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Cleaning Before or After Cooking
Both real, common approaches for blue crab — neither is more correct.
Some cooks clean a crab (removing the top shell/carapace, gills, and other inedible parts) before steaming; others steam whole and clean after cooking. Both are genuinely common, valid approaches — see this guide's own Blue Crab Guide for the fuller picture.
Whichever order you choose, keep raw-crab cleaning waste separate from cooked meat and from other food, and wash hands, knives, and surfaces between handling raw animals and handling anything ready to eat.
Sources
Last reviewed 2026-08-10.
This page is general education. It does not replace official regulations, current health-closure status, or individualized medical advice — see Regulations and Health & Safety.