Whole Dungeness Crab

• 1 medium to large live Dungeness crab (1.5–3lb)
• 6–8 quarts water
• Salt

How to Boil Dungeness Crab

Fill a large pot with cold water—enough water to fully cover the crab. Salt the water with a heavy hand; it should be salty like the ocean. Note: You may choose to add seasonings such as Old Bay or a bay leaf to the salted water for added flavor.

Using tongs, carefully pick up the fresh crab in the center of its body and place crab into the pot. Bring the water to a boil. Boil for approximately 7 minutes per pound. The color of the crab shell will change to a bright orange when it’s fully cooked.

Use tongs to take the crab out of the pot and transfer to a plate or wire rack to cool.

How to Clean Dungeness Crab

Once the cooked crab is cool enough to handle, remove the “apron” of the crab—the triangular part of the crab shell. Simply grab hold of the top of the triangle and pull it toward you and off the shell.

Next, separate the top shell of the crab. The easiest way is to find the small hole between the body of the shell and the top shell of the crab. With one hand, hold the top shell facing down, and with the other hand, pull the body up and away.

Now you’ll be holding the top shell with the crab butter or crab juices in the top shell. You can either reserve this to make crab butter, or discard it. You can either discard the top shell, or rinse it out and clean it to use as a serving dish for your crab recipe.

With the crab open, you’ll see the mandibles and the gills. The gills are in two rows at the top of the crab body. They’re feathery and don’t taste good, so remove and discard them. The mandibles are two pointy parts at the top of the crab that you can snap and break off of the crab; discard those as well.

Rinse the remaining crab with cool running water to clean any excess bits left behind. Pat dry, serve, and enjoy.

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