How long can you keep them alive?

[mrobertson]

What's the longest you've let crabs sit before steaming them?

Would it be too much to ask to take a live bushel on say thursday evening and steam them saturday morning?

Would it be best to put them in a refridgerator or just keep them cool covered with wet burlap?

[mlavallee]

Keep them in the fridge with the wet burlap. Crabs are resilient as I had one live in my bilge (dry, no water) for 3 days.

[Steve F]

Mike, I have kept crabs in a cooler with ice and I kept the lid cracked open for 2 days and they where OK. Make sure you do keep them cool and not in the sun.

Forgot to add, if you do keep them in a cooler with ice make sure you keep the drain plug open, do NOT let them set in water....

[Fat Jimmy]

quality crabs will last much longer than a bunch of whities as well. I wouldn't try keeping whities alive much more than 1 night.

[crabby and son]

What's the longest you've let crabs sit before steaming them?

Would it be too much to ask to take a live bushel on say thursday evening and steam them saturday morning?

Would it be best to put them in a refridgerator or just keep them cool covered with wet burlap?

If you think about the commercial side, crabs will live a good while if kept in the right conditions. ie from the water to the restaurants and markets. The crabs need to be kept cool 40 to 45 degrees is about perfect. They need air also, so a small sealed refrigerator is not real good. A walk in box is optimum but not feasible to most crabbers. It has to do with the quality of crab also. Big white bellies will die quick and the bigger crabs also die sooner. These methods will keep crabs alive for a week with very little mortality. Your next best bet is to store them in a cool dry room in a bushel basket covered with wet burlap. Do not try to submerge them in water unless you have a live box at your pier........Gary

[Carolina Polar Bear]

One mistake I see made often with crabs is to transport them in the open, like a pick up truck bed. They can't breathe air when it is flowing over them at 55 miles an hour. I learned this the hard way, had an entire bushel of healthy, lively crabs all die on a two hour trip in the bed of my truck, didn't know. Found out later that's why all of the crab transport trucks are enclosed.... keep them out of hard flowing air or they will suffocate.
CPB

[Burchbeer]

I have kept crabs encased in ice for more than 48 hours without ever having any problem. If they go into the cooler live, are encased in cubed ice they are fine for consumption. I am not saying a week but I have done if for 2 whole days and a little more before steaming. I add ice peridcially also. This method has been recommended to me by waterman and I have used it for over 20 years. Now the 2 days is the exception. My average period of time between water or live to steaming box is 2-3 hours. Never gotten sick. Use common sense is all. Keep the cooler of crabs in a cool place like a basement or crawl space out of the sum and high temps. Even in a living space would be fine. If they die under these conditions they will still be perfectly edible. Keep an eye on the ice and replenish as needed to keep them covered. At times when I have been distracted jusy beofre steaming, many of the crabs come back out of their dormant state and started moving again.
Thats just how Ive rolled since I dont have the type of refridgeration others do.
Do what works for you!

[dogbig]

I got an extra fridge in the basement, in one of the bottom drawers I can fit about 1/2 bushel of crabs. I learned the hard way that you dont want the fridge too cold, most of the crabs will go to sleep and not wake up!! Also, prop the fridge door open so they get air. I had good results after 24 hours. Have not tried any longer.

[Jim75]

Burchbeer,
Once I get my crabs home I put them in my wash tub located in my garage. I pull out the plug and cover the crabs with ice. Someone told me I shouldn't do this but this is what I've done for years and I seem to have no problems. I think it also helps to keep the crabs from loosing their legs and claws during steaming. Do you agree with this method?

