Thread: What do you do with crabs

BTW, yes you need a recreational fishing license to catch crabs. You can set up to 5 traps with a recreational license.

Originally Posted by CarlF

You can remove the carapace right before cooking, definitely not a problem.

The main caution is against cooking crabs that have been dead in the trap or cooler, they start to degrade pretty quickly.

You're right, and I think the "cook them live" is a hand down from folks that buy crabs from the market and don't know the history of their catch.

It's somewhat unusual why people insist that you have to boil/steam crabs, crawfish, and lobsters live but shrimp are just fine on ice. I like picking my crabs without the "mustard" and "dead man's fingers". I know, it's blasphemy to Bostonians, but they don't even know what West Indies salad is or that whole crab claws make a nice dish. Thank goodness for Bailey's.