[mmichaels1970]

And crabs.

I know you're just joking, but having butchered thousands of crabs in my life I figured I'd comment anyway. Always looking for any little excuse to reminisce on my crab-fishing days. So apologies in advance.

Boiling crabs alive would be tough due to their "wingspan". They'd be difficult to fit in the pot.

When we pulled them in, we had a large belly-height blade in front of us. You'd place their abdomen against the blade and then give them a "push" with your stomach while ripping and twisting down on both sets of legs. Then you had spinning brushes where you'd clean the gills off of the knuckles of the legs. Down the chute they'd then go where they were packed in cube-like cages and run through a boiling cooker, a rinse tank, and then several brine tanks where they were frozen. In the box they'd then go, where a conveyor would lower them into the freezer hold where they'd stay before being offloaded and ultimately delivered to the retailer.

The lowliest of jobs was using a butter-knife to chip barnacles of their legs to improve their appearance.

Those guys on "Deadliest Catch" have it easy. They just yank-em and tank-em. We had to catch them, butcher them, clean them, cook them, freeze them, pack them all during 20-30' swells.

[gundog]

Not necessary for Dungeness Crabs. They’ll put up a clatter at first, but with a big enough pot , it’s doable. I can see where a snow or king crab might be a problem, though.

[OldGoatCPO]

Blue crabs are so much easier. Wife puts an empty pot on a stove, heats the pot until bottom is red hot and drops the crabs in. You hear this ticking sound inside the pot until she dumps two cups of water into the pot and flash steams the little buggers. She smiled at me while she was doing it, I took that as a warning about a similar fate awaiting me should I stray.😂😂😂