How to Clean a Dungeness Crab

Ingredients

• Cooked Dungeness crab
• A cutting board and a mallet or cracker
• A bowl for shells, a bowl for meat

Steps

1. Pull off the carapace (top shell) from the back. Save it if you want crab butter.
2. Remove the gills (the feathery fingers) and the mouth parts; rinse the body cavity briefly.
3. Break the body in half down the middle, then into leg sections.
4. Crack each leg and claw gently — you want cracks, not shrapnel.
5. Pick body meat from the chambers with your thumbs; it is the sweetest part.

Tip. Chill the crab before picking — cold meat releases from the shell cleaner.