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The Art Of Cooking And Eating Snow Crab Legs
Snow Crabs are well known for having very tasty legs. In order to harvest Snow Crab legs,
fishermen must brave treacherous and frigid waters to collect Snow Crabs. These crabs live as far north as the
Arctic Ocean and as far south in the Pacific Ocean by California. The difficulty fishermen go through to harvest
Snow Crabs is shown on the Discovery Channel through a televisions series that has lasted multiple years. Watching
this show often gives people a whole new appreciation for just how much trouble these giant crabs are to catch.
People often refer to more than one type of species of crab as a Snow Crab. These four species are all part of the
spider crab family and vary in sizes. The names of others included with Snow Crabs are; Queen Crab, King Crab, and
Tanner Crab. Any of these crabs can grow to be 2 feet long and weigh in at around 5 pounds. The true Snow Crab is
known as Chionoecetes opilio or C. Opilio for short. Chionoecetes means Snow Inhabitant and opilio means Shepherd,
but Snow Crab is much easier to remember and quicker to say.
Restaurants serve the meaty legs of these crabs as a main course. They can be filling, but tend to be more
expensive when served at restaurants far from the ocean. The further they need to be shipped, the pricier they tend
to be. There are some online stores that sell Snow Crab claws and legs. Some prices for the legs are around 15
dollars per pound, but there is a discount provided if more pounds are purchased in each order. A 5 pound bag of
broken crab legs runs about 10 dollars cheaper than whole crab legs.
Crab legs that are going to be shipped are usually already cooked and frozen before they are shipped out. Since
this meat is frozen, it needs to be shipped relatively quickly. The crab legs or claws are packed in dry ice or
frozen gel packs and placed inside a Styrofoam container. Priority overnight shipping is the quickest way these are
shipped, as well as the most costly. Two day air is the cheapest method of shipping available and the slowest form
of shipping possible that can be done safely. Any type of shipping that takes longer isn't offered.
1. If crab legs are purchased fresh from a market, the following cooking directions can be used: 2. Add 2 to 3
pinches of salt in a large pot of water, place a lid on top, and bring it to a boil 3. Place crab legs in boiling
water and put lid back on top of the pot 4. After the water returns to a boil, reduce heat and stem legs for ten
minutes; longer if frozen 5. When finished boiling, place crab legs on plate and let cool for a few minutes 6.
Crush a clove of garlic, add to quarter cup of butter, and melt 7. Stir butter until garlic is mixed; salt, pepper,
or lemon juice may also be added
Of course, now that they are cooked, they need to be eaten. Crab legs are difficult to eat without the proper
tools. There are specialty tools made for cracking crab legs without crushing them to pieces. These crab leg
crackers have a rounded center that make it possible to apply just enough pressure to get the leg open for the meat
inside. In order to reach the meat inside the legs, there are long and narrow forks with two small prongs on the
end. These are small enough to fit all the way inside the crab legs and retrieve the meat.
Crab legs usually come in clusters of four; four from
each side of the crab. Each individual
leg has two parts that are connected by a single joint. When this joint is snapped in half, some of the meat might
come out. If there's no sign of the meat coming out easily, then it's time to use the crab leg crackers. The
crackers will conform to the same shape that the legs have, so it's easy to figure out how to work them. Once the
meat is retrieved from inside the legs, dip it in the butter sauce and enjoy.
The forks will come in handy if the meat is stubborn and sticks to the inside of the crab leg. Snow Crab legs can
also be grilled in a packet of foil that is sealed and placed on a barbeque grill. This takes about 8 to 10
minutes. When grilled, crab legs can be eaten right after they come off the grill.
Read More at Everything on Crabs
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