You can freeze it just fine. You will lose some quality, particularly if it had been frozen before, but not as much quality as you would lose if it went bad! :D

Frozen crab works OK for dips, cakes, etc.

Not so great for eating as is. Not bad, mind you, but not like the fresh thing.

Try and use the juices that release when you defrost it, lots of flavour in there.

thanks to you both. Maybe I should just consider making something yummy for me and the kid instead! I can always get more when he returns from the trip.

any good crab recipes? dip sounds good.

Is it pasteurized? If so, check the expiration date - it's likely several months away.

holy heck FOAS - I couldn't find it before but now found on the bottom - it says July 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the heck is in it? It is pasteurized. But says all natural. Weird. I guess you can ssee I don't buy crab very often. ah well, I don't have to be in a hurry to use it, I guess...

I'm guessing the July 2011 date is for the unopened can?

All I know is there are cans of crab meat available that are "cold" pasteurized. I've never bought one but they started out for the food industry I'm told.

Crab spoils pretty fast; I'd assume even the pasteurized stuff when opened. Again, I'm no expert...left over crab is a lot like left over wine or beer around here...we hear about it from time to time but have never experienced it.

I live in Dungeness territory and we have a camping spot (not a campsite, a hidey hole) that I can walk out at low tide, place my trap and wait. Walk back out at next low and usually find crab in it. Big, clean ones too. I guess that is a neener but I don't have a BBQ shack or whatever you all have.

Stacy - I hate to mention this, but a lot of times those crab containers that have a far reaching expiration date often taste a little strange. I'm not sure how they process it to make it last that long, but it tastes weird to me. I would definitely make something with other strong flavors... like crab cakes with a spicy remoulade.

Alexa

Stacy, if the container is still sealed, I'd keep it and wait until DH comes home, but if it's open I'd use it up.

Fresh crab here is a myth, I've heard of it but never seen it, LOL. Well, the kids do catch the "crawdads" from the lakes and rivers and cook them sometimes, but, well, it's not really crab. (grin)

So, does the canned stuff taste different than the frozen king crab and such I get here? Yeah, it does. Would I notice it when made into crab cakes? Probably not...

Annie

Stacy, who cares if it is still sealed. Open it and make something for you and Will. Too bad for Scott. He shouldn't have left a day early. LOL!

Here are a couple of recipes for you.

Stuffed Endives With Crab Meat
==============================

Filling

Fills about 24 leaves

1 2-oz. can whole pimentos
1 green onion
1 shallot
1/2 lb. cooked crab meat
1 tsp. prepared mustard
2 tsp. lemon juice
2-4 Tbl. mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Paprika
3 Belgian endives
.
Chop 1 pimento (reserve the remainder for another use), the green
onion, and the shallot.
Combine the crab meat, mustard, lemon juice, green onion, shallot,
and 2 Tbl. of the
mayonnaise, adding more if needed. Add the pimento and season to
taste with salt, pepper,
and paprika. To prepare the Belgian endive cut off 1 inch from the
root end; carefully separate
each leaf. Stuff Belgian endive leaves with crab meat filling.

Layered Crab And Spinach Terrine
================================
From the California Culinary Academy

Crab Layer
1/2 pound crab meat, picked over and flaked
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large eggs

Spinach Layer
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons flour
1/2 cup whipping cream
2/3 cup half and half
1 1/4 pounds cooked spinach
drained and squeezed to remove excess moisture
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Sauce
Mix together,
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely minced roasted red pepper
1 clove of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste.
Chives for garnish

Preheat oven to 375F. For the crab layer: In a medium bowl combine the crab, sour cream, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper and cayenne. Stir in eggs and set mixture aside.

For the Spinach layer: Melt butter in a heavy saucepan until foamy. Whisk in flour and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Whisk in whipping cream and half-and-half. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer slowly 10 minutes. Stir occasionally, scraping down the sides and around the bottom as necessary. Mixture will thicken as it cooks. Remove from heat and stir in spinach. Let cool. Stir in eggs, one at a time then add black pepper, nutmeg, sugar and salt.

To assemble the terrine: Grease an 8 cup loaf pan/terrine pan with butter. Spoon half the crab mixture in the bottom and cover with all of the spinach mixture. Spoon remaining crab mixture over the spinach. Set the terrine in a baking pan and pour 1 inch of hot water into the baking pan. Bake uncovered until golden brown and puffy. Approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Cool on a rack and then refrigerate.

To serve, run a knife around the edge and invert on to a serving platter. Slice about 1/2 thick slices and place two on each plate. Decorate plate with a lettuce leaf and place a dollop of the sauce on the lettuce leaf. Garnish with a few chives.

She Crab Soup
=============

I've been making this recipe for over 30 years. Makes a wonderful first course.

1 quart of milk/cream
6 tablespoons of butter
1/4 small onion
1/2 pound of crab meat
3 oz of roe or 2 hard cooked egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup flour
Sherry

Heat cream or milk. Melt butter and saute onion. Let simmer until soft and add crab meat,
egg yolks or roe. Add flour, paprika, cook 3 to 5 minutes. Do not let flour brown. Add hot cream/milk and simmer 20 minutes. Add Sherry. Serve additional sherry at the table for individual taste.

Thanks for all the great advice and suggestions and gorgeous photos! I'm battling a head cold or allergies or something - so I guess it depends on whether or not I have any ambition later...Will wanted to have grilled portobella "burgers" for dinner, but the weather is supposed to be hot and gorgeous this week - and that terrine looks amazing. So does the soup . I've heard about it for years and never made it - I might just have to! (but don't tell Scott)

thanks everyone!
Stacy

The meat from Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs (and the crabs from Louisiana,before the oil spill, and gulf crabs), cannot be frozen raw. We steam them first, then the meat is picked and processed into containers to be refrigerated or frozen. I suppose it it also pasteurized for delivery to other parts of the country. Frozen crab meat does not have the same texture and retains to much liquid to successfully cook with it later, in anything other then soup. The cooked, prepared dish will freeze fine- crab cakes, crab imperial, etc. It isn't as spectacular as the unfrozen state, but good enough for a treat out of season.

Pasteurized crab meat tastes very different than fresh steamed crab (meat). The texture is different as well. Does it state what kind of crab meat it is(claw, lump, special) and it's origin? That may determine what you do with it.

I say, follow Ann-T's advice, and make something delicious now!

Annie - you get fresh "kill" ~ we get fresh "caught"~LOL

mags, I guess I'll just have to be happy with my freshly caught Lake Michigan salmon, walleye and lake perch and the bluegills, sunfish, bass and pike from the local inland lakes. Oh, and that Lake Superior whitefish.

I sure wish I could figure out how to convince scallops, crabs and halibut to live in the Great Lakes, though!

Annie

Hey Annie~okay ~ you get almost everything fresh!!! :-)

We get alot fresh, but no salmon. And you have your farm. You work it hard and deserve the rewards.