{
  "id": "CAT01-R40",
  "slug": "cat01-r40-boiled-florida-blue-crabs-with-seafood-boil-seasoning",
  "url": "https://www.thisisflorida.us/florida-recipes/recipes/cat01-r40-boiled-florida-blue-crabs-with-seafood-boil-seasoning.html",
  "title": "Boiled Florida Blue Crabs with Seafood Boil Seasoning",
  "category": "Florida Seafood & Fish",
  "category_id": "CAT01",
  "language": "en",
  "yield_servings_base": 4,
  "servings_scale_options": [
    2,
    4,
    6,
    8
  ],
  "prep_time_minutes": 20,
  "cook_time_minutes": 40,
  "total_time_minutes": 60,
  "primary_cooking_method": "BOIL",
  "primary_food": "blue crab",
  "vegetarian": false,
  "allergens": [
    "shellfish",
    "milk"
  ],
  "ingredients": [
    "12 live blue crabs",
    "24 cups water",
    "1/2 cup seafood boil seasoning (Old Bay-style or Cajun boil)",
    "1/4 cup salt",
    "2 lemons, halved",
    "1 garlic head, halved crosswise",
    "1.5 pounds small red potatoes",
    "4 ears of corn, husked and halved",
    "4 tablespoons butter, melted, for dipping"
  ],
  "directions": [
    "Keep the live crabs in a cooler with ice until cooking. Just before cooking, check each crab and throw away any that are dead or do not move when touched — never cook a crab that died before cooking.",
    "Scrub the lemons and potatoes under running water. Husk the corn and rinse it.",
    "Fill a very large stockpot with the water. Add the seafood boil seasoning, salt, lemon halves, and garlic. Cover and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat.",
    "Add the potatoes and boil 10 minutes.",
    "Using long tongs, carefully add the live crabs one at a time, holding them from the back to avoid the claws. Cover and return to a boil.",
    "Boil 15 to 20 minutes, adding the corn for the last 8 minutes, until every crab shell has turned bright orange-red and the meat is opaque. Crab meat should reach 145°F.",
    "Drain in a colander or lift everything out with a slotted spoon onto a clean tray or newspaper-covered table. Melt the butter in a small saucepan for dipping.",
    "Keep the cooked crabs away from the cooler and tongs used for the live ones. Chill leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour if the room is above 90°F)."
  ],
  "food_safety": "Cook only crabs that are alive right before cooking, and discard any that died beforehand. Boil until all shells turn bright orange-red and the meat is opaque (145°F). Put cooked crabs on a clean tray, never back in the cooler or container that held them raw.",
  "skill_taught": "Handling live crabs safely and boiling them until fully cooked.",
  "source": "This Is Florida — Florida Recipes v1.0",
  "license_note": "Free to read on thisisflorida.us. Do not scrape for commercial republishing without permission."
}