Freezing peeler crab whole

[topbanana]

Daft question from someone who has always froze them in the conventional way ie fully peeled and lungs taken out.

Now does it really matter if they are frozen whole ? As long as the crabs are clean, alive and popping, does it make that much of a difference ?

[Philthebag]

For a week or so makes little difference but after that they just turn black

[D.D.]

I was struggling for crab a couple of years ago and bought a load frozen whole lung shell and all, and done surprisingly well with them, I had some of them in the freezer over a year and not one turned black or stunk off... But saying that these were frozen fresh and were off the coast, maybe a different story with crab frozen whole from sleck ????
Be interesting to hear other replies

[Bushwhacker]

It depends where they are from.
River crab have a lot of muck in them and don,t freeze well in there shells.
Crab from the open shore where theres no silt have less muck in them and do last a canny time in the freezer.

[tonybax]

probably the reason they didnt discolour is they were blast frozen

[magpies]

I also bought some frozen whole once and they looked ok, but didn't produce much. They seemed to be dried out, maybe the blast freezing process?

[D.D.]

probably the reason they didnt discolour is they were blast frozen

I also bought some frozen whole once and they looked ok, but didn't produce much. They seemed to be dried out, maybe the blast freezing process?

the ones i bought weren't blast frozen, the were froze individually in zip bags and weren't dried out or freezer burnt
i'd buy them again if i couldn't freeze enough of my own down...

[Deans]

i used to sit for hours peeling them. Now i dont bother.
I simply bag them together (a sessions worth) in a ball then insulate them with either newspaper or foil to stop ice burn.the more insulation around the bag the better.

Am not fussy. Blackening around lungs etc doesnt effect my type of fishing.

[Deans]

Tend not to buy frozen peeler.you just nevet know what stage they were at when frozen. Mushy crab nee good

[topbanana]

The way I look at it is as long as they are alive, clean of any mud/silt and splitting they should be ok. When put in the freezer alive it'll be gradual shut down ? With nothing to go 'off' so to speak. The result should be they are as fresh as they were when they went in suppose there's only one way to find out.

[Deans]

Spot on