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How Long To Cook Crab Legs On Grill 

How Long To Cook Crab Legs On Grill 

How Long To Cook Crab Legs On Grill ? Crabs come in many varieties and sizes, so do their legs. The bigger the crab leg is, the easier it is to extract flavor out of them. At the same time, the smaller-sized ones are crispier to eat. The best part about this meal is that it is delicious and healthy at the same time, and most importantly, you can cook them in a wide variety of ways, out of which grilling tops the list for many reasons.  

Grilling Crab Legs is very easy as you don’t need to look for a big pot or make a mess in the kitchen. Instead, you can soften and heat them on the grill in a very convenient way. All you need to know is the correct cooking process, along with one important question “ How long to cook crab legs on the grill.” Trust us; It is the most critical question you can ask when talking about grilling crab legs. Hence, without any further discussion, let us dig in. 

Cooking Crab Legs On Grill

There are a few factors that will contribute to deciding your crab leg’s cooking process, for instance:

  1. The type of grilling you are using: Electric, Gass or Charcoal
  2. Quality of crab legs
  3. Size of crab legs
  4. Spices you are using
  5. The recipe you are following
  6. How moist you want the meat to be

Nevertheless, according to a general idea, a person must grill crab legs at least for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until the grill marks start to appear. 

A Smart Way To Grill Your Crab Legs

There is a good variety of ways you can choose from to prepare the meal. However, the one we will discuss over here is tasty and convenient. Please have a look.

Pre-steps 

Thaw Your Crab Legs

A quick method to thaw crab legs is to fill your sink with cold water and let them sit in the water for about 25 to 30 minutes. When it becomes soft, rinse the legs well. You can defrost overnight in the refrigerator, be careful they do not leak.

Pre-boil them

Boiling your crab legs allows the meat to be cooked and tendered quickly. So, put your raw crab legs in a pot of hot boiling water and leave for 2 minutes. Lastly, please take all the crab legs out of the pot and place them on a clean flat plate

How To Cook

Ingredients You Will Need

  1. 1 kg crab legs: cleaned and thawed
  2. Lemon 
  3. Salt to taste
  4. A pinch of pepper
  5. Two tablespoon olive oil
  6. ½ tsp garlic powder

Process

  1. Preheat your grill on medium to high heat for about 5 minutes
  2. Put garlic powder, salt, pepper, lemon (squeeze it), and olive oil in a small bowl and mix. 
  3. Now put your crab legs into the same bowl and massage the marinade with your hands. 
  4.  leave it to rest for 30 minutes 
  5. Put your marinated crab legs on the preheated grill and let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until the grill marks start to appear. Flip the sides and repeat. 
  6. Turn off the grill, take your cooked crab legs on a plate, and serve as desired. 

How To Grill Frozen Crab Legs

 Frozen crab legs are the easiest to cook as they are already coated and maintained. So, Heat your gas grill to 350 – 400 degrees. Remove 2 – 3 crab legs from the clusters (these will be used to test doneness) and place them directly on the grill for 4 minutes on one side, 3 – 4 minutes on the other. And that s it; your frozen crab legs are all ready to be eaten.

However, make sure to thaw these as well for best results.

Split King Crab Legs

Parting the king crab legs is not required, but makes the eating and barbecuing process a lot more straightforward. By utilizing your hands, and kitchen knives, the most common way of parting the king crab is done in a breeze.

  • Utilizing your hands, break the king crab at the “knuckle” which is the enormous finish of the king crab leg.
  • Next, break the king crab at the other joint by twisting them, and pulling. The joints are the pivot type, moveable pieces of the crab leg. There ought to be around four bits of king crab legs whenever they are parted.
  • There will be ligaments, the white clear, a tacky glancing piece that sticks out from the crab legs. Cut the ligament utilizing kitchen knives.
  • Use the kitchen knives to part the large part of the king crab down the centre. Only one cut as this permits the smoke flavour to saturate the crab.

Time To Cook Crab Legs

Like most shellfish, king crab legs do not take long to cook. Regardless of whether bubbling, baking, or barbecuing, the king crab cooks well. For this barbecuing strategy, it requires around 15 minutes to have them barbecued.

Barbecue on one side for around seven minutes, flip them over, and barbecue for five extra minutes. It is vital to not overcook the crab legs. Overcooking crab legs will change the surface of the meat altogether.

Good Side-dishes To Eat With Crab Legs

  1. Potatoes. Whether roasted, baked, mashed or fried, potatoes are a classic go-to side with crab legs. 
  2. Corn on the Cob. 
  3. Coleslaw.
  4. Cornbread. 
  5. Steamed artichokes.
  6. Salad.
  7. Roasted Vegetables. 
  8. Steak.

Tips To Follow To Cook Crab Legs On Grill 

  • Heat grill to medium-temperature
  • Sprit crab legs all over with olive oil spray and place on the hot grill.
  • Cover and cook about 7 minutes on each side, or until the meat in the center is heated through.
  • Use a sharp paring knife (and a mitt or glove to handle) and cut slits along the side so it’s easy to pull the meat out.

Conclusion 

Knowing How long to cook crab legs on a gas grill is always an important question to assure taste maximization. However, one must understand the exact grilling process that we have listed above in the article. Nevertheless, follow all tips and safety precautions to avoid every type of unease in the long run.


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