Leave the crabs to sit in the ice bath for 5-10 minutes. Nobody likes the thought of killing something and many people, including chefs, do not like cooking live crabs. Live blue crabs take the longest to cook out of any of the crab varieties; they will take about 20-30 minutes to cook. It is best to cook them for less time than instructed and check on them frequently versus overcooking them; you can’t go back once you have over-cooked rubbery meat! ... Boiling Live Crabs (My First Time O_O) - Duration: 1:05. Loading... Unsubscribe from beautenoire? Use long metal tongs to pull one crab out of the ice bath. Cook 1 1/2- to 2 1/2-pound crabs 15 minutes, 3-pound crabs about 20 minutes. However, this task is made a little easier if you know that a crab, like a lobster, has a very small brain and no central nervous system or cerebral cortex to register stimuli. They're frequently freshly steamed, coaxed from the shell, drenched in clarified butter, and heartily devoured with little more than the aid of a crab cracker, cocktail fork, and plastic bib to protect the connoisseur's clothing. The crab's shell should turn a bright orange when done. They're the source for much of the cooked and canned crabmeat. One at a time, grasp crabs as described above and plunge them headfirst into the boiling water; if you have too much water, ladle out excess and discard. Cooking Crabs for the first time beautenoire. Also, if you've pre-cleaned and halved your crabs, re-weigh the parts (average weight of each half-crab) to determine cooking time. - many countries/states require you to take your crabs home before breaking them down, so they can be checked for legal size by any passing fisheries officer. Guppychild17 22,606 views. Once the water has started to boil again, reduce the heat and simmer for the required time. This is enough time to put the crabs into their dormant state. 3. 2. Before you remove them, however, you’ll want to make sure that they are inactive. When water resumes boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Blue crabs are hard-shelled crabs that turn bright red when cooked. You should cook large crabs (about 2lb) for around 15 - 20 minutes, whilst smaller crabs will only need around 8 - 10 minutes. Cooking a crab humanely. Cover pan and start timing. VIRAL VIDEO: Woman gets into 'pinch' while cooking crabs for the first time Virginia Simmons of Newport News decided she'd steam her own crabs for the first time…