Review: The Teal Crab Crack N' Crab
I'm fairly new to crabbing here in Oregon, although I have fished for lobster in California and mud crabs in Australia. I love shellfish! And fresh crab is no exception, steamed and dipped in butter!
Ok, but before you get to all that there is the little chore of cleaning.
I've seen all kinds of ways of cleaning crab, cracking on a hatchet (yikes!), on the side of the fish cleaning stations (what a mess, broken legs everywhere), I used a big screwdriver on the Australian mud crabs, and cracking them after the boil resulting in hot fingers.
Plus there's always the question of boiling before or after cleaning.
Dungeness crab can have levels of a toxin called domoic acid, and I personally feel that getting them cleaned before the boil results in a better product.
Some people argue that they taste better boiled whole, but I haven't noticed a difference. Getting all that icky stuff out before the boil makes me feel a lot better about eating clean crab.
So, this handy little tool does it all! It's a crab measurer (available for West Coast dungeness and East Coast blue crab), and a shell cracker.
All you do is set the stainless steel measurer on its base, hold the back legs of the crab and center it belly down on the blade. Give it a whack or two with the palm of your hand to crack the bottom shell and pull the legs down.
They will peel off from the top shell and you will have the two leg clusters.
Give them a good shake and all the yuck will fly out (don't do this at a crowded cleaning station, you won't make any friends :-) ). A quick rinse and your leg clusters are clean and ready for the boil.
When I first saw a video of the Crack n' Crab cleaner at that marine store I swear my jaw dropped.
And here I've been doing it the hard way all along! Hubby and I can clean a whole pile of red rock and dungeness crab in no time now! Plus it makes for more room in the boiling pot with just the leg clusters.
You can purchase the Crack n' Crab Cleaner by Teal Crab on their website: https://tealcrab.com/ and watch their instructional video. They also have a float available so you don't lose it on the water. This little tool has a permanant place in our boat!
ReelCamo Girl Prostaff - Erika Forsythe
#earnyourwild