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Lobster is pretty easy, usually no special tools needed.
The crab we get here, from the European North Sea, is a beautiful brown crab a little bit similar in size and taste to Dungeness crab, and it has a very hard shell. When I cook crab myself, I always pre-crack it before cooking using a mortar and pestle. I do not cook crab in boiling water, but rather saute/braise it, so the juices of the sauce go into the crab.
Crab is one of my favourite foods!
OMG, there is such a thing? Or did you Photoshop that?
Judging by color, my bet is that this is 80% crab butter and the pressings therefrom.
Now⌠where did I put the Kaopectate?
Somebody obviously Photoshopped it. Probably In Maryland, no doubt.- might immunize babysâ digestive systems âŚ
better feasting, earlier.
I should clarify that I only use these tools for Dungeness crab. Lobsters are hard to get out here.
The spine of a heavy chefâs knife. Anything else and youâd have gone on the list of staff to be gotten rid of. Nobody cared what you picked the meat out with as long as it came out clean and whole. A flattened awl worked well for me. A birdcage awl would work just as well and no blacksmith skills needed.
I once gave my dad a set of wooden(looked like teak) mallets bound in stainless steel; the handles tapered down to a shape that could be used as a crab knife. Iâve seen âpewterâ mallets with the same build; but they are some sort of alloy, and the heads are not wood.
I think a rock and claw tip count as dedicated tools, manufactured by Mother Nature.
For lobster and king crab I use a narrow set of kitchen shears, but I admit I splurge on these once every 2-3 years.
For Dungeness crab legs which I put in gumbo, I crack with teeth and pick with claw tip.
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Nice.
OK, hereâs my problem with the pincer/nutcracker tool (and Charlieâs knife spine, too): More often than not, the shells of Dungeness legs, oval to start with, donât crack as much as they do crease and fold. I find this annoyingâitâs unpredictable and a lot of the time, a further ragged tearing is necessary to get at the meat. If the tool is narrow, you stand a better chance of just collapsing the leg than creating an easy entree to the goodness inside. IME this depends to some degree on where the bugs are on their molting cycle, but it still happens to me year-round.
I have a lot more success keeping leg sections intact by using something wider, e.g., a rock or mallet, and striking on one of the narrow âendsâ of the shell. I still keep a set of crab-claw-shaped pincer crackers when guests want them, but I havenât used them in many years.
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Use what works for you. Thatâs the benefit of working more or less solo in a home kitchen.
