How long does it take to steam blue crabs?

Some novices still don’t know how long it takes to steam blue crabs. If the crabs are overcooked, the crab meat will become tough and affect the taste. Generally, blue crabs only need to be steamed for five minutes. If they are larger, they need to be steamed longer. If you really don’t know, you can ask the boss for advice when buying crabs.

How long does it take to steam crabs?

The most important thing when steaming crabs is to keep the crabs fresh and to steam them until they are cooked through but not overcooked. The most common problems in the steaming process of crabs are steaming them for too long, causing the meat to lose its freshness and sweetness, or steaming them for too short a time, causing the infestation of parasites or something.

The steaming time of crabs cannot be generalized, because the time required for a whole crab and cut crabs is completely different. Therefore, the following will be explained in two aspects.

1. How to cook a whole live crab

When making dishes such as steamed crabs, the whole live crab is usually steamed in a pot. After the steamer is boiled, put the crabs in. Steam them on high heat for about 5 minutes, then switch to low heat and continue steaming for a while. The specific steaming time depends on the size of the crabs:

Crabs weighing less than 3 taels should be steamed for about 10 minutes, those weighing 3 to 4 taels should be steamed for about 12 minutes, and those weighing more than 4 taels should be steamed for about 15 minutes. Generally, for every ounce of weight increase, the steaming time should be increased by about 2 minutes. Crabs have certain toxicity and parasites. If you don't keep them for enough time, it will not be easy to kill and destroy the toxicity and parasites. However, if you keep them for too long, the crabs will lose their delicious taste and it will not be easy to separate the meat and shell, making them inconvenient to eat.

2. How to cut crab into pieces

When making dishes such as scallion oil crab, you need to cut the crab into small pieces first and then steam them in a pot. The chopped crabs also need to be put into the pot with boiling water. They should be steamed on high heat for 5 minutes and then on low heat for about 10 minutes.

In short, whether it is a whole crab or chopped crab, the total steaming time should not be less than 15 minutes, starting from the time the boiling water is put into the pot, because it takes about 15 minutes to completely kill parasites or pathogenic microorganisms, and this time will not cause the crab meat to become old.

Additional Notes

When steaming crabs or fish, you should wait until the steamer is boiled before putting the crabs or fish in. This will reduce the time the ingredients are heated, keeping the meat fresh and tender while reducing nutritional loss.