Posted in another forum but I thought this may get a little more traffic.
I have pretty productive crab pots on a private dock. I am ending up with more crab than I can possibly eat …use for bait etc.
What is the best way to freeze them? I’m afraid I have to cook and pick them and freeze the cooked meat (which is a lot of work for one man). Anything easier?
I sent several hours picking them yesterday and made a patch of crab cakes (not cooked yet). Do you see any problems placing the uncooked crabcake patties in the freezer? How long should they keep?
If it was me,if i had more crab than i could eat, i would throw the rest back and pull up the trap.
dad will clean, cook, then divide bodies in half and freeze in a bag for up to a month before picking.
as you suspected, best way i’ve heard is to freeze picked meat packed in milk… but eat it within two months, esp if texture makes a difference.
crab cakes, if vacuum sealed raw and frozen, should go for a few months i would guess? seewee outpost sells 'em that way.
If you’re trying to keep for eating within a few days, steam 2/3 of way (about 15 minutes) and then keep cold in fridge or freezer. When ready to eat (within 5 days), just steam rest of way (about 10 minutes) and they’ll still taste fairly fresh. Crab doesn’t do well for eating when it goes in the freezer for too long.
steelman, ain’t forgot about you…lets try and get out next week.
I have found that frozen crabs don’t seem to produce as well as fresh caught…dead or not.
that dock we fished a couple weeks back had some larger running fish there about 4 days ago.
xHCFCx
Fish are too valuable to be caught only once.
Stretch… you name the day and I’ll clear my schedule! Let me know a day in advance and I’ll set the trap for some fresh bait. I was dreaming of that dock just the other day when I had a big fish break me off on dock piles/oysters…bait was a nice blue crab cluster.
Looking forward to it!