Thanks,
Jim

[Burchbeer]

Jim,
Yes I do. Crabs will use their realease instinct when crammed into a pot and drop their claws. When iced, this doesnt happen and the claws remain intact with the crabs body.
If you run an ice pick through the mouth or under the shell from behind when alive this also helps stop the claws from being dropped while they steam. There is also the shocking method when you actually electrocute the crabs. You can search old posts for this subject. The guys that steam at the crabfest for us have ice picked and shocked crabs in prep for steaming 6-10 bushels in October.
There are so many methods folks use in crab prep and cooking. I have lost nice crabs before on the ride home and the icing method, works for me. I am not catching and transporting bushels of crabs either so keep that in mind. My catches are a bushel or less on average when I crab myself. Thats all I need for me and mine. If I am not transporting crabs they typically come out of the livebox and into the pot. Again not the norm for most probably.
What reasons did people give you for NOT icing the crabs?

[gwag]

I had one in the floor pan of a 75 cj 5 that surprised me while driving down the road ,I almost had two accidents one with a car another in my pants . it was tues after I had crabbed with my wife on sat.

[Stumpknocker]

Ive been crabbing during the week to beat the crowds and staemin them on Saturdays. I use a cooler with ice. I basically layer the ice and cabs. Open the drain and prop the cooler so the water runs out.

[rgminer]

Use to work at a crab house as a kid in the summer. We frequently kept crabs alive in the chiller for 4 days. Keep them around 36-38 degrees, no need to wet them (in fact waterborne bacteria can grow at those temps so dry is better)

At those temps, we didn't even bother checking for dead ones when we steamed them. I ate those crabs a couple times a week and never got sick, and no one else that I know of did either.

Ya got to keep them cold!, but not frozen

[Jim75]

Burchbeer,
They were telling me too much ice would cause the crabs to die. I figured that being iced for only a 2-4 hours wasn't going to do any damage. Heck I've been doing this for several years and never had any problems. Thanks for your comments.

Jim

[Burchbeer]

Sure some will die but it wont matter because they have been kept in ICE! The ones in the botton will drowned in what lttle ice melts but they are still in ICE and will not spoil.
ICE away Jim. I will too.

[crabby and son]

When you catch a crab, it is obviously alive. If it dies before you cook it and it has been on ice, the bacteria will not grow and is safe to eat. When you buy a bushel of crabs, you can't eat any dead ones because you don't know how long they have been dead or the temperature they have been kept. Ice is nice:yes: If you don't believe me, ask birchbeer. Whatever he says is like money in the bank:clapping2:..........Gary

[Burchbeer]

Hey Gary, have ya been out? This hand is getting better. The doc says 5 weeks until the tendon will be healed enough so it doesnt break. I am hoping sooner. I am sending you a wave buddy boy! It aint like getting shot but Id rather not get shot.
OH and I iced it too.

[crabby and son]

Hey Gary, have ya been out? This hand is getting better. The doc says 5 weeks until the tendon will be healed enough so it doesnt break. I am hoping sooner. I am sending you a wave buddy boy! It aint like getting shot but Id rather not get shot.
OH and I iced it too.

Thanks for the high five Dave. I have not been crabbing as there are a ton of 3-4" bait stealers around right now. I just spoke with Capt. Dale and got the same response. I took Kevin fishing Tuesday and we loaded up on big perch. Had em for dinner last night. Not as good as crabs but still very good. Hope you are well on your way to being back on the water.Ice is nice!..........Gary

[Burchbeer]

10-4 on the little termites that strip the bait fast.
A good shed should be fixing that problem.

[JB Crabs]

Just the other week we caught three bushel on Thursday and I steamed up the last on Monday, 8 dead. How I do this is simple. While crabbing we keep the basket shaded for the most part and are always pouring water over the crabs. When we cap a basket we place a wet towel over the basket. When we get back to ramp we place the basket of crabs in the back of the truck and on the top of the lid we place a bag of ice. Over the bag of ice we place the wet towel assuring the basket is also covered for the trip home. Once we get home we remove the ice from the top of the basket and place the bushel of crabs in our reach in cooler maintained at 48 to 50. We cover the basket again with wet towels to keep the crabs moist.

[bayhead]

Dem noodleheads got it figured out! Glad to hear you are getting John! Hope you are feeling better!

[Burchbeer]

Do what fits your situation boys.