Does anybody body have any tips or suggestions on freezing dungees? Do you just cook like normal and freeze or should you cook longer to make the meat more solid? I have never done it before and the time I have tried frozen crab (which was long ago) it was mushy. How long does it last? Any suggestions will be tried. Thanks

1. cook the crab as you normally would
2. ice it down as soon as it comes out of the cooker
3. crack out the meat
4. freeze in 1/2-1# vacuum-sealed portions

I freeze cooked and picked crab meat pieces to use for recipes. Before I had a vacuum sealer, I would put the cleaned meat in a small heavy zip lock, add a little water so it freezes into a solid block and the solid ice helps prevent freezer burn, squeeze out all air and a little of the water, seal and freeze. Now I just vacuum pack and freeze. Either way lasts me several months in the freezer.

The "recipe" that people seem to like best is to carefully thaw and drain some of those big crab chunks, add enough store-bought salsa so that it's "dippable" and serve with crackers. What more do you need?

I've thought about trying to ship some whole crab to my relatives. I've talked with seafood folks who recommend cooking and freezing whole crab on the theory that the guts help protect the meat. (When I'm cooking to pick or serve "whole" crab I clean it first because I'd just as soon not stew the meat in any toxins that can be concentrated in the internal organs). Careful... I tried vacuum packing one and the next thing I knew the vacuum bag crushed the body like an egg. The legs on a whole crab also often puncture any plastic used before freezing.

That was my other question i forgot to ask, is it better to shell it or leave it in the shell, halved or whole? I gave my friends mom a bunch this weekend, I halved and cleaned it, she boiled it for 12 minutes, put it on ice, took all the legs and claws off, busted the tips of the legs off, stuck the bodies and limbs in ziplock bags and put them right in the freezer. My friend told me she ate some last night, put it in the oven at 300 for 3 minutes and said it tasted just like it came out of the cook pot. I'm looking for all opinions. To those who have already posted, thanks for the quick tips.

I have a freind who says to cook and cool as normal (in the shell) then place them shell down in the freezer. No bag or nothing. Haven't tried this yet.

We usually crack everything right away and vacuum seal. Last year I started wrapping all of my meats (fish, deer, crab, shrimp, etc.) in sealed butcher paper and then vacuum sealing. Since doing this I have not had one seal leak on me and everything has been better tasting than ever. I think the paper allows the vacuum sealer to work better by keeping the moisture in the meat and keeps it from messing up the seal.

After cooking, let cool then shell all the meat as stated above. Put desired amount in vacuum bag with a rolled up paper towl just below the seal to stop the juice from getting into your machine.
Then double seal the end.
Then I might just be crazy but I always place the sealed bag inside another and double seal both ends just to make sure.
It's extra work but think of the time you spent getting them.
Taste perfect at your super bowl party.

I make no claim to be an expert, but have never had frozen in the shell crab that was good. I beleive that you MUST shell it and vacuum pack it to keep that great flavor. Just my .02

I will second what Mr Vedder says and add that I have tried all methods listed in this thread and quite a few others the best way I have found is to shuck the crab put the meat in a vacum bag with a couple sprinkles of salted water freeze till there is no liquid in the bag and vacum seal with this method I believe you obtain the closest resemblance to fresh crab that is possible but like stated above I'm no expert either

I work at a seafood store and cook crab everyday, here's what we tell our customers.

1. If crab is backed before cooking 6 min. Freeze, thaw and cook again for 6 min.

2. If body is on cook 10 min. freeze, thaw cook another 10 min.

Crab will be good for a month or two.

Killer tip Time. I'm going crabbing/fishing tomorrow. Don't know if there will be any crab left to freeze though.

We cooked whole crab and cleaned crab last year and froze both. They didn'y last very long after we got home, so we didn't have to worry about freezer burn. It just seemed a lot nicer to work with the frozen cleaned crab. We cooked them for 12 to 15 minutes before freezing and ate them cold.

Crab meat is so delicate that I don't think it freezes very well. Best to eat it fresh and take what you can eat in a few days.

Not to beat this thread to death but I wanted to share one last tip. I saw an earlier post that mentioned using a paper towel for keeping moisture away from the seal. I've tried this and it really does work but where I ran into problems was when I thawed out the package. The paper towel ends up getting totally soaked with fish juice or whatever and then the bleach from the towel leaches into the meat. It's not harmful, just not very tasty. I now use white butcher paper (Reynolds makes this) with one side shiny and it works great. It also makes it easy to see what I'm thawing out because I just write on the paper with a Sharpie.