If you have not cooked blue crabs on the grill before, relax its pretty easy to do and crabs on the grill add a great smoky flavor that you do not get from streaming.
Ingredients:
Blue Crabs (Fresh)
Old Bay
Garlic cloves
Salted Butter
Crushed Red Pepper
Salt/Pepper
Butter flavored Pam
Cooking Instructions:
Garlic Butter Prep:
On your stove or side burner, melt two sticks of salted butter with a little bit of salt/pepper and a couple of cloves of garlic, as well as a small amount of crushed red pepper. Add a generous amount of Old Bay. The Old Bay will settle at the bottom, and this is a good thing. When you get this ready, stick a brush in the mixture and put it in a convenient spot near your grill.
Grilling Steps:
1 - Open up your grill and place a double layer of aluminum foil on one of the racks.
2 - Spray a generous amount of Pam (I use generic stuff) on to the foil
3 - Place crabs on the foil, and make sure they are not hanging off of the foil and are not too close together. I usually put about 8 crabs on one rack.
4 - Go ahead and fire up the grill if you haven't already. I keep my grill around 150 degrees F.
5 - Take the butter mixture and dip the brush into it. You're not really interested in getting butter all over the place, but get some of that old bay off the bottom and then paint inside the meat cavity of the crab. I also make sure to cover the top part of the body, but I don't bother getting the legs or the bottom side of the crab.
6 - Cook for about six minutes, but this time will depend on your heat and number of crabs cooking. Keep the lid closed, and make sure you are not getting a lot of butter down into the bottom of the grill (will flame up).
7 - When the crabs are mostly orange with a hint of blue in the claws/legs, go ahead and flip them over, and if necessary, rotate. You will see which crabs are cooking faster, so just switch places with the ones that are cooking slower. Close the lid and let the crabs cook.
8 - Wait about another six minutes, and then take a look at the crabs. They should be orange/white on the bottom side, and when you flip them, the legs should no longer be blue (maybe a very slight color, but no more than that). Flip them so the top side is facing upward, and give one more light coating of old bay/butter mixture in the meat cavity. Close the lid and let cook for another minute or two.
9 - The final result will not be charred or overly crispy, but should be a bright orange with slight charring on the tips of the small legs. Take the crabs out and put them in a bowl. I sprinkle Old Bay seasoning on the crabs when I put them in the bowl.
If this is done correctly, the meat will be firm and should not stick to the legs. If it is sticking, you are cooking too long or maybe have the heat too high. If it is mushy, you could probably stand to cook them for another minute or two. The crabs should be somewhat sweet with a hint of garlic taste, while being fairly moist and buttery. I like crabs cold, but these are best served hot and juicy. Fridge is okay, but they don't seem to be as good as when they are cooked other ways, for whatever reason.