How to Clean a Blue Crab
Blue crabs are a staple of our seafood. Although our neighbors up on the eastern shore of Maryland may disagree with our methods, this is the way we like to prepare our blue crabs for eating.
The first step is you are going to need crabs. There are plenty of local places in Carteret County to purchase live blue crabs but we prefer to catch them ourselves. Using a standard crab pot, we like to fill our crab pots with just about anything we have as left overs, but we have found that buying chicken necks, backs and thighs from the local IGA is less costly than buying them from outdoor stores and are more efficient.
Once you’ve gathered your blue crabs, take them to a place where you can clean them. We prefer to clean them next to our hose where we will be utilizing it to help in the process. Also, be mindful of cleaning them over the water as they squirm and you don’t want to drop them into the water.
We generally start the cleaning process by removing the claws. We do this first because blue crabs can be feisty and quick to pinch you. We quickly get these out of the way to help us move through the process. Once the claws are removed, we have a bowl filled with ice and water that we drop the claws into to help preserve them prior to cooking.
The next step is to remove the crown of the crab. Start by grabbing the crab’s legs on one side and using a flat hard surface to pry the crown of the crab off. This will kill the crab instantly. During this process, try not to apply too much pressure or move too quickly as it can break the crown in half which won’t be fun for you nor the crab. Slow steady pressure works every time.
The crown of the crab can be placed to the side in order to make a broth of stock. We like to keep this if we are going to make a crab bisque or soup. The fats and shell of the crab cook down nicely and provide enhanced flavor to your dish.
The next step is to remove the apron from the crab. There are two ways to identify the gender of the crabs and it is by their apron and by their claws. Male blue crabs have an apron that comes to a skinny point, where the females have a more elongated and wide apron. Also, the male blue crabs have more blue claws where the females have red tips on their claws. We generally throw the female blue crabs back so they can go on to produce more crabs in the future.
To remove the apron, grab one of the crab’s legs and use it to get under the tip of the apron. Once lifted, you can pull it right off.
Now it’s time to clean out the gills and leftover guts of the crab. We take a garden hose and spray it directly into the interior of the crab, washing away the guts and gills. Sometimes the hose will not get all of the gills off, if that happens you will want to pull them off by hand. The texture is similar to little slices of oranges.
Congrats, you did it! Your blue crab can now go into the ice bath as you clean the rest of your harvest. After that it is on you as to which way you want to cook them. Steamed or boiled is always great. We hope you enjoyed this step by step tutorial! Make sure to check out the video below.
