Culinary Use
About one-quarter of the crab's weight is meat. The flesh has what is considered to be a delicate flavour and slightly sweet taste. Dungeness crabs can typically be purchased either live or cooked. Larger crabs are valued for the higher meat-to-shell ratio. Live crabs are cooked simply by dropping them into boiling salt water, waiting for a boil to return, and then allowing it to continue for 15 minutes, after which time the crabs are removed and placed into cold water to cool, and then cleaned. Two common tools for removing crab meat from the shell are a crab cracker and a shrimp fork. Sometimes, a cleaver, mallet, or small hammer is used for cracking Dungeness crab, but the use of these devices is not recommended, as the integrity of the meat may be compromised due to the impact.
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