How to slice whole crabs lenghtwise?

[Svenn]

Anyone know what tool is used to cut crab in the manner below? I was told it was a really sharp knife, but I have a hard time believing it wouldn't crack the shell a bit and be messy. I've searched high and low on the net looking for the answer to know avail, if you know it, I would much appreciate. This would make crab eating so much easier.

 

[kwilkinson]

Holy 1975 photo batman!

 

[Douglas]

WTF is this ****.

Learn to pick your crabs, with your hands, like a man.

 

[Cary Grant]

lasers. Must be lasers... maybe with sharks.

 

[foodguy]

actually, that's not hard to do. it' s not quite what it looks like. What they did was take the top shell off the crab (that's the part with the brown-gray fat in it), take off the legs, and then cut the body into sections. then they just propped the cut-side up.

 

[Svenn]

Originally Posted by foodguy

actually, that's not hard to do. it' s not quite what it looks like. What they did was take the top shell off the crab (that's the part with the brown-gray fat in it), take off the legs, and then cut the body into sections. then they just propped the cut-side up.
No, they actually do cut the legs down their lengths, like so (added above for others' clarity):

Either they do indeed just use a really sharp knife or they use something like a thin bandsaw to do that cut. It really makes crab eating a lot easier, and you make sure you get all the meat. I saw it cut like this a lot in Asia, but maybe not so much in the US cuz it's expensive to do?

 

[foodguy]

a) those are two different shots from two different varieties of crab. the first one looks like a hairy crab and, looking closely, it really doesn't look to me like the legs have been split. the second shot is of a king crab or spider crab and they have been split.
b) king crab is almost always frozen. that makes it very easy to split on a bandsaw.

 

[sho'nuff]

when you slice a live crab in half, they go "wah!!"

 

[foodguy]

generally, you cook them first. they do make a kind of screaming sound then, though. cool.
it's only after they're dead that you pull their bodies apart and chop them into pieces. too bad.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by foodguy

generally, you cook them first. they do make a kind of screaming sound then, though. cool.
it's only after they're dead that you pull their bodies apart and chop them into pieces. too bad.

True, but if you're a baller and buy the lobsters, you get to shove your knife through its brain while it is still alive.

The crab whining sound (actually just the air being forced out of its body, but I figure you knew that already), is actually kind of scary when you have 4 huge all-clad pots with 20 crabs in them and you're at your cutting board while it sounds like 20 crabs are all screaming for their lives.

 

[nootje]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

True, but if you're a baller and buy the lobsters, you get to shove your knife through its brain while it is still alive.

The crab whining sound (actually just the air being forced out of its body, but I figure you knew that already), is actually kind of scary when you have 4 huge all-clad pots with 20 crabs in them and you're at your cutting board while it sounds like 20 crabs are all screaming for their lives.

try throwing a pinch of salt on a lobster thats cut in half.. works like a charm to scare people out of the kitchen

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

The crab whining sound (actually just the air being forced out of its body, but I figure you knew that already), is actually kind of scary when you have 4 huge all-clad pots with 20 crabs in them and you're at your cutting board while it sounds like 20 crabs are all screaming for their lives.
i was at a dungeness crab processing plant in northern california when they were cooking about 500 pounds at a time. awesome.

 

[Svenn]

Originally Posted by foodguy

a) those are two different shots from two different varieties of crab. the first one looks like a hairy crab and, looking closely, it really doesn't look to me like the legs have been split. the second shot is of a king crab or spider crab and they have been split.
b) king crab is almost always frozen. that makes it very easy to split on a bandsaw.

Is the final answer then a bandsaw???

can non-frozen crab be split with a bandsaw? Is it just a meat-cutting bandsaw or something designed especially for crab?

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

True, but if you're a baller and buy the lobsters, you get to shove your knife through its brain while it is still alive.

The crab whining sound (actually just the air being forced out of its body, but I figure you knew that already), is actually kind of scary when you have 4 huge all-clad pots with 20 crabs in them and you're at your cutting board while it sounds like 20 crabs are all screaming for their lives.
I used to kill about 35 lobsters a day.

I actually find the act of ripping the gills off of a living soft shell crab and then cutting its face off to be much more disturbing. Disturbing in a good way, of course.

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by Svenn

Is the final answer then a bandsaw???

can non-frozen crab be split with a bandsaw? Is it just a meat-cutting bandsaw or something designed especially for crab?
nope. has to be frozen. raw, unfrozen, crabmeat has a kind of mucilaginous texture. wouldn't cut at all.