab again anyways.

dscubame · « **Reply #23 on:** July 21, 2011, 03:23:33 PM »

Use to freeze cooked crab whole all the time when I lived in Muk. and scuba dived for them very frequently. Never had any issues.

gaddy · « **Reply #24 on:** July 21, 2011, 03:35:57 PM »

has anybody tried freezing them in milk ? we went on a chatrer once & got a bunch of true cod, had them filleted and were told to freeze in milk. worked great, no burn and held flavor very well. wonder if it would work on crab ?

longknife · « **Reply #25 on:** July 21, 2011, 04:47:17 PM »

Quote from: DoubleJ on July 21, 2011, 03:09:45 PM

Not to threadjack but, am I the only one that likes rock crab better than dungeness?

I think rock crab is good, a bit more flavor than Dungi's

gasman · « **Reply #26 on:** July 21, 2011, 05:52:58 PM »

Quote from: DoubleJ on July 21, 2011, 03:09:45 PM

Not to threadjack but, am I the only one that likes rock crab better than dungeness?

I'm with you, but if there less then 7" they ain't worth my time. We have kept and ate several rock crab also

doyourtime89 · « **Reply #27 on:** July 21, 2011, 06:17:04 PM »

I have wanted to know a good way to do this too. I have cooked and took all the meat out and vacuum sealed them and it worked pretty good. But I did just read somewhere that if you cook them, cool them and then take a gallon old milk jug or something like that. Put them in it shell and all, fill up with water and freeze. I haven't tried it yet, just something I read....thought I would pass it on and also see if anyone has tried that.

rgalanti21 · « **Reply #28 on:** July 21, 2011, 07:13:21 PM »

Quote from: DoubleJ on July 21, 2011, 03:09:45 PM

Not to threadjack but, am I the only one that likes rock crab better than dungeness?

I'm in this boat for the flavor of the crab, but dungees have more meat, so it's a double edged sword.

Hyde · « **Reply #29 on:** July 21, 2011, 08:43:23 PM »

I think red rock crab get their name because their shells are hard as rocks! Holy Moly they are a pain to crack!

rgalanti21 · « **Reply #30 on:** July 21, 2011, 09:16:01 PM »

Quote from: Hyde on July 21, 2011, 08:43:23 PM

I think red rock crab get their name because their shells are hard as rocks! Holy Moly they are a pain to crack!

I noticed this as well, do you have any tips to softening their shells so they are manageable to crack? Recently I have had to beat the claws with a rolling pin to get the shells to crack...

gasman · « **Reply #31 on:** July 21, 2011, 09:24:56 PM »

Quote from: rgalanti21 on July 21, 2011, 09:16:01 PM

Quote from: Hyde on July 21, 2011, 08:43:23 PM
I think red rock crab get their name because their shells are hard as rocks! Holy Moly they are a pain to crack!

I noticed this as well, do you have any tips to softening their shells so they are manageable to crack? Recently I have had to beat the claws with a rolling pin to get the shells to crack...

Sledge Hammer

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