How to Heat Snow Crab Legs
The snow crab is a variety of shellfish that lives in the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans. Its legs are typically sold frozen and contain a small amount of meat that has a mildly sweet taste. If you prepare snow crab legs correctly, the meat will be moist and flavorful. Unfortunately, snow crab legs can overheat easily and become tough and bland. One of the most common cooking techniques for heating snow crab legs is steaming because it uses a gentle and moist heat to warm the meat without drying it out. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- 3 to 4 pounds frozen snow crab legs
- Large pot with lid
- 3 to 4 cups of water
- Steamer basket
- Tongs
- Platter
- Nutcrackers
Instructions
-
-
1
Place a 3 to 4 pound package of frozen snow crab legs into your refrigerator. Store them in the refrigerator for about eight hours or until they are completely thawed.
-
2
Pour 3 to 4 cups of water into a large pot on your stove top--the water should only fill the pot halfway. Set your stove to "high" and heat the water until it starts to boil.
-
-
3
Insert a steamer basket directly into the pot--it should fit into the pot without its bottom touching the boiling water. Add the thawed 3 to 4 pounds of snow crab legs into the steamer basket.
-
4
Cover the pot with a lid. Heat the snow crab legs for about six minutes, making sure they are completely covered the entire time or else the steam will escape and it will take longer to heat the crab legs.
-
5
Remove the lid from the pot, then grab a snow crab leg with a pair of tongs and touch the leg with your finger--if the crab leg feels warm, it is fully cooked. If the crab leg feels cool, put it back into the pot and heat the crab legs covered for another three to four minutes.
-
6
Transfer the heated snow crab legs with tongs onto a platter. Place a crab leg into a nutcracker, then squeeze the nutcracker to loosen the shell so you can get to the meat and pull it out.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Serve the steamed snow crab legs with melted butter and lemon wedges--these will enhance the flavor of the crab meat without overpowering it.
If you don't have a steamer basket, wrap the thawed snow crab legs in lightly moistened paper towels and microwave for three to five minutes to steam them through.
Always carefully supervise snow crab legs while they are steaming because they can become dried out with just a few extra minutes of cooking.
Never buy thawed snow crab legs unless you will be cooking them immediately when you get home--once the crab legs are defrosted, their freshness rapidly decreases.
