Sign-up for coupons here.
What’s the best way to serve cold crabs?
Blue crabs snap viciously and put on a good show, but once out of water, they quickly perish. Crabbers use those wooden bushel baskets and wet burlap to keep the crabs as long as possible. Cooler temperatures, around 5o degrees F, also helps keep the crabs calm and tame, but they can only survive so long without bay brackish water and nourishment like oysters, eelgrass, and insects. Crabbers keep an eye on the clock and rush the crabs to the crab house, who develop a cooking schedule and map out a time that ensures a fresh crab. In fact, preparations become exact, like ingredients used in an award winning culinary dish. Busheling and half-busheling cooked crabs follows the same meticulous care. Crab houses adhere to the official Chesapeake Bay Grading Scale that combines crabs into four major categories: bays (5”-5.5”), jimmies (5.5”-6.5”), jumbos (6”-7”), and females (5”7”). Each group receives a steaming, timed to the quantity and spiced to a crab house’s standards. Allowed to thoroughly cool, crab coolers and gel packs take those Maryland Style Crabs across town and country. The ingenuity of the bay culture knows no bounds!
Perishable and requiring, once again, an exact care in keeping the cooked crabs at refrigerator temperatures is a challenge for the crab house. Success rests on the taste. A true connoisseur will choose between re-steaming or eating chilled. Many home chefs scoff at not doing anything. They want to cook, heat, or prepare the meal. Remember, you want ease, so simply heat the butter and dip. You’ll instantly savor a warm crab chunk. If you must, you can resteam, and the process is rather simple to. Follow these steps: Preparation ~ Find a large stock pot and a bottom grate. Mark the two-inch mark of the pot and set the grate. Then fill the portion under the grate with a vinegar, beer, and seasoning mixture. If you like hoppiness, use an IPA. Steaming ~ With this mix you learned a chef’s secret. Vinegar keeps the crab meat from sticking to the shells, an issue with reheating. Season the crabs with a new dousing of spice, based on your preferences. At medium-high or ¾ throttle steam, cook the crabs for 6-8 minutes and then promptly serve. Only reheat what you will eat since a second re-steaming will certainly result with dry crab jerky!
