Crab season '09

[flippinfool]

My niece is comming in from New York next week and wants to get some crabs.Hahaha..Really though I'm taking her out and Flippin I will bring you some when we go.Im a lil crabbed out myself.Crab is really high in calories unfortunately and I'm limmited on how many I should eat.

dont worry rac iam messin with ya but if you wanna give them up ill pay what there worth or your gas bill we need to conect soon

[Dave]

I believe fresh caught Dungeness sells for about $20.00 a crab. Stick with the gas money idea. LOL


Nutritional Data on Dungeness Crab:

1 whole crab = 140 calories, total fat 1.6 grams, Cholesterol is high @ 97 mg, Salt is also high @ 480 mg, carbs are low at 1.2 grams, and protein is 28.3 grams.

3 oz of crab = 94 calories, total fat 1.1 grams, Cholesterol is 65 mg, Salt is 321 mg, carbs are 0.8 grams, and protein is 19 grams.

So other than the salt and cholesterol being high, it's a low calorie low fat food.

Just thought you might like to know.

I eat lots of crab and it has not affected my weight loss or health.

[Toni]

Since Red Rock Crabs are smaller do they have less salt and cholesterol? I just had some...but I don't know how many ounces it was.

How long will crab keep in the refrigerator? How long in the freezer?

[fishing collector]

Since Red Rock Crabs are smaller do they have less salt and cholesterol? I just had some...but I don't know how many ounces it was.

How long will crab keep in the refrigerator? How long in the freezer?

Toni.....It depends how they have been handled before being put in refer.... They will start smelling usually after 5 days...+ -

As for freezing.....I don't do it unless I have to...I cook them first and get all the guts out and vacuum pack them. I think they really dry out if frozen before cooking. But if you have to...I would think if you cleaned them and kept the crab in halves. Freeze solid then take out and dip several times in Ice water to coat them with ice. Then vacuum pack after wrapping in paper so they don't poke a hole in the plastic. Should be ok for 3 months. But I assume you will eat them before that. Best crab to freeze are ones that have good solid firmly packed leg meat. You can just squeeze them and if they have any give then don't freeze for too long maybe 30 days. King crab will hold for up to 9 months if kept frozen from the store... If you have to buy them then never buy any crab that smells like crab...They should smell like fresh sea water..Always ask for a taste and smell before buying.....I never buy seafood that has any kind of fishy smell. I always consume crab within 3 to 4 days after catching them.....I got 9 nice male dungies yesterday and 9 the day before...No females at all. I cooked them and will eat them or give away by Wed. Hope this will help you.

[Bodofish]

Crab must always be cooked before storing. The meat starts to produce toxins as soon as the crab is dead. Always cook your crabs live!

[G-Man]

Store your crab frozen in the shell, for less than 2 weeks. If you go longer you'll get freezer burn. Shelled crab meat when vacuum packaged properly will last a good long time.

All crab you legally keep in Washington State should have solid shells, ie not softshell. If you are keeping softshell crab you'll notice that the meat is watery and doesn't fill up the shell cavity completely. Look at the regs for the softshell test, if you can flex that front leg with your fingers, don't bother keeping it. If it cracks you've got a gorilla grip and just squeezed too hard!

[Toni]

I cleaned and cooked all my crabs before they went into the refrigerator. I just didn't know how long they can be there.
I do know the soft shell test.
I put my crabs on ice with ice on top of them as soon as I get them. I only have red rocks.

[Dave]

Hi Toni,

I've noticed that by about the 4th day (maybe 5) the crab meat seems to start losing its flavor and goes bad shortly after that. Although I know that many folks freeze crab both in the shell and just the meat by itself using a food saver, personally I prefer to eat it fresh before or by the 4th day. I have had crab after it was properly frozen and found both the texture and flavor was compromised. It was okay but nowhere near as good as when it is fresh. JMO.

[Adam B.]

Anyone been crabbing around the Everett area or area 8-2 lately? I only was able to get out to crab the first weeks weeks of the season then have not been out since. Looking to go next week before it closes for the summer but looking to see if anyone has been doing any good. Thanks for the help.

Adam

[samman253]

last weekend to go crabbing.anybody know when the winter season starts?