# Crabs journey from the sea to my kitchen table.



## TrevorH (Sep 28, 2013)

I picked up a crabbing hobby last year while fishing. I asked a few crabbers on their gear and how they did it. 1 month later, I compiled everything I needed to go crabbing. 

Ever since going crabbing, I made many dishes using crabs. Infact im quite bored of eating them now. So i took out my camera and went crazy with pictures. 

Here is the process of how crabs get into my kitchen.







They get pulled from cages. This catch went very well. Undersized ones are thrown back. any crabs measuring above 6.5 inches across the shell are keepers. I use a plastic measuring tool. pic below.






Once caught, they are cleaned and steamed and peeled. I made crab cakes out of this batch caught a month ago.

Here is the finished product.






Portabella mushrooms were on sale at the grocery store so i bought some and made crab stuffed mushrooms. sooo good.






There were more crab mixture left so I made crab cakes out of them. Also sooo good. most fiine dine restaurants put in a ratio of 50 percent crackers to 50percent crab meat. I used 20% crackers to 80 % crab meat.






I couldnt over indulge on crabs  alone so I took out some spaghetti and made crab pasta. Also very delicious.

Recipes are found at Crab Recipes | Mr. Dungeness Crabber

If links are not allowed, could a mod please remove it?

thanks
=)


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## pacanis (Sep 28, 2013)

Nice pics. It must be a blast.
I went to your (?) site to look over your recipes, but can only find the one dip recipe. Where are the rest of them?


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## TrevorH (Sep 28, 2013)

pacanis said:


> Nice pics. It must be a blast.
> I went to your (?) site to look over your recipes, but can only find the one dip recipe. Where are the rest of them?



Thats odd. I put up a recipe category on the home page. I only have 3 recipes up atm and i will be adding more in the months to come.

It should say crab recipes under the title on the home page. Can u see it?

There should be the 4 recipes I made with crabs. =)


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## pacanis (Sep 28, 2013)

TrevorH said:


> Thats odd. I put up a recipe category on the home page. I only have 3 recipes up atm and i will be adding more in the months to come.
> 
> It should say crab recipes under the title on the home page. Can u see it?
> 
> There should be the 4 recipes I made with crabs. =)


 
Ah, OK.
If I click on the link in your sig I see the other recipes. The link in your OP is locked into the dip recipe.


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## MrsLMB (Sep 28, 2013)

Well Trevor .. first of all welcome to DC.

Secondly .. I am soooooooooooooooo jealous !!!  We used to live just south of Astoria and we crabbed almost daily.  I soooooooo miss the fresh crab and clams and fish.

Have you ever tried using a Crabhawk?  




We saw some people using these and were pretty impressed with how well they were doing. 

We went and got 2 and could not believe how much fun it was and how productive they were.

We ended up leaving our crab pots at home and exclusively used the crabhawks.

We picked ours up at Fred Meyer and if I remember right we paid right around $15.00 for them.

Anyway .. nice looking catch and great looking crabcakes !!


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## Hoot (Sep 29, 2013)

I ain't been crabbing in many years. Used to take my kids down to Lynnhaven pier and we would crab all night long. Gotta do that again soon.
MrsLMB, I am gonna see about finding one or two of them Crab Hawks. Looks like a great and fun way to crab!


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## Addie (Sep 29, 2013)

When my husband was shrimping in Texas, when they haul back the bag there are also crabs in it along with the shrimp and other critters. The crabs and other critters got thrown overboard. They were blue crabs. Some of them were huge. He would always bring home about 10 pounds of shrimp. So one day I asked him to bring home some of the crabs. He did. All the huge ones! Into the  pot they went. A lot of work getting the meat out, but ooooh soooo good. A bowl of melted butter, a pile of FF and we ate until our fill. He also would bring home any and all seahorses that got caught. They hung all across my curtain rods. And I also had the dubious job of keeping a pail of bleach to drop the large conch shells in that still had the animal inside. Once the animal was dead, my son The Pirate would sell the shell to tourists. But I still hanker after those crabs. Can't eat them anymore. Severe life threatening allergy.


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## MrsLMB (Sep 29, 2013)

Hoot said:


> I ain't been crabbing in many years. Used to take my kids down to Lynnhaven pier and we would crab all night long. Gotta do that again soon.
> MrsLMB, I am gonna see about finding one or two of them Crab Hawks. Looks like a great and fun way to crab!


 
It is a super fun way to catch crab.  We seldom had any "down" time.  

For bait we used chicken. The Dungies seemed to prefer dark meat to the white meat for some reason. So we would stick a leg on there and it would last quite a long time.

Just a piece of advice - use strong test line - at least 20# and a heavy duty pole. We would sometimes pull up the trap with 10 crab hanging in there.

When they are in the trap munching on the bait you will see the tip of your rod dip and you will feel it - much like a big fish.

Wait until it's constant, pull hard and whatever you do, do NOT drop the tip of your rod while you are reeling.  Lowering the tip of your rod will let the trap open and you will lose your catch  

It's a blast and you will get a good workout as well as good food at the same time !

