How to preserve fresh, pure sea crabs in the refrigerator

Do you know how to store crabs in the refrigerator to ensure they remain fresh, not skinny, or that the crab meat does not become fibrous and lose quality? The method for storing crabs in the refrigerator that we share below will help you preserve fresh crabs with intact quality in a very simple way.

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After you bring crabs home but haven’t cooked them yet or bought too many and want to store them for later, how do you store live crabs in the refrigerator to ensure they remain fresh and meaty?

How to store crabs in the refrigerator

Storing crabs in the refrigerator is not like storing meat; for vegetables and meats, you just need to wash them, wrap them tightly in plastic, vacuum seal, or can them and put them in the refrigerator. But seafood, especially live crabs, is not that simple. Since crabs can be quite aggressive, you cannot just leave the crab’s binding ropes on and put them in the refrigerator; you need to follow these steps before storing crabs in the refrigerator.

Step 1: After bringing the crabs home, you absolutely should not put them in water because crabs can easily suffer from “thermal shock” and die, and of course, crabs that die without being cooked immediately will lose meat and not be sweet anymore. Therefore, to keep the crabs alive and fresh longer, you should place them in a cool spot and can sprinkle water on them. If you want to be more careful, you can lay the crabs on a bed of ice to keep them fresh and firm, making it easier to handle them in the next step.

Step 2: Since crabs are very aggressive and their large claws can pinch your hand until it bleeds, you must not remove the binding ropes while they are still alive. Leave the ropes on, then flip the apron under the crab’s belly, use a sharp object to poke straight into the hollow under the belly until the legs and claws stretch out to ensure the crab no longer poses a danger to you.

Use a sharp object to poke straight into the hollow under the belly until the crab’s claws stretch out

Step 3: Remove the crab’s apron and the soft eggs on the outside of the apron. Remove the gills and only keep the part containing the crab meat.

Step 4: Remove the binding ropes from the crab to clean every nook and cranny of the live crab with a small brush with soft bristles. You need to brush and rinse with water to ensure the crab is clean.

Now you have just cleaned the crabs to prepare for storing them in the refrigerator. There are 2 ways to store crabs in the refrigerator. You can do as follows:

Method 1: Use a plastic container or an ice tray to neatly arrange the crabs in the container and place it in the refrigerator’s cool compartment. This method is suitable for cooking on the same day. Do not leave them too long as it will cause the crabs to lose water, and the crab meat will become less sweet and fibrous. You should adjust the refrigerator temperature to between 0 – 4 degrees Celsius.

Method 2: Use a plastic bag or vacuum-sealed bag to wrap the crabs. This method of storing live crabs in the refrigerator has advantages over method 1 as it helps minimize water loss when kept in the freezer. However, this method is only suitable for crabs that are no longer alive or soft-shelled crabs. This method helps you keep crabs for 2 – 3 days. Note that when taking crabs or blue crabs from the freezer to cook, you should thaw them in the cool compartment first; this helps the crabs or blue crabs remain fresh and delicious. (See more:
How long can cooked food be safely stored in the refrigerator for health)

If you do not have a refrigerator, you can still process the crabs as described in the 4 steps above and store them by arranging the crabs in a foam box or plastic container. Mix a diluted saltwater solution and place the crabs in it. Keep the container of crabs in a cool place. The method of storing live crabs effectively for a long time is to place them in an environment with a temperature of about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius.

However, if you want the crabs to remain fresh, whether you choose to store live crabs in the refrigerator or keep them in a diluted saltwater solution, we recommend that you only keep live crabs for about 3 days. If it exceeds 3 days, the crab meat will no longer retain its flavor and quality.

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