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Cooking Crab Legs

Cooking Crab Legs

Many people assume that crab legs are difficult to prepare, but in reality they can be prepared in minutes. The frozen crab legs you purchased at the local supermarket have already been cooked and all you need to do is heat them up and they are ready to eat. Crab legs are cooked on board fishing boats as soon as they have been caught and are immediately flash frozen. To defrost frozen crab legs, place them in the refrigerator for about 8 hours. If you place them on a rack in a watertight container they will drain as they are defrosting.

There are four ways to prepare crab legs: bake, steam, broil or microwave. To boil fill a large pan with water and add a tablespoon of salt, boil the water and drop the crab legs in. Heat them for 10-12 minutes then remove from water and rinse. To bake preheat your oven to 375°F and place the crab legs onto a baking tray. Brush the crab legs with butter, lemon juice and seasoning and leave in oven for 15 minutes. To microwave place the legs in the microwave on a microwave-safe dish and cover the crab legs with paper towels and heat high for 3 minutes. To steam pour 3 cups of water in the steamer add 1 tablespoon of salt and wait till it boils. After that, add the crab legs and let the crab steam for 10- 12 minutes. To broil melt butter with minced garlic in a small saucepan then keep on simmer. Heat your grill to medium-high and brush both sides of each crab leg with olive oil and place on the heated grill. Grill for 4-5 minutes, turning once.

The meat contained in crab legs is snow white in color and is extremely flavorful, tender and succulent once prepared. Crab meat has a relatively mild taste, and is somewhat sweet. A rule of thumb for how much you will need to purchase is between 8oz and 1 lb per person. Most often crab legs are served with a dish of hot melted butter to dip the succulent crab meat into. Adding a pinch of garlic or a couple drops of hot sauce to your melted butter will bring raves from your diners.

If you are wondering what to serve with these wonderfully tasty crab legs we have found that artichokes, deviled eggs, penne pasta, baked potatoes, a chilled salad, steamed green beans and crusty garlic bread that can be dipped into the melted butter are fantastic additions to your menu. If serving wine it is best to serve white wine as it will not overpower the tasty crab meat.

We have come up with a number of Crab Leg recipes that you should check out. Among them are Baked Crab Legs, Grilled Crab Legs with Garlic and Herb Butter, Microwaving Crab Legs and Steamed Crab Legs.