These were caught in our CrabHawk traps:






You will have a blast "fishing" for crab Hoot .. hope you catch a bunch of them !!


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## CraigC (Sep 29, 2013)

Addie said:


> When my husband was shrimping in Texas, when they haul back the bag there are also crabs in it along with the shrimp and other critters. The crabs and other critters got thrown overboard. They were blue crabs. Some of them were huge. He would always bring home about 10 pounds of shrimp. *So one day I asked him to bring home some of the crabs. He did. All the huge ones! Into the pot they went. A lot of work getting the meat out, but ooooh soooo good.* A bowl of melted butter, a pile of FF and we ate until our fill. He also would bring home any and all seahorses that got caught. They hung all across my curtain rods. And I also had the dubious job of keeping a pail of bleach to drop the large conch shells in that still had the animal inside. Once the animal was dead, my son The Pirate would sell the shell to tourists. But I still hanker after those crabs. Can't eat them anymore. Severe life threatening allergy.


 
Just like picking crawfish, if you have enough iced down beer on hand, picking crab isn't hard at all. I can even manage to pick some for future use.


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## Addie (Sep 30, 2013)

CraigC said:


> Just like picking crawfish, if you have enough iced down beer on hand, picking crab isn't hard at all. I can even manage to pick some for future use.



My first mistake that day was dumping them out on newspaper on the table and thinking I would sit down and just pick, pick, pick. My newborn infant had other ideas of how I should be spending my day. My hands got a good washing about every five minutes. Took three times as long as it should have. But it was worth it!


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## Roll_Bones (Oct 23, 2013)

Addie said:


> And I also had the dubious job of keeping a pail of bleach to drop the large conch shells in that still had the animal inside. Once the animal was dead, my son The Pirate would sell the shell to tourists.



You could have tripled the money you got for the conch shells by selling the conch meat instead.
Its close to $20 a pound in the seafood market.  But its been cleaned and ready to use.

Conch is excellent fare. I make conch fritters and it is a great addition to any type serveche. (hope I spelled that right)


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## taxlady (Oct 23, 2013)

I worked with a Jamaican woman who told me that conch was delicious, but that when she lived in Jamaica, no one would admit to eating it. It was free, since you could just go get them in the ocean, so they were "poor people food".


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## CraigC (Oct 23, 2013)

Roll_Bones said:


> You could have tripled the money you got for the conch shells by selling the conch meat instead.
> Its close to $20 a pound in the seafood market. But its been cleaned and ready to use.
> 
> Conch is excellent fare. I make conch fritters and it is a great addition to any type serveche. (hope I spelled that right)


 
Go to Penn Dutch in Hollywood or Margate and it is only $12.00 a pound. While your there pickup some royal red shrimp, you won't be sorry!


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## Addie (Oct 23, 2013)

taxlady said:


> I worked with a Jamaican woman who told me that conch was delicious, but that when she lived in Jamaica, no one would admit to eating it. It was free, since you could just go get them in the ocean, so they were "poor people food".



Like lobster was in the early 1900's.


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## Dawgluver (Oct 23, 2013)

Sadly, conch is overfished.  It IS delicious, and makes awesome ceviche.  It also has a season when it's supposed to be harvested, at least in Mexico, but there's a lot of poaching going on (and not just in wine and butter.)

It's on Seafood Watch's Avoid list.  http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=Conch


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## CraigC (Oct 23, 2013)

Dawgluver said:


> Sadly, conch is overfished. It IS delicious, and makes awesome ceviche. It also has a season when it's supposed to be harvested, at least in Mexico, but there's a lot of poaching going on (and not just in wine and butter.)
> 
> It's on Seafood Watch's Avoid list.


 
That's interesting, the keys are loaded. They passed a 10 year ban on taking queen conch back in the '70's for Florida, particularly in the keys and gulf. They have yet to lift that ban. The conch, like the alligator, have recovered to the point of being a viable fishery if managed properly, IMO. I'm not talking about the welk being sold as conch.


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## Dawgluver (Oct 23, 2013)

CraigC said:


> That's interesting, the keys are loaded. They passed a 10 year ban on taking queen conch back in the '70's for Florida, particularly in the keys and gulf. They have yet to lift that ban. The conch, like the alligator, have recovered to the point of being a viable fishery if managed properly, IMO. I'm not talking about the welk being sold as conch.



It's still banned, right?  So do you need a license to harvest it now?  Where is the conch meat coming from?

We visited a conch farm last time we were in the Keys, apparently they were trying to get things going, but the guy said they weren't sure farming would work.


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## CraigC (Oct 23, 2013)

Dawgluver said:


> It's still banned, right? So do you need a license to harvest it now? Where is the conch meat coming from?
> 
> We visited a conch farm last time we were in the Keys, apparently they were trying to get things going, but the guy said they weren't sure farming would work.


 
Conch are roamers. I can imagine them not being viable as a "farmed" product. Oysters, mussels and clams are sedentary. Seeding them is easy. You might say they are perfect for "wild farming" and great as a replenishable resource. Conch and scallops, not so much. I did some work back in the early '90's for a conch and lobster company out of Kingston, Jamaica. Like many other seafood products, the Japanese were their main customers. At that time, the Jamaicans had depleted their conch and lobster so bad that they were working 40 miles off their coast. Perfect example of third world countries that have no concept of managing natural resources, thinking it is a never ending supply. I saw what they collected, lobster wise for the Japanese market. They took everything, undersized and females with eggs. They didn't care as long as they made money right now. Kinda like the Chinese, they send us poison crap that kills our pets and kids and we deplete/poach our wildlife to suit their needs.

The US ban is still in effect. Just like the "temporary" income tax, it hasen't been lifted.


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## Harry Cobean (Oct 24, 2013)

crab is probably my favourite seafood.get beautiful orkney brown crab from my local tesco for £5/$7 to $8 each.they usually weigh in at about 0.5 kilo/1-1.5lbs.the monster in the griddle pan weighed in at 1.5k/over 3lbs...crack on....bargain!


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## Harry Cobean (Oct 24, 2013)

TrevorH said:


> I picked up a crabbing hobby last year while fishing. I asked a few crabbers on their gear and how they did it. 1 month later, I compiled everything I needed to go crabbing.
> 
> Ever since going crabbing, I made many dishes using crabs. Infact im quite bored of eating them now. So i took out my camera and went crazy with pictures.


now that's what i call a day out trevor..great pics/food & thanks for reminding me about crab & pasta.not made it for ages...i make it with linguine!


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## Addie (Oct 24, 2013)

CraigC said:


> That's interesting, the keys are loaded. They passed a 10 year ban on taking queen conch back in the '70's for Florida, particularly in the keys and gulf. They have yet to lift that ban. The conch, like the alligator, have recovered to the point of being a viable fishery if managed properly, IMO. I'm not talking about the welk being sold as conch.



Back in the early 70's they were on the menu of every restaurant or eatery in New Bedford and Fall River here in Mass. Evidently it is a favorite food of the folks from Portugal. Conch Chowder. The ultimate favorite.


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## Harry Cobean (Oct 24, 2013)

CraigC said:


> That's interesting, the keys are loaded. They passed a 10 year ban on taking queen conch back in the '70's for Florida, particularly in the keys and gulf. They have yet to lift that ban. The conch, like the alligator, have recovered to the point of being a viable fishery if managed properly, IMO. I'm not talking about the welk being sold as conch.





Addie said:


> Back in the early 70's they were on the menu of every restaurant or eatery in New Bedford and Fall River here in Mass. Evidently it is a favorite food of the folks from Portugal. Conch Chowder. The ultimate favorite.


only eaten conch a couple of times(never see it this side of the pond)thought it was deelish.had it made into fritters at this place when bolas & i were visiting nico in miami.man,look at that sky...could do with a piece of that too!!


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## Roll_Bones (Oct 24, 2013)

taxlady said:


> I worked with a Jamaican woman who told me that conch was delicious, but that when she lived in Jamaica, no one would admit to eating it. It was free, since you could just go get them in the ocean, so they were "poor people food".



I guess the Caribbean lobster was also a poor persons food until a rich person tried it out and liked it. 



CraigC said:


> Go to Penn Dutch in Hollywood or Margate and it is only $12.00 a pound. While your there pickup some royal red shrimp, you won't be sorry!



You do mean Florida? I am originally from Miami. $12.00 a pound for cleaned conch sounds like a very good deal.  But the gas to drive there  would make any savings moot.....LOL 

Royal Red shrimp?  I have been buying frozen red shrimp up here. Wild caught in S. America. Price is very good and shrimp very big and tasty. Is the any correlation Craig?
I bought a 2 lb bag of 12-16 count for $15.00. Thats a very good price here. Very good.



Harry Cobean said:


> only eaten conch a couple of times(never see it this side of the pond)thought it was deelish.had it made into fritters at this place when bolas & i were visiting nico in miami.man,look at that sky...could do with a piece of that too!!



I grew up in Miami and even back then, it seemed few people other than the ethnic Cuban and others actually appreciated conch meat.
I also spent much time in Key West.
Here is where my love for conch originates.

There was an old shack in Key West on White street where a old black man sold conch fritters and bouyito's (spell is wrong for sure) (boy-eat-toes) is how its pronounced.
They were the best. Craig. Are yo familiar with (boy-eat-toes)?

Ground, shelled black eyed peas, whipped up with garlic, hot peppers and seasonings. then teaspoon full fritters are dropped into hot oil.  Served with hot sauce and cold beer.


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## taxlady (Oct 24, 2013)

Roll_Bones said:


> I guess the Caribbean lobster was also a poor persons food until a rich person tried it out and liked it.
> ...


I think "poor people food" is often the stuff easily available to hunt or gather.

When I lived in La Macaza, Quebec, my Scottish husband was really excited that he had managed to shoot a grouse. Grouse is quite the "posh" fowl in GB, with rich Englishmen flying to Scotland on the first day of hunting season.

It was quite tasty. But, the locals couldn't believe we admitted to eating it.


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