EASY STEAMED CRABS

When you don't have a bushel of crabs to steam, here's an easy way to do them. You can use this method for blue claws, Snow crabs and King crabs. And, BTW, Snow crabs and King crabs are already cooked. They just need to be heated. We did a small batch of blue claws last night (5 crabs), and some Snow crabs (5 clusters). I thawed the Snow crabs in the fridge overnight. They were still partially frozen when we heated them. We treated the blue claws and the Snow crabs the same.
First, lay them in a large pan. I used 13x17 aluminum trays purchased from Wal-Mart, 2 in a pkg. for about $10.

Next, Sprinkle the crabs with some Old Bay or Chesapeake Bay seasoning. We prefer the Chesapeake Bay seasoning, and I believe it is slightly lower in salt. The Crab Guy tends to use more of the seasoning than I do. Next, pour about 1 cup of water into the pan. Cover with aluminum foil. Place on a hot, preheated grill (425F), with the lid down, for 10 minutes. Take a peak under the foil to be sure there's steam coming out. If so, take them off. The blue claws should have turned red and the Snow crabs should be steaming hot. In case they're not steaming, just recover and give them a few more minutes. These do not take long at all, and usually 10 minutes does it.
Serve the blue claws with apple cider vinegar cups and serve the Snow crabs with melted butter. We had corn on the cob and a nice cucumber-tomato salad to round out our meal.

GUY'S STEAMED CRABS

My husband, Guy, loves crabs. He dreams about crabs all year. We call him "the crab Guy." He has his own blogspot -- thecrabguy.blogspot.com. Guy set a crab trap at our friend's dock in Pamlico County. He checks it regularly and also crabs over there. Yesterday, he caught half a dozen crabs. We're from New Jersey, where you clean them before you eat them. He cleaned them right at the dock and iced them before he brought them home. Here's what they look like when they're cleaned, iced and ready to be cooked:

In order to cook crabs properly, you need a crab steamer. It's a big pot with a steamer insert.
The crabs are fresh but dead, so you can easily pick them up and put them in the pot. Be sure the water is boiling briskly before the crabs go in; you want lots of steam.
Sprinkle the crabs with Old Bay or Chesapeake Bay Seasoning. Not too much, or they'll be too salty. Cover the pot and let the crabs steam for about 10 minutes. Serve them with apple cider vinegar in little cups. You can sprinkle some more seasoning in the cups like the Maryland people do or just have the the vinegar plain like New Jersey people do. If you want to know how to clean the live crabs, surf over to thecrabguy.blogspot.com and check it out. Guy has a You-Tube video on how to clean crabs. It's not his video, but the method is almost the same, except Guy doesn't cut the crabs in half. He's going to make his own video soon. Oh, and BTW, Guy is selling his adorable crab boards (see the top photo). They're not just adorable, they're also practical. Everyone who uses them loves them, because the board provides a hard surface on which to crack open the crabs. The mallet comes with the board and he may be packaging a set of board, mallet, knife and cup -- still working on it.

STEAMED CRABS MARYLAND STYLE

This is how Gordon's of Orleans Street Restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland, does their crabs.

Steamed Crabs Maryland Style
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb. seafood seasoning
1/2 lb. salt (mix with seasoning)
2 doz. live blue crabs
1 pt. water or beer
1 pt. vinegar

Put water and vinegar in a 10-gallon pot. Place a layer of crabs on an elevated platform in the pot. Sprinkle each layer generously with seasoning mix. Put lid on pot and steam about 25 minutes.