for the Crabbers

[mazzgolf]

3 hours ago, DBuck said:

I never realized that you cleaned crabs while they were still alive, we always boiled and picked them. 

When their still alive?  I'm not so sure I would feel comfortable ripping a live crab apart. Obviously I have no problem killing stuff, but I don't want to torture it in the mean time.

That's how I've always done it. It's  a quick kill - no suffering involved (besides, it's a crab - what kind of "suffering" is it really enduring anyway??). And I would venture to say, your method of boiling a crab alive kills it slower (and makes it "suffer" longer) than the method of taking the shell off. I slide a knife on the backside under the flap and straight down the back - quick stroke and it dies immediately. Then just pull back the shell, hose out the crap inside and scrape the gills off, done. Like someone said, doing it this way you can apply the Old Bay directly on the inside and you get more flavor into the meat that way during the cooking.

[buckhound]

4 hours ago, DBuck said:

I never realized that you cleaned crabs while they were still alive, we always boiled and picked them. 

When their still alive?  I'm not so sure I would feel comfortable ripping a live crab apart. Obviously I have no problem killing stuff, but I don't want to torture it in the mean time.

that is the best way if you want the least mess when eating and get more of the seasoning flavor through the meat . a knife or ice pick to the point of the flap under neath twist  and its over with fast another way is to put them in the freezer or on ice they will  be easier to handle or die if in long enough just dont let them freeze through . if you prefer to cook whole i know some people  do, poking that hole in the belly allows some of the seasoning flavor to get inside if if you steam the just layer the belly up and put a layer of seasoning on the belly and repeat till the pot is full...as for suffering i dont know what pain they feel but boiling or steaming alive is probably worse than cleaning them....