Crab legs are a delicacy enjoyed by many seafood lovers. However, accessing the meat within the crab legs is not an easy task. Cutting through the hard shell that protects the crab from the elements requires a heavy-duty knife and a lot of patience. The hard shell cannot be broken by hand without a little help of a cracking tool or without the hard shell being precut.
Remove the body cluster from the body end of the crab leg using a meat cleaver or other heavy-duty knife. Cut off any bits of cartilage that may be clinging to the meat underneath the body cluster.
Divide each leg into 3 inch segments. The contents of each segment does not matter. You do not need to make the cuts at the joints.
Remove the tapering tips and throw them away.
Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut the white part of the shell away from the crab meat inside. Remove the white part and keep the red part of the shell. This creates a cradle to hold the crab meat while it cooks.
Remove any cartilage that runs through the legs. The cartilage is too tough to eat and is more easily removed prior to cooking.
Related Articles
How to Clean Gizzards
How to Cook Frozen Shrimps That Still ...
How to Eat Stone Crab
How to Devein Tiger Prawns
How to Cut Lobster Tails
How to Clean Fresh Crabs to Freeze
How to Use a Shrimp Deveining Tool
How to Cook a Lobster on a Foreman Grill
How to Cook Fully Frozen, Whole Lobster ...
Step-by-Step Instructions for Boiling ...
How to Peel & Devein Crawfish
How to Kill a Crab
How to Remove Whelk Shells
How to Remove a Labret Piercing
How to Clean Tilapia
Types of Crabs in the Atlantic Ocean
How to Eat King Crab Legs
How to Skin & Cook Squirrel
How to Take the Ball Off of a Lip Ring
How to Put in a Curved Nose Ring
References
Writer Bio
Kimberly Turtenwald began writing professionally in 2000. She has written content for various websites, including Lights 2 You, Online Consultation, Corpus Personal Injury and more. Turtenwald studied editing and publishing at Wisconsin Lutheran College.
Photo Credits
alaskan king crab legs image by jedphoto from Fotolia.com