Production of crab food products

摘要

Crab claws (30) are used to produce crab cocktails (40) and separate crab meat in a process which involves boiling for 12-14 minutes (3, 4) and immediate immersion in chilled water (5) to rapidly cool the meat and cause it to contract. This allows simple removal of the shell in a sequence of operations to crack appropriate parts of the shell involving separation of the knuckle portion and allow the meat to be easily removed without losses. The process may be carried out by placing the claws in a basket 22 attached to an overhead conveyor 20 which conveys the basket from a cooking pot 25 to a cooling station 29. The separated crab meat is frozen and may be glazed by dipping in chilled water.