how soon should you cook crab after catch??

[pescador]

How long can you keep crab cool before you need to cook it? If they're cleaned and kept cool, does that increase the time you can take to cook them?

 

[wolf]

Id say max 3 days if very cold....... dead not cleaned me personally wouldnt eat them to many diferent toxins with crab and their guts to fool around with I tell my quests if you dont plan on cooking or preparing them right away dont take them.

And really havent found a good way of freezing them either must say freash is way better maybe we are just too spoiled here.....

wolf

 

[spring fever]

Cooked and then freeze in the shell in a garbage bag they are ok nuked or just thawed-up to 2 weeks-not as good as fresh of course but non-fishers think they are great!!LOL

 

[spring fever]

Sorry-forgot the question-I won't cook a crab that isn't kicking or at least winking at me-Kinda like russian roulette with dead ones-you never Know!!

 

[salmonkiller01]

I have kept clean uncooked crab up to 24 hours in a cooler full of ice it was fine, cooked crab I shell the meat and vacume pack and it is good for a month(that as long as it lasts before it gets eaten)

 

[pescador]

Got my answer for this time. Thanks guys. I cleaned some crab over the weekend. Threw it in the cooler with ice. Its been 24 hours now. I'll cook them within the hour. But, for future trips where I'm out fishing for 5 days plus where I don't have access to freezing, it sounds like leaving them in the trap till the last day or two may be the safest route???

 

[Lipripper]

I wouldnt go for more than a couple hours after they are killed. They decompose fast. You can put them on ice(live) with good drainage and they will go dormant, they look dead but don't hang like a wet rag. They will last a day or two like that.
Leaving them in the trap is a good idea as long as they don't figure out how to get out. Crabs are a heck of a lot smarter than a lot of people give them credit

 

[pescador]

What about cleaned and iced (not cooked) ? How long do you think they'd be ok?

 

[River Rat]

I wouldnt go for more than a couple hours after they are killed. They decompose fast. You can put them on ice(live) with good drainage and they will go dormant, they look dead but don't hang like a wet rag. They will last a day or two like that.
Leaving them in the trap is a good idea as long as they don't figure out how to get out. Crabs are a heck of a lot smarter than a lot of people give them credit

What he said!

 

[scott craven]

If you don't get all the gills and guts off the body parts, they develop a grey/black slime,
Best if you could cook them first, then they're good for 5 or 6 days if kept cold.

 

[Lipripper]

I ran a live tank for the better part of 10 years. The lobster morts could be cooked off and sold within reason but we would have got into a lot trouble doing the same with crab. I can't remember exactly why and tried googling it for ya but couldn't find much relevant info. Even properly cleaned it was something about toxins in the meat and the quick decomposition.

That said it would probably only give you a case of the slippery poops.

 

[trendsetter]

What about cleaned and iced (not cooked) ? How long do you think they'd be ok?

I do this all the time. Get home from your daily trip, clean crabs, pack the cleaned half-crabs into freezer bags air tight and freeze. Usually 1 month is all I will keep them frozen for but you can keep them longer. If they get freezer burn the meat dries out and gets tough and stringy so make sure the bags are air-tight.

Always kill them the day you caught them and as mentioned a dead whole crab is not an edible crab.

 

[trendsetter]

Got my answer for this time. Thanks guys. I cleaned some crab over the weekend. Threw it in the cooler with ice. Its been 24 hours now. I'll cook them within the hour. But, for future trips where I'm out fishing for 5 days plus where I don't have access to freezing, it sounds like leaving them in the trap till the last day or two may be the safest route???

I worked on a commercial crab boat back in the 90s. We would keep crabs live in crates tied to a rope and hung off the dock down about 5 feet. Usually for 4-5 days until the distribution guy came to pick them up. Worked very well. Pack them in tight so they can't move and make sure the water temp is not too warm.