Crab obsession confession

I repent of tossing Dungeness picked crab meat. 

On my previous limit I had to process the dungy's in a staggered time line. Night one I cleaned and rinsed and steamed 20 halfs.  Segmented them, stomachs and joints and stored in fridge 2 days.  On day two, took a scissor to all seams and stomachs for 10 halfs in the morning.  Got home from work and picked them clean for a mess of good meat.  Ate fresh picked crab for two days and gave some away.  Day 4 I scissored the other 10 halfs in the morning.  Had a break in the day and picked em for another good bowl of picked meat.  Stored in ziplock and had it for dinner on day 5 with plenty left over for another meal.  Day 7 my wife went to serve it up and whew...da bag wen smell some ammonia kine'.  The brave silly wife tasted it and went woah, this might not be so good...I tasted a little just in case we were supposed to die together and it was solid turned.  The pain of the toss.  So much labor to pick crab meat.  Live and learn.

I have frozen it before and it certainly loses some magic.  This round, limit on Monday, cleaned and split and steamed that night.  Today it is all picked and packed in vacuum seal less the pound we're eating tonight.  I know air and temperature are key for keeping.  This round I was a little more militant on keeping the picked meat chilled in a bowl in another bowl with ice under it.  I refrigerated portions along the way to preserve temp.  My latest experiment for frozen is questionable but input is welcome.  8 oz. in vacuum bag, lightly covered in "milk", add napkin for some absorbency, then sealed.  Used the seal button 3 times to work from liquid.  I will eat in 2 weeks after thawing in fridge.  I've read that milk retains texture and flavor...stay tuned...

Ouch. I feel your pain. I clean cook and store crabs in the fridge for at least a week. At the end they are not as good as fresh but still acceptable. For longer storage I just put the halves in ziplock bags and freeze. Thawed in the fridge they are acceptable. Thawed in the microwave or steamed not so good. As you surmised, all the handling probably reduced shelf life. Maybe just pick the meat when you need it or immediately before freezing. You might also want to check the temperature of your fridge. A couple of degrees makes a big difference. Good news is now you have to out get some more.

Ouch Eddie. You made the right call to cook em all off first. Cooked protein lasts longer than raw for sure. As for the storage-if you think you will have more crab than you can eat in 3 days, freeze the meat in vacuum-sealed bags. Personally, I stay away from crustaceans more than 2-3 days dead or cooked.

Try tossing the crab meat with a little salt (not more than 2% of the weight of crab meat). This will help retain some of the texture usually lost in the freezing process. Also, try storing in the fridge in a ziploc in a colander set over a bowl and throw some ice on top of the bag. Replenish as it melts-just remember to empty the bowl. The slowly melting ice will keep the meat cold. Last tip-when freezing, try and put it in before you go to bed or another time when you won't be opening the freezer for a while. The faster the freezing process, the better quality meat you'll have.

Oh-last thing for real-when thawing, poke a hole in the vac sealed bag. I've found this helps with frozen fish as well. The vacuum forces water out of the meat as it thaws-same reason you puncture the seal on a tray of bait before thawing (maybe you don't but maybe you should)

I feel your pain and know watcha mean.  My family hates it when I cook crabs inside after a successful day OTW.  Especially if I keep a nice giant rock crab.  Always complaining about the smell, etc.  Since I’m the only 1 who loves the taste of fresh crabs in the family, I end up keeping 2 max and the rest find their way to friends and neighbors.  They are always eaten that evening because I know from previous experience how they can go bad so quick.  Lesson learned... 🙄

I vacuum seal the meat and freeze and while it's definitely not as good as fresh I use it for crab salad, dip, and cakes.

The fresh I eat straight up.

I've kept it for 1 month vacuum frozen and it's still ok.  For any type of freshly caught seafood I vacuum and freeze as soon as possible.  I used to try and see how much I would eat in a few days and on day 3 freeze the remaining but I've found it's better to just put it straight in freezer if I'm not 100% going to eat it ASAP.  I do try and eat out of my freezer regularly and not let things get lost in there.

Put some mussels and monkeyface in my freezer last night that I foraged yesterday...going to make a Valentines Day paella on Sunday but 4 days in fridge seemed like it was pushing it.

Interested to see how the milk affects it.

Help, are we talking about real cow milk here? Or .....

Help, are we talking about real cow milk here? Or .....

For crab and shark I use reconstituted powdered milk.  It will help anything that can get an ammonia or urea nose to it.

Thanks all y’all!  Gonna commit to high standards for all species and processing, I can’t ikijime a dungy....yah buddy, cow milk from a cow... ...should I consider goat or sheep, not that Borden’s condensed milk though, that’s for dangerous desserts.   Kinda like pre chowder storage?  Hmmm...I’m wondering the molecular level of truth in this experiment...

Also, try storing in the fridge in a ziploc in a colander set over a bowl and throw some ice on top of the bag. Replenish as it melts-just remember to empty the bowl. The slowly melting ice will keep the meat cold. Last tip-when freezing, try and put it in before you go to bed or another time when you won't be opening the freezer for a while. The faster the freezing process, the better quality meat you'll have.

+1
This is restaurant icing fish SOP.  Under ice, not underwater good practice for all seafood if space in the fridge allows. Good air circulation in the freezer can also help freeze faster too.

Also, try storing in the fridge in a ziploc in a colander set over a bowl and throw some ice on top of the bag. Replenish as it melts-just remember to empty the bowl. The slowly melting ice will keep the meat cold. Last tip-when freezing, try and put it in before you go to bed or another time when you won't be opening the freezer for a while. The faster the freezing process, the better quality meat you'll have.

+1
This is restaurant icing fish SOP.  Under ice, not underwater good practice for all seafood if space in the fridge allows. Good air circulation in the freezer can also help freeze faster too.

Copy that.  Wife will always make room in the fridge for crab.  Gonna insist on colander life.  Powdered milk sprinkle before freezing, touch o’ salt for experiment #2.  Gotta find another limit though, or a few...

I usually make a point to freeze some crab for summer.  +1 to oysterer's salting recommendation.  I usually do 1%.  We only use frozen crab for soups (crab and corn chowder once Brentwood corn starts showing up... mmmm), so we don't bother with milk.  We pack right into quart-sized deli containers and toss into the freezer.  Slow fridge defrost (back of the fridge, bottom-most shelf) and it's ready to rock.

Also huge +1 to icing in the fridge for short-term storage.  I do this with all fish that's not going same day.  My technique is a little different due to limited fridge space.  I grab two containers (tupperware or whatever) that fit inside each other.  I put the fish in a ziploc and evacuate most of the air out. Then I toss an ice pack into the bottom container, put the fish in the top container on top of the ice pack and then put that in the coldest part of the fridge.  Same idea, but doesn't require space for a colander.