Ordering crab legs online brings a world of fresh seafood straight to the buyer’s doorstep. If the crab is in-season, legs can be shipped right from the boat. However, fresh-caught crab is not always sold fresh. Crab legs can be further processed by being treated with a below-freeze brine and a freshwater rinse to be flash-frozen. Sometimes, that processing is taken a step further and crab legs are deshelled before shipping out to customers. This allows folks to buy crab legs no shell, or already cracked crab legs. Also known as peeled crab legs or shelled crab legs, no shell crab legs can be a helpful purchase. Some customers do not have the time, or perhaps the drive, to time-consumingly shuck crab legs. Enter: pre cracked crab legs!

Who Has the Best Deshelled Crab Legs?

Look no further than Seabear Smokehouse. They have deshelled Golden King Crab at $49.99/lb as well as deshelled Red King Crab at $95.46/lb. Buying deshelled crab merus saves a lot of time and hassle, and there are very few companies online that sell it. Grab them before they’re gone!

Purchasing deshelled crab legs online can alleviate a lot of potential stress for the customer. First-time buyers might not fully know what to expect from the deshelling process, and this choice could save them time on researching how to shell a crab. Additionally, unshelled crab legs save a lot of mess and effort at the dinner table. The ability to take one step out of the crab-eating process makes eating crab legs a little more accessible and might encourage new customers to try it out.

How to Deshell a Crab at Home

Some customers might think that ordering deshelled crab legs takes away part of the experience. There is something satisfying about shucking crab legs in the moment, and they might be up for the challenge (and fun) of deshelling crab legs at home. Let’s get crackin’ on these unshelled crab legs!

    Steam Crab Legs: Place crab legs in a pot with boiling, salted water for 4 to 5 minutes.
    Detach The Knuckle: Crabs have two knuckles, each with three legs attached. The crab legs themselves will come detached from the knuckle, but part of the knuckle will still be there. Cut that part off first.
    Remove Meat From Knuckle: This meat is not as tender as leg meat, but would work great for crab cakes.
    Segment Crab Leg: Use shears to cut each leg into 2 to 3-inch segments.
    Slice The Shell: Splitting the crab leg segments will make removing the meat much easier.
    Dig in!

It would be helpful to gather some tools for shucking crab legs beforehand. Set aside a large pot for steaming or boiling the legs, a nutcracker or lobster cracker for the claws, kitchen shears or a sharp knife for cutting, and a small fork to pick out the meat. Load up on napkins and bibs because this endeavor is sure to be messy and exciting!

What To Do With Crab Leg Meat

The crab legs have either been deshelled before shipping, or excitedly deshelled at home. Either way there is crab meat to be enjoyed. There are tons of ways to prepare shell less crab legs. Use the tender crab meat to make a delicious chowder, crab cakes, or salad topper. Those who have enjoyed crab know it just enjoy the meat all on its own. Get creative with the possibilities. Ordering deshelled crab legs allows for less time spent on the deshelling process, and more on the customer’s actual enjoyment of the crab meat.

Take note of our Affiliate Relationships that may exist with this page and companies listed on it.