# blue crabs on ice safe time limit ??



## mudskipper (Oct 3, 2007)

There are so many different opinions online...….some say to never eat dead crabs because the put out toxins when they die, they don't taste as good and can make you very sick.

Live crabs boiled/steamed are obviously the way to go.


so here's the question......I boat camped all weekend at Ft Mcrae and netted 40 on sunday night, they were live until putting them in a Yeti cooler and filling it with ice on top Monday morning at 2 am.....they have been iced since then with almost no ice melting.....they smell fine.....
2-3 days dead on ice is okay ?? 


I did this same scenario about two weeks ago and they definitely didn't taste as good as fresh/live/freshly killed.


Any advice on cooking them now for the best flavor/taste ? Clean first then cook ?

Thanks !


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Cook when alive. You keep them alive by keeping them cool and wet like covered with a wet burlap out of the sun. . Cool not on ice. If dead don't eat them.


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## mudskipper (Oct 3, 2007)

I need to start doing that...….I was busy camping , fishing , eating at waterfront restaurants, keeping kids busy and off video games and other stuff......It was much easier to ice them......it was also really hot all Monday and I thought it would be safer to keep them cold/on ice


so you would definitely toss them or save for bait ?
not safe to eat ?


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## jack2 (Mar 19, 2010)

what was your method of catch. chickennecks, crabtraps, nets?

jack


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## jack2 (Mar 19, 2010)

oh, btw, i've eaten fresh dead blue crab out of the ice water and they taste just fine. been doing that for fourty years and i'm still posting.:thumbup:

jack


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## mudskipper (Oct 3, 2007)

nets...the fun way !!

...all by sight, headlamp and flashlight....walking next to my flats boat with two people on the boat spotting.....ankle to waist deep, most were in two feet of water or less.....I had some of my flounder lights on also


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

They aren’t dead
I have done that for many years 
Ice them, keep them a few days, then cook them. No problem 
I just run water over them, to wake them up from hibernation


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## mudskipper (Oct 3, 2007)

I was under the impression that they were dead since it was a sealed cooler ???

They would have run out of oxygen....

.I'll try to wake one up later.....Frankencrabstein !


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

If you won’t eat them I will
They are not going to return to life and runaround snap at you like they did when you pull them off the water. But they will twitch a little bit


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

Yeah I think Capt. Ron (Sealark) nailed it. If you don't have burlap then we have used layers of newspaper. Anything that "breathes". We do a layer of paper (burlap), layer of crabs, layer of paper, etc ending with a layer of paper. On top of that we put a layer of ice. Leave the plug open so the melted ice can drain out. Add ice from time to time.

This keeps them cold, but not wet and cold. Have kept them alive for 3 or 4 days this way.


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## gator75 (Aug 11, 2016)

Boil and make crab cakes.


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## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

Just putting them on ice doesn't kill them. They slow their metabolism down to nothing...think suspended animation. They do the same thing during cold winters.


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

I do it differently. I clean then all (with a water hose) and keep them on ice a few days. Easier to eat after they cook.


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## FishinFool (Oct 2, 2007)

They do not throw their claws off when boiled after being on ice!


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## 2RC's II (Feb 2, 2012)

Mixed with ice in cooler with plug in cooler open. You do not want them swimming in water alive or cooked. If alive they will die if cooked the meat will turn to mush. But the best option if available is to freeze them while still alive (we used a paper bag back when there was such a thing) then cook however many want whenever you want. I would cook em all within 6 months. I shrimped back in the day and we caught a ton of bycatch crabs. This is the only way we prepared them.


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## Tail Chaser (Jun 22, 2008)

Im with 2RC's on the frozen part best way to have them already on hand whenever your wanting more


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## Catchemall (May 8, 2018)

I'm with Jack, been eating iced crabs a long time. As far as toxins go, I've got a friend that eats everything but the feathers, (lungs) and admittedly he's a little strange, but nontheless healthy.


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## Breeze (Mar 23, 2012)

Grew up on the Chesapeake. Big time blue crabs there. We were taught never ice them. Just fill a bushel basket up and attach the lid. Keep them out of the sun. Keep them wet. Once home start the steamer. When taking them out of the basket, if it aint still moving it dont go in the steamer. Only ones I ever saw steam dead ones were the commercial crab houses. They steamed at such high temps that it killed any bacteria. They were the only ones that ever froze them also, quick freeze after steaming them. 

Might just be an old wives tail but me personally will not steam any crab thats dead or been frozen. Fresh and living only... 

Sent from my Z965 using Tapatalk


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## 2RC's II (Feb 2, 2012)

Breeze said:


> Grew up on the Chesapeake. Big time blue crabs there. We were taught never ice them. Just fill a bushel basket up and attach the lid. Keep them out of the sun. Keep them wet. Once home start the steamer. When taking them out of the basket, if it aint still moving it dont go in the steamer. Only ones I ever saw steam dead ones were the commercial crab houses. They steamed at such high temps that it killed any bacteria. They were the only ones that ever froze them also, quick freeze after steaming them.
> 
> Might just be an old wives tail but me personally will not steam any crab thats dead or been frozen. Fresh and living only...
> 
> Sent from my Z965 using Tapatalk


This ain't Maryland. This is hot azz down south. Have frozen live crab whole for over 40 years. Boil em just like live crab and they taste almost the same. Heck a crab is a shell with about 2 tablespoons of edible meat sealed inside.


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## Breeze (Mar 23, 2012)

2RC's II said:


> This ain't Maryland. This is hot azz down south. Have frozen live crab whole for over 40 years. Boil em just like live crab and they taste almost the same. Heck a crab is a shell with about 2 tablespoons of edible meat sealed inside.


Well, not saying your wrong. Just saying how we were taught. I said it might be an old wives tail. Either way, I personally am not going to do it. 

Now you have me wondering about the crabs I got from joe patties that were already cooked.. Thought they tasted different but figured it was just florida crabs.. No more joe patti crabs for me! 


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## waveshaper2 (Dec 10, 2013)

2RC's II said:


> This ain't Maryland. This is hot azz down south. Have frozen live crab whole for over 40 years. Boil em just like live crab and they taste almost the same. Heck a crab is a shell with about 2 tablespoons of edible meat sealed inside.


Yep. I've been chasing/eating blue crabs since 1970 and also spent years fishing/crabbing in the Chesapeake bay and our local area (me and my brother caught 83 crabs on a gigging trip in Choctaw bay about 10 days ago). 


What I remember about this rule "don't cook/eat dead crabs" is simple; This info is from, way back when; It comes from the locals in Chesapeake Bay that live on Tangiers Island that run the crab farms/soft shell crab shedding pens on this island. This rule basically applies if you're buying live crabs from a "seafood vendor/market". "Don't pick/buy/cook/eat them" because "you don't know how long they have been dead", maybe 3,4,5, days. These crabs are probably rotten like any other critter would be if it's been dead and not on ice/frozen for that long. 


We have always cooled our crabs down with a little bit of ice in the cooler and we also keep the drain open. We typically cook our crabs as soon as we get home or ice them down good and cook them later in the day. We have always cooked the dead crabs using this method and never had a problem.


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## waveshaper2 (Dec 10, 2013)

test


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

FYI
Cosse's Place in Milton now serves Boiled Blue Crabs.
He does not get them every day, so you would need to call to see he Mike is boiling on the day you want to go eat some.

He is working on getting supplied every day, at this time. Stopped in the Monday to pick up some food on the way back from Brewton.

There are not too many places in the Panhandle that serves Blue Crabs.


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## 2RC's II (Feb 2, 2012)

10 4.


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## stevenattsu (Apr 24, 2009)

BananaTom said:


> FYI
> Cosse's Place in Milton now serves Boiled Blue Crabs.
> He does not get them every day, so you would need to call to see he Mike is boiling on the day you want to go eat some.
> 
> ...


He's getting them through Rollos and Jamie one of the crabbers is coming back to the area. So he should be getting plenty very soon


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

stevenattsu said:


> He's getting them through Rollos and Jamie one of the crabbers is coming back to the area. So he should be getting plenty very soon


Yep, that is what Mike told me Monday, as I watched him put some to boil.
I had to keep rolling, as I was still working.
Looking forward to sitting down to a dozen.


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## mudskipper (Oct 3, 2007)

BananaTom said:


> If you won’t eat them I will
> They are not going to return to life and runaround snap at you like they did when you pull them off the water. But they will twitch a little bit


I would have brought them to you if I chickened out  One of the reasons I was asking about food safety was because I wanted to give half to a couple of older gentlemen who aren't able to crab or fish anymore due to health reasons......the last thing they need is bad crab, much more dangerous at older ages


There were in the cooler for 3 1/2 days.....the ice was only at the top, they plug was closed unfortunately but I didn't want dripping crab smell in a hot boat ......they all smelled fresh and tasted great !

Thanks to all for the help


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