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Terms of Use wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Learn why people trust wikiHow
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Food and Entertaining
Recipes
Fish and Seafood
Crab
How to Clean a Blue Crab Download Article Co-authored by Kyle Hall Reviewed by Chef Jeff Woodward
Last Updated: February 24, 2025 References
Download Article
Taking Off the Shell
|
Cleaning Out the Insides
|
Quartering the Crab
|
Video
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Things You'll Need
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This article was reviewed by Chef Jeff Woodward and by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Hall. Jeff Woodward is a Private Chef and the Owner of The Rogue Chef based in Branson, Missouri. With over 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry, he has cooked for esteemed clients including The Harlem Globetrotters, Peyton Manning, Mark Wahlberg, and Justin Timberlake. Chef Jeff won the Branson Tri-Lakes News Reader's Choice Award 2023 for Best Catering. He has been the Featured Chef Demonstrator for 2 years in a row for The Women's Show in Springfield, MO. The Rogue Chef has been the Hollister Chamber of Commerce Spotlight Chef, an award published in Tri-Lakes News. Chef Jeff's food has been featured on KY3 Television. He publishes a recipe weekly in the Branson Globe newspaper and monthly in Lost on the Lake Magazine. He published a feature article for Chef Talks in Discover Home and Style Magazine. He has an associate’s degree from Southwestern Illinois College and a Culinary Arts degree with a Certification in Baking from Ozark Technical College. This article has been viewed 69,965 times.
Before you can cook and eat a blue crab, you have to clean it. To thoroughly clean a blue crab, you'll need to remove its shell (after it's been humanely killed) and clear out everything but the meat. Once your crab is clean, you can cook it as is or cut it into quarters so it's easier to eat.
Steps
Part 1 Part 1 of 3:
Taking Off the Shell
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1 Kill the crab humanely before you remove the shell. If you’re using a live blue crab, submerge the crab in a large bowl of ice water for 2-3 minutes to stun it. Then, remove the crab from the ice water and lay it on its back. Use a knife or ice pick to stab the crab through its shell 1 inch (2.5 cm) below its mouth.[1]XResearch source
You can also boil the crab for 1 minute to kill it. Numb the live crab in the freezer for 15 minutes before boiling. Then, remove the crab from the freezer and drop it in a pot of boiling water. Let the crab boil for 1 minute with the pot uncovered. After 1 minute, remove the crab using tongs and submerge it in a bowl of ice water so it stops cooking.[2]XResearch source
2 Pull the top of the crab’s shell off using your fingers. Stick your thumbs in the small opening at the backside of the crab. Pull in opposite directions with your thumbs until the top part of the crab’s shell tears from the rest of its body. Discard the top part of the shell.[3]XResearch source
The crab’s 2 front legs should fall off when you pull off the top of the shell. If they don’t, gently pull them off the crab’s body.
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3 Remove the crab’s abdomen. Lay the crab on its back so the bottom of the crab is facing up. Take a knife and wedge it under the edge of the crab’s abdomen, which looks like a triangle. Use the knife to lift the abdomen up. Then, pull the abdomen off the crab’s body using your fingers.[4]XResearch source
Advertisement Part 2 Part 2 of 3:
Cleaning Out the Insides
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1 Take out the crab’s gills. The gills are the thin grey muscles located on both sides of the crab’s body. To remove them, simply grab them with your fingers and pull them off. Discard the gills after you remove them.[5]XResearch source
2 Scoop out the crab’s insides. The area between where the crab’s gills were located is full of its guts. Tear off the thin tissue covering the guts with your fingers. Then, use your fingers or a spoon to scoop out all the guts inside the crab. Once you’ve cleared out all the insides, throw them away or save them as a seasoning for the crab meat.[6]XResearch source
Make sure you're not throwing away the white crab meat. The meat is located on both sides of the crab, underneath where the gills were.
3 Rinse the crab thoroughly. Hold the crab under a faucet or dunk it in a bowl of water to rinse it. Make sure any leftover guts or tissue is rinsed off the crab’s body before you continue.[7]XResearch source
Advertisement Part 3 Part 3 of 3:
Quartering the Crab
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1 Cut the crab in half lengthwise. Lay the crab right-side up and hold a sharp chef's knife so the blade is running down the center of the crab’s body lengthwise. Push down on the top of the knife with your free hand so it makes a neat cut through the crab’s body. Separate the two halves.[8]XResearch source
2 Cut the crab into quarters. Grab one of the halves of the crab and hold the knife so the blade is positioned in the middle of the 4 legs. There should be 2 legs on each side of the knife. Press down with the knife to cut the piece of crab in half. Repeat on the other half of the crab.[9]XResearch source
3 Store the crab on ice until you’re ready to cook it. When you're ready to cook the crab, take it off the ice and boil the quartered pieces. You can also grill and roast the crab. Don't forget to add seasoning!
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Things You’ll Need
Large pot
Large bowl
Ice
Knife or ice pick
Spoon
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Reviewed by: Chef Jeff Woodward Private Chef This article was reviewed by Chef Jeff Woodward and by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Hall. Jeff Woodward is a Private Chef and the Owner of The Rogue Chef based in Branson, Missouri. With over 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry, he has cooked for esteemed clients including The Harlem Globetrotters, Peyton Manning, Mark Wahlberg, and Justin Timberlake. Chef Jeff won the Branson Tri-Lakes News Reader's Choice Award 2023 for Best Catering. He has been the Featured Chef Demonstrator for 2 years in a row for The Women's Show in Springfield, MO. The Rogue Chef has been the Hollister Chamber of Commerce Spotlight Chef, an award published in Tri-Lakes News. Chef Jeff's food has been featured on KY3 Television. He publishes a recipe weekly in the Branson Globe newspaper and monthly in Lost on the Lake Magazine. He published a feature article for Chef Talks in Discover Home and Style Magazine. He has an associate’s degree from Southwestern Illinois College and a Culinary Arts degree with a Certification in Baking from Ozark Technical College. This article has been viewed 69,965 times. 28 votes - 63% Co-authors: 3Updated: February 24, 2025 Views: 69,965 Categories: CrabArticle SummaryX
To clean a blue crab, stick your thumb in the small opening at the backside of the crab and pull off the top of its shell. Next, lay the crab on its back and remove the abdomen by wedging a knife underneath it. Then, use your fingers to pull out the gills and scoop out the innards. Finally, rinse the crab thoroughly under running water, or by dunking it in a bowl of water. For advice on how to prepare live blue crabs for cleaning, keep reading.Did this summary help you?YesNo
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Yes No Advertisement Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Reviewed by: Chef Jeff Woodward Private Chef 28 votes - 63% Click a star to vote Co-authors: 3Updated: February 24, 2025 Views: 69,965
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Download Article Co-authored by Kyle Hall Reviewed by Chef Jeff Woodward 
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Reviewed by: Chef Jeff Woodward Private Chef This article was reviewed by Chef Jeff Woodward and by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Hall. Jeff Woodward is a Private Chef and the Owner of The Rogue Chef based in Branson, Missouri. With over 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry, he has cooked for esteemed clients including The Harlem Globetrotters, Peyton Manning, Mark Wahlberg, and Justin Timberlake. Chef Jeff won the Branson Tri-Lakes News Reader's Choice Award 2023 for Best Catering. He has been the Featured Chef Demonstrator for 2 years in a row for The Women's Show in Springfield, MO. The Rogue Chef has been the Hollister Chamber of Commerce Spotlight Chef, an award published in Tri-Lakes News. Chef Jeff's food has been featured on KY3 Television. He publishes a recipe weekly in the Branson Globe newspaper and monthly in Lost on the Lake Magazine. He published a feature article for Chef Talks in Discover Home and Style Magazine. He has an associate’s degree from Southwestern Illinois College and a Culinary Arts degree with a Certification in Baking from Ozark Technical College. This article has been viewed 69,965 times. 28 votes - 63% Co-authors: 3 Updated: February 24, 2025 Views: 69,965 Categories: Crab Article SummaryX
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1 Kill the crab humanely before you remove the shell. If you’re using a live blue crab, submerge the crab in a large bowl of ice water for 2-3 minutes to stun it. Then, remove the crab from the ice water and lay it on its back. Use a knife or ice pick to stab the crab through its shell 1 inch (2.5 cm) below its mouth.[1] 
2 Pull the top of the crab’s shell off using your fingers. Stick your thumbs in the small opening at the backside of the crab. Pull in opposite directions with your thumbs until the top part of the crab’s shell tears from the rest of its body. Discard the top part of the shell.[3] 
3 Remove the crab’s abdomen. Lay the crab on its back so the bottom of the crab is facing up. Take a knife and wedge it under the edge of the crab’s abdomen, which looks like a triangle. Use the knife to lift the abdomen up. Then, pull the abdomen off the crab’s body using your fingers.[4] Advertisement 
1 Take out the crab’s gills. The gills are the thin grey muscles located on both sides of the crab’s body. To remove them, simply grab them with your fingers and pull them off. Discard the gills after you remove them.[5] 
2 Scoop out the crab’s insides. The area between where the crab’s gills were located is full of its guts. Tear off the thin tissue covering the guts with your fingers. Then, use your fingers or a spoon to scoop out all the guts inside the crab. Once you’ve cleared out all the insides, throw them away or save them as a seasoning for the crab meat.[6] 
3 Rinse the crab thoroughly. Hold the crab under a faucet or dunk it in a bowl of water to rinse it. Make sure any leftover guts or tissue is rinsed off the crab’s body before you continue.[7] Advertisement 
1 Cut the crab in half lengthwise. Lay the crab right-side up and hold a sharp chef's knife so the blade is running down the center of the crab’s body lengthwise. Push down on the top of the knife with your free hand so it makes a neat cut through the crab’s body. Separate the two halves.[8] 
2 Cut the crab into quarters. Grab one of the halves of the crab and hold the knife so the blade is positioned in the middle of the 4 legs. There should be 2 legs on each side of the knife. Press down with the knife to cut the piece of crab in half. Repeat on the other half of the crab.[9] 
3 Store the crab on ice until you’re ready to cook it. When you're ready to cook the crab, take it off the ice and boil the quartered pieces. You can also grill and roast the crab. Don't forget to add seasoning! Advertisement