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A Complete Guide to Cooking Crab Legs
Crab legs are a wonderful delicacy as well as a key ingredient in a crab salad recipe but many people are put off using fresh crab because they do not know how to cook it. How long to boil crab legs is a popular cooking question and how to cook crab legs is another.
Like many fish, crab does not take long to cook and overcooking it can make it tough and dry, which is why people might reach for a can of imitation crab instead. If you know how to cook crab legs and how long to boil crab legs for the ultimate combination of tenderness and flavor, you are well on the way to making a perfect crab salad recipe. Crab legs are easy to cook and take mere minutes.
Store bought crab legs are nearly always cooked and then frozen, so you literally just need to reheat them. Crab legs are often cooked on board the fishing boats straight after being caught, before being flash frozen. This keeps the flavor and freshness intact. Try to buy frozen crab legs or precooked, frozen crab legs rather than thawed ones, which will not taste as fresh.
You can keep thawed crab legs for two days in the refrigerator but try to cook them as soon as they are thawed for the freshest and best flavor. To thaw them, you need to put them in the refrigerator for eight hours. If you put them on a rack in a container, which is watertight, the crab legs can drain while they thaw.
How to Cook Crab Legs
Crab legs can be boiled, steamed, done in the microwave, baked, or even grilled. To steam precooked crab legs, you will need to bring two cups of salted water to a boil in a steamer. Add the crab legs to the steaming basket and steam them for five to ten minutes until they are warm and smell good.
If you want to bake crab legs, you should crack the legs and put them on a baking tray. Brush them with oil or butter, lemon juice and seasoning and bake them for eight or nine minutes at 350 degrees F if they are already cooked or fifteen minutes if they are raw.
You can also microwave precooked crab legs and this method is very quick. Wrap the crab legs in a damp paper towel, put them in the microwave, and cook them on a high heat for two or three minutes.
Boiling crab legs is a very popular method. To do this, you should half fill a bit pot with cold water and add a tablespoon of salt. When the water reaches a boil, drop in the crab legs. Turn the heat down and let the crab legs simmer until they are done. Remove them from the water and rinse them.
How Long to Boil Crab Legs
If you are using cooked, frozen crab legs, you will just need to heat them up so five to seven minutes is fine. If you are using raw crab legs, give them between fifteen and twenty minutes.
Now you know how to cook crab legs and how long to boil crab legs, you can forget about having to make an imitation crab salad recipe and make a fresh crab salad with home cooked crab legs.
