Have you baked crab legs? I need tips please.

[Phentex]

I've looked at a few recipes and most just drown the legs in a garlic butter sauce and bake for 25 minutes. We are landlocked so the crab legs I am likely to find may not be top of the line. I don't want to ruin them further. Have you ever baked them? Did you make slits in the legs to absorb more sauce? Did you use old bay in the sauce?

[tonyt53]

1. I live in the middle of the US. Just drop them in boiling water with some crab boil for a bit.

Just a few minutes will work. Most store-bought crab legs have slits in them already. Get a nut cracker if you need some help. Crack them open, drag out the meat and dip it in the butter if you want. Then eat like a pig!

[Phentex]

3. We plan to pig out...

I feel like boiling works best when you are at the beach and get the super fresh crab legs.

[MontanaMama]

2. We bake them quite often.

It seems easier, less messy and stinky to me than boiling them and having to deal with the legs seeping hot water all over your plate. We are also land locked so all of the crab we get here in Montana is already cooked. We cut slits in the legs with kitchen scissors and bake them or steam them - covered - without sauce just enough to warm them through. We serve them with a dipping sauce of drawn butter, finely grated Parmesan cheese, garlic and herbs or just plain clarified butter. Even when we bake them, I put a little water in the bottom of the pan so that the legs don't dry out because again, the legs are already cooked and you only need to warm them through. Hope that helps! We actually had crab legs last night for dinner!! I hope you enjoy your crab. It is such a treat!

[Phentex]

4. Thanks for the tips...

like adding some water. I really do not want to over bake them. A few recipes say to baste while you bake for about 25 minutes. That seems like a lot of time to me but I haven't done this before.

[MontanaMama]

5. You are very welcome.

I might also suggest placing a wire rack or something else in the bottom of whatever you are baking them in to elevate them out of the water. the water leaking out of the legs bugs me but it might not bug you. I don't think you can mess it up. Crab legs are forgiving. Enjoy your dinner!!

[Major Nikon]

6. There's lots of ways to do it

One of the easiest ways to do King Crab legs is to wrap them in damp paper towels, then plastic wrap and microwave them. I prefer to do them this way and do the sauce on the side, which for me is generally just melted herbed butter.

[Warpy]

7. Read the package carefully first

Most of the king crab legs I get here in the high desert come precooked or at least parboiled before freezing. Some are frozen right on the boat and need to be partially thawed and then cooked. Either way, they tend to be a little disappointing as far as flavor goes, so you need that lemon-garlic butter, lots of it. A little red pepper wouldn't go amiss, either.

Quite honestly, Krab from the Asian market is better in things like summer salads.

However, if your crab legs are flash frozen and uncooked, bake away. Don't slit the legs until they're hot, then clip a slit with kitchen shears to give diners something to grab when they pull them apart to get at the meat. Leaving them intact during cooking prevents them from drying out. If they're precooked, then dunking in boiling water to warm them is the way to go, although you can oil them up and run them under the broiler for sizzle.

I'll always prefer the crabs on the east coast, also. They come whole and boiled at fish markets, always fresh. The ones from the Alaskan waters have huge legs and small bodies, so we landlocked people only see the legs.