Clambake Class

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ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

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If using live crab, kill it before cleaning. You can any method you like to do this, but a quick 60-second blanch in boiling water seems to do the trick. Dunk the crab in ice water to stop cooking.

Blanch in boiling water for 60 seconds; chill quickly

Pry the shell off, pulling from the back of the crab first. Remove the gills and scoop out the guts inside the body of the crab. A good rule of thumb is to remove anything that’s not pure white. (The white stuff is meat, and oh boy, is it delicious.)

Pry off the shell; remove anything that’s not meat

Many people are particularly sensitive about killing lobsters and crabs for food. Though research on the topic is inconclusive, the bulk of studies show that crustaceans do not have complex enough brains to feel pain like humans and other animals do. In fact, lobsters and crabs have nervous systems that are more similar to those of insects than to those of any other animal.Interestingly, studies also show that humans are more compassionate toward lobsters and crabs than any other animal we eat, likely because these are the only animals we have to kill ourselves to cook. At ChefSteps, we take pride in sourcing whole, healthy animals, killing or butchering them ourselves, and using every bit that we can in our cooking. Submerging a crab in boiling water may seem more “humane” than cooking one over a fire, but the smoked crab still dies in a matter of minutes, and it’s very likely it can’t feel the pain one way or another.

What’s the most humane way to kill a crab?

We rinse our crab in a bowl of ice water, but you can use a running faucet.Pry off the abdomen.

Rinse; pry off abdomen

Cut into quarters by splitting down the middle from head to tail, then cutting each side into halves. Leave the front half with the pincer (if still attached; they sometimes fall off during cleaning), and the back half with the last two or three legs.Reserve cold until needed.

Cut into quarters; keep cold until needed

Here’s one good way to deconstruct a dungeness crab—that sweet, meaty crustacean native to the Pacific Northwest, whose season heralds the beginning of summer for so many Seattleites.

Cleaning Crab