Choice 6 double jaw zincplated steel lobster cracker. After this, find the bottom piece that was attached to the body. Sometimes oversteaming or boiling the crab legs can soften the shell, making them difficult to crack. Snow crab legs are significantly cheaper than king crab so youll have to choose which works best within your budget. Then use the crab mallet to gently hit the knife, until the knife is halfway through the claw. Whats the difference between snow crab and king crab. Thin strips of cartilage poke out from the ends of the joints. Hold it in your hands and snap it in half around the middle. Place the claw and arm pieces under a towel and crack the shell with. And while both snow crab and king crab make for an excellent pairing for clarified butter and lemon wedges, there are important distinctions. This heavyduty doublejaw cracker allows you to clamp down and crack open lobster claws, crab legs, or crab. Anyone native to the area will tell you no crab tastes better.
While we love crab formed into perfectly crisp crab cakes or swirled into a spicy smoked cheese dip, theres an undeniable pleasure derived from cracking into butterdoused snow crab or king crab legs. Sep 24, 2014 do you love snow crab but dread the chore of cracking the legs. I will show you a little trick when cracking the legs to. Cracking crab seafood restaurant and bar opens at cordova mall. Cracking crab is a good option when youre looking for something like boiling crab but dont want to drive all the way out for it. The perfect tool for your restaurant, clam bake, or crab fest, this choice 5 34 singlejaw zincplated steel lobster cracker easily cracks open shellfish of different sizes. For king crab legs, take a pair of kitchen scissors and simple cut down the shell of a leg lengthwise. Why some crab legs, snow, as well as, blue or dungeness crab legs may be softer due to being caught shortly after the molting stage. Cracking open freshly cooked crab and removing the meat is definitely not the easiest task in the kitchen. How to cook alaskan king crab legs house of nash eats. How to crack crab legs and get the meat out in one piece.
I usually get a pound of the shrimp in the crackin sauce, and i also usually get the sausage but the past few times ive been here, i didnt like it. If you are not careful and hyper vigilant, stray bits of crab shell could sneak its way into your food. How to crack open king crab legs video lobster gram. Jul 20, 2016 cracking open freshly cooked crab and removing the meat is definitely not the easiest task in the kitchen. Grilling crab legs is a great way to keep cleanup to a minimum, and to avoid heating up your kitchen in the summertime. You can crack the legs just like the claws, but many crabs have soft enough shells on their legs or you can snip them open with a pair of kitchen scissors. If the meat is not sliding off easily your crab legs might have gotten cold.
Once you have the cracking tool around the leg, squeeze it with our dominant hand to crack open the shell of the crab. What you want to do is always start from the tip and bend it backwards. If you are not careful and hyper vigilant, stray bits of crab shell could sneak its way into how to crack crab like a pro. Cracking crab home pensacola, florida menu, prices. Wear gloves or wrap the legs in a clean dishcloth to prevent the spikes from hurting your hands as you pull them apart. Use a crab zipper or crab cracker nutcracker for the smaller sections if needed. If not separated already, pull your legs apart from the cluster and set aside the claw. Oct 30, 2012 cracking opens crabs is a painintheass. While youll primarily need just a claw cracker, a tiny lobster fork might also come in handy.
The claws and arm sections are as hard as rocks, so to open them, youll need a meat mallet. Apply pressure to the crab s major joint with your hands, crab tools, or miscellaneous table items. Crack open those succulent crab legs in 5 easy steps. The shell on crab legs is softer and thinner than it is on the claws and main body. What else can i use to crack open crab legs if i dont. When crabs molt, they shed their shells completely by backing out of their. You can use your hands alone, but its better to grab a seafood utensil like a lobster cracker or a lobster picker, or both for help getting all the meat out of the shell.
Turn the crab over and remove the apron the flap on the underside. In this tutorial, we learn how to crack open alaskan king crab legs. Snow crab legs can be cooked a variety of ways, including steaming, boiling and grilling. You can even use a fork, inserting the tine and splitting the leg along the soft section of the shell, but the best way to split king crab legs.
Crack open those succulent crab legs in 5 easy steps 1. For these, all you need to do is to crack the shell and pull it open. King crab legs are the biggest, so you really may need both. Do you love snow crab but dread the chore of cracking the legs. Crab legs, especially of the king crab variety, take up a lot of space, so a large plate comes in handy. Place the claw and arm pieces under a towel and crack the shell with the mallet, then peel the bits of shell from the meat. How to crack crab legs grab a crab leg at the base, where it connects to the body of the crab. Break the crab leg at the joints, using both hands and either wrapping the leg in a dish towel or wearing gloves to protect your hands. Although the long prickly legs may look intimidating, cracking king crab shells using nutcrackers, seafood forks, kitchen shears, or crab cracking tools makes the task easier. Start on what you have left, the shell and the body of the crab. However, if you decide to buy frozen crab legs to prepare at home, you dont have this luxury. Grab your longstemmed fork and begin to take the crab meat out of the shell of the crab leg. Fantastic crab and where to find them crab season in. It takes a little extra work, but once you get through a few crab legs youll practically be a pro, and the sweet succulent meat is every bit worth the trouble.
Lay your knife, sharp side down, on the middle of the red side of the claw. Crack open those succulent crab legs in 5 easy steps sheknows. Part ii covers how to steam crab legs and tips for cracking claws and knuckles. You dont have to deal with burning your hands from cracking open a hot crab leg. While crab knives are small, they are heavy enough to crack open the shell and. Product title nuts almond pecan walnut crab plier clamp hand crack. Place crab legs on the grill for 45 minutes, then flip and cook for another 45 minutes on the other side until the meat is hot all the way through. Cracking crab, a new seafood boilinabag restaurant and bar, is in the soft opening stage now.
When you can get your hands on some quality crab legs, heres the classic crab leg recipe for a special dinner. I love alaska king crab, especially the meaty, sweet and juicy king crab legs with the holiday season coming up, its perfect time to head to your nearest costco and load up pounds of red king crab for thanksgiving recipes or christmas holiday parties i have the best king crab recipe for you, baked with sriracha lemon butter. This video from the website what to cook when shows us how to crack open the crab legs and get the meat out of them. Now that youre ready to tackle crab legs, grab our recipe for king crab legs with creamy orzotto and get cracking. First, you will take the crab legs and let them cool off so you can handle them. Grill, uncovered, for 8 minutes or until heated through. Here you can watch a video featuring dan the lobster man that shows how easy it is to crack open alaskan king crab legs and extract that delicious crab meat. The right way to eat crab legs stop eating it wrong, episode 60. Scroll down for a easy video of how to eat crab legs. These steps explain a method suggested by experts which should enable you to eat a crab so you enjoy every last bit of it. How to crack a crab steps begin by removing all the legs and claws. Boiling crab legs makes creating a specialoccasion meal a cinch.
Cracking open freshly cooked crab and removing the meat is. How to crack your crab legs like an expert alaskan king crab. Here are the five essential steps, as outlined for us by the seafood experts at red lobster, currently running their annual. How to eat crab legs like a pro julington creek fish camp. Summer is feeling the sting of a prickly crab shell, saige is wondering where hers is, jeff is getting meat out for basically everyone, and the rest of the crew is enjoying the crab. Place thawed split crab legs, shell side down, on the grill rack of a charcoal grill directly over medium coals. Firstly starting with the cluster of legs, simply grab one of the legs and break it off of the cluster. Using cloth napkins or gloves, pick up and hold the hot crab leg to protect your hand from the spines on the crab shell and to keep from. What else can i use to crack open crab legs if i dont have a cracker. A musthave addition to any catered event, buffet, or seafood restaurant, this 6 steel lobster cracker will simplify tedious crab and lobster shelling. Crab legs are the highlight of any seafood buffet and a special treat at.
Crab daddys seafood buffet restaurant cracking crab legs. Crab legs are the highlight of any seafood buffet and a special treat at homeespecially when theyre inseason. Some lobster claws will come with a starter crack in them. Place the sheet pan 5 to 6 inches from the broiler and bake until the crab legs are heated through, about 34 minutes a side. Lay partially split legs on a cutting board, and cut through each hard shell with a sharp knife, completely splitting the legs. From king crab legs to whole blue crabs, these 5 crab eating utensils will. Chef heidi lane from red lobster shows food reporter lauren delgado how to properly crack crab legs in preparation for red lobsters crab fest. Getting to that succulent meat means pulling apart the shell, cracking open legs, and getting messy. Removing the meat from your crab leg in one whole piece requires some finesse. Armed with picks, mallets, and crackers, crab fanatics pride themselves on the ability to extract every last morsel of meat from the legs. Remove the crab legs from the grill and cut open using kitchen shears. Insert the kitchen shears or chicken shears into the shell then clip the shell open all the way. Cracking open king crab legs or claws is really easy. Diners commonly use a nut cracker to make the initial break, though crab scissors can easily cut through the inside of the leg.
If you know how to boil water, you basically already know how to cook crab legs. Now simply grab the leg and starting with the joint, break it into half and pull it apart. The larger section that was closest to the body of the crab is called the merus, and thats where the bulk of the meat is in each crab leg. No other cracking tools are necessary when using kitchen shears to. Cracking crabs cracking crabs is a valuable technique to know when you want to make crab cakes or another recipe with crab meat out of the shell. The yield for crab legs is about 50% meat, so if you purchase 1624 ounces for two people you will end up with between 812 ounces of crab meat, roughly 46 ounces serving size per person snow crab shown in the second photo has a smooth shell that is relatively easy to handle or even cut with scissors.
King crab legs are much larger and are sold by the individual leg. Gently twist the base of the leg and pull it away from the body. How to clean and crack dungeness crab clean eating magazine. You can use a small hammer or mallet to crack the large claws, where the most succulent meat is found. Lb of shrimp, crawfish, black mussels or clams choose 2. Learn to crack crab legs with heidi lane from red lobster. Separate the sections of the crab leg one at a time.
At some restaurants, the crab shell has been precut so you only have to lift the meat from the legs with a fork. Digging into a crab can be an intimidating task for some. So whats the proper way to break open those suckers. Brush the crab legs with olive oil to prevent sticking. But done right, you can quickly get your crab legs opened up and ready to eat, all with minimal effort.
If you go at it with a claw cracker and dont have a strategy, you arent likely to achieve this expert technique. The quality stainless steel construction will hold up beautifully over the years. Etiquette dictates that diners should place inedible parts of the crab legs on the side of their plates, but you can also serve crab with a main plate and a smaller side dish or bowl for waste. Before you serve the legs, thaw and then steam them until they have fully heated. The snow crab is an excellent source of protein and is generally low in fat. Then take the middle section which you just broke and put your fingers right in the middle of that section, crack that one leg and then flip it over and crack. I will show you a little trick when cracking the legs to remove the meat, intact, every time. Thats why today, were sharing the stepbystep process to crack open your crab legs like an expert.
The set includes 6 scoopspicks and 2 lobster crackers. For any true seafood lover, few things are better than hot, steamed crab legs with a bowl of melted butter on the side. Its best to have an easy to access and open trashcan nearby. The trouble with crab legs is that you have to work to get the meat, and the amount of work you do is not always equivalent to the amount of meat you get out of them. Thats why crab season is always one of the most exciting times of the year. And while both snow crab and king crab make for an excellent pairing for clarified butter and lemon wedges, there are important distinctions between the two. Purists may say the only proper way to open crab legs, crab claws and the main shell of this marine creature is to use specialized seafood crackers. Choose your first leg and pull it apart at the joints or knuckles of the leg. If you dont do this, you will end up chewing on them when you eat. How to cook crab legs 4 different ways taste of home. Crack the claws by using the hinged cracker, hitting them with the crab mallet, or using your knife. If you eat at any remotely upmarket restaurant, these implements certainly will arrive with your meal. Cracking crab is a world class seafood restaurant specializing in cajun boils. Snow crab legs are the perfect summer snack, but cracking them open the wrong way can leave you feeling crabby.
So well show you how to get the meat out of the legs and also how to cook frozen crab legs. Your email address will never be sold or distributed to a third party. At a young age, when most were craving chicken nuggets, the angry eater was ordering snow crab whenever possible. Break the crab leg at the joints, using both hands and either wrapping the leg in a dish towel or wearing gloves to protect. A flat meat tenderizerone solid whack and the claw cracks open enough to pull. Start by twisting the legs off the body if youre eating a whole crab.
Avoid the literal pain of tearing these bad boys open with your handy carving fork. Jun 28, 2019 while we love crab formed into perfectly crisp crab cakes or swirled into a spicy smoked cheese dip, theres an undeniable pleasure derived from cracking into butterdoused snow crab or king crab legs. Even if you had crackers, you might not use them on this part of the animal. Simply strike the claw at its thickest point, taking care not to hit. Insert the kitchen shears or chicken shears into the shell then clip the shell open all the. The prep or cracking the shell is actually done before you pop it in the oven so the meat is exposed and catches all the flavor from the garlic butter sauce. Crab legs are one of the most enjoyable and flavorful dishes you can order. Then take the middle section which you just broke and put your fingers right in the. Here at, we are committed to protecting your privacy. Proper cracking utensils are perhaps the most essential tool for eating crab legs. The jaw enables you to clamp down on the shellfish and crack the shell, without ripping into the meat.
When you separate the merus from the tips of the leg, expect to also have some cartilage come out. Use it to open lobster claws, crab legs, or crab shells with one easy motion. Welcome to the how to crack open king crab legs video page. People have used a variety of tools from the commonplace hammer to sophisticated and pricey crab specific products to split king crab legs.