What parts of a crab do you remove before eating?

Remove and discard three things: the top shell (carapace) is lifted off to access the body; the feathery grey gills along each side of the body, known as 'dead man's fingers'; and the stomach sac, a small bag located just behind the mouth/eyes. Everything else — the white body meat, claw meat, and leg meat — is edible. The orange or greenish-brown soft 'mustard' is also edible and prized by many.

What are dead man's fingers on a crab?

Dead man's fingers are the feathery, greyish gills attached along both sides of the crab's body, exposed once you lift off the top shell. They are the crab's breathing organs and are not eaten — they're rubbery and unpleasant, not poisonous, but always removed. Simply pull or scrape them off and discard before picking the meat.

Is the yellow or green stuff in a crab safe to eat?

Yes — the soft yellow, orange, or greenish-brown paste in the body is the hepatopancreas, often called crab 'mustard' or 'tomalley'. It's edible and considered a delicacy, with a rich, intense flavour used in sauces and crab pastes. As with all shellfish offal it accumulates contaminants, so enjoy it in moderation and discard it if the crab is from waters with a known pollution advisory.

Do you clean a crab before or after cooking?

For mud, sand, and spanner crab the usual approach is to cook the whole crab first, then clean and pick it — cooking firms the meat so it releases cleanly and you keep all the flavour in. Some recipes (like chilli crab) clean and cut the raw dispatched crab into pieces first so it can be wok-fried in sauce. For eating cracked crab, cook whole, then clean.

How do you crack crab claws without crushing the meat?

Place the claw on a board and strike the widest part of the shell once with the back of a heavy knife or a crab cracker — just hard enough to fracture the shell, not pulverise it. Then peel the cracked shell away in pieces. For large mud crab claws, a sharp tap at two or three points lets you lift the shell off in sections and keep the meat in one piece.

How do you get all the meat out of a crab?

Work methodically: crack the claws and pull the meat out whole; snap each leg at the joints and push the meat out with a skewer or the thin end of another leg; break the body in half and use a pick to clear each chamber where the legs attached — this is where most body meat hides. A crab pick, skewer, or small fork makes the body chambers much easier.

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Guides

How to Clean and Prepare Crab (and Pick the Meat)

Tasman Star Team30 May 20265 min read

how to clean crabpick crab meatmud crabsand crabGold Coast seafood

How to Clean and Prepare Crab (and Pick the Meat)

How to Clean and Prepare Crab (and Pick Every Bit of Meat)

Quick answer — Twist off the claws and legs, lift off the top shell, and discard three things: the gills ("dead man's fingers"), the stomach sac behind the eyes, and the top shell itself. Everything white is meat; the orange mustard is edible. Crack claws with the back of a heavy knife, push leg meat out with a skewer, and clear the body chambers where the legs attached — that's where most of the meat hides.

Key facts:

Remove and discard: the top shell, the feathery grey gills (dead man's fingers), and the stomach sac behind the eyes
All white meat — body, claws, legs — is edible
The soft orange/greenish "mustard" (hepatopancreas) is edible and prized, best in moderation
Cook the crab whole first, then clean and pick (except for stir-fry recipes like chilli crab)
Crack claws with the back of a heavy knife at the