Crabs
Ingredients
Directions
Set up the pot
Fill a pot with cold water and add a handful or two of coarse sea salt.
Plunge the crabs into the cold water.
Boil the crabs
Heat the water until it boils.
Boil the crabs for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on their size.
Skim off any scum that rises to the top during boiling.
Tie the claws of large crabs to prevent them from pinching each other.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Crabs
- The main ingredient; boiling cooks the meat and firms the shell-bound flesh as it heats through.
The step that matters
Boil for the right time for the crab's size. Heat makes crab proteins set and firm, so too long makes the meat tough and dry, while too short leaves flesh near the shell undercooked.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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