How do you cook king crab legs?????

[Krischaser]

How do you cook crab legs??

 

[Disneyaholic]

Crab legs are already cooked when you buy them -- you really just need to gently heat them up. If you overcook, they will get rubbery.

We usually steam them in a large stockpot for just a few minutes. (It depends on whether or not they are still frozen or if you have thawed them first.)

I have also been told that you can cook them in a brown paper bag in a slow oven, but don't really have any experience with that.

If you're using them cold (as an appetizer) you just need to defrost them.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

There's a few ways I've done them. I'll start with our favorite.

Boil them. Buy some crab boil (Zatarain's is my fav, two or three bags) fill a very large stock pot with water about 3/4 of the way. Be prepared to pour some water out if it's too much once you put the crabs in. Quarter 3 or 4 lemons, and toss them in there, too. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of white vinegar to the water, which is critical for getting those crabs to come out of the shells perfect. If you like garlic, toss a few fresh, smashed garlics in there. Once boiling, start putting in the crabs, cover and boil about 10-15 minutes. This is assuming you're buying the crabs from the grocery store and they're already cooked and have just been frozen. You can tell if they've been cooked if they're pink when you buy them, as opposed to grey and moving

We've also baked them, but I thought they were just dry. Preheat your oven to 350, 375. Get a large baking/roasting pan that has a big rack. Put a little water in the bottom of the pan, put the rack in the pan, then set the crabs on top of the rack. Bake for 15, 20 minutes.

Another interesting and quick way of cooking them was in the microwave. We saw this on the Food Network. Just put a clump of crabs on a micro-safe plate, cover with a paper towel and heat on high for a couple minutes. My only complaint with this way was you could only nuke a few at a time due to the size of microwaves. Also, with microwave cooking, foods tend to cool off way too quick for my liking. This is definitely a quick way to cook crabs for one person, tho.

IMHO, the vinegar is critical for good crabs. It doesn't affect taste at all, but it makes those puppies pull out of the shells perfectly like they do in TV commercials. The only way we've been able to effectively use vinegar is a good ole fashioned crab boil. We're also partial to "wet" crabs. I like to crack them and have a little lemony/spicy liquid come out and run down my arm.

Naturally, you'll want to melt a good bit of butter for dipping. Before you put the melted butter in little dishes/bowls, put a dash or two of cajun seasoning in the dishes/bowls. Then add the butter. Don't mix it up, just let the seasoning be at the bottom of the butter.

Have fun!