How to Cook Crab Legs

Cooking crab legs, more often than not, does not take more than a few minutes. Crab meat is snow white in color, extremely flavorsome, tender and succulent, once it is cooked. There are many who prefer the delicately sweet white crab leg meat. In Europe, spider crabs are very popular, as they have long legs and also contain sweet flavored succulent meat, whereas in the US and Canada, the Alaskan king crab is favored, because of its long legs and also for the size of the crab. The crabs that are sold in the market are cooked before freezing. Hence, more often than not, cooking crab is actually as good as just reheating it. An important tip when you buy your crabs is to make sure you do not buy already thawed meat, as the meat loses its taste and freshness after thawing. Once they are thawed, you will have to cook the crab legs within two days, as then they can go bad.

Cooking Frozen Crab Legs
Here are the steps to cook crab legs on the stove.

• To defrost the frozen crab legs, you can place them in the refrigerator for approximately 8 hours, on a rack in a watertight container. This will help to drain the crab legs as they are defrosting.
• In a pot, pour two cups of water, add 1 tablespoon salt to it and bring it to boil.
• In a steaming basket, place the crab legs and bring the water to a boil again.
• Once the water starts boiling, it will take approximately 5 to 7 minutes for the crab legs to cook. You will be able to smell their aroma and they will also become warm. You will have to take required measures so as not to overcook the crab legs.
• Remove the crab legs from the pot and serve them hot with melted butter and lemon wedges.

Baking Crab Legs
This is another simple method of cooking crab legs.

• To bake the crabs, you will have to preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a baking pan, pour some hot water and place the crab legs in the baking pan. You can choose to add the seasoning of your choice to the water.
• Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes.
• Since most of the time the crabs are cooked before freezing, it will not take any longer to bake.

Cooking King Crab Legs
Now let's see the procedure to cook king crab legs or to be more precise, how to boil cook king crab legs.

• Boiling crab legs is one of the easiest and method of cooking king crabs.
• Take a large sauce pan half filled with water. Add a tablespoon of sea salt to the water. If you want any seasoning, you may choose to add it now.
• Bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the crab legs to the water. Now let the crab legs cook on low flame for about 7 to 8 minutes.
• Once they are cooked, remove them from the pan and rinse the crab legs. It can become the main dish for dinner.

Cooking Crab Legs on the Grill
This is my favorite method of cooking crab legs.

• While you do the following steps, heat the grill to about 300 degrees.
• The first and the foremost step, is to brush the crab legs well with olive oil. Make sure you have brushed it on all sides. It will prevent the crab legs from sticking to the grill.
• Place the crab legs on the hot grill for about 5 to 6 minutes. Then change sides and cook again for five minutes. If needed, you can turn it yet again. Just make sure it is cooked from all the sides.
• Remove it from the grill and serve piping hot after adding the desired seasoning to it.

Now that you are armed with knowledge about how to cook crab legs, when am I invited home for a scrumptious crab leg meal?