good rule of thumb when cooking crab in tap water and rock salt...1 handfull of salt per crab and one generous one for the pot. if i'm using my keg cooker and a big mess of crab at once, i'll put 2 or 3 handfulls for the pot. hit them with cold, cold water (the ice method mentioned earlier is good) to separate the meat from the shell. I should dig up my corn and crab chowder recipie to post...maybe tommorrow night. it goes great in a sourdough bowl along side a pint of ale!

Woops, didn't see that Bob mentioned the separation factor. If you cook them allready backed, decrease the cooking time by a couple of minutes. My neighbor cooks them backed and they seem to take the salt more liberally...so adjust that down also. He used to say "You don't cook your fish with the guts in them do you?" I cook them whole...love that crab butter!

[ 01-22-2002: Message edited by: Chuckn'Duck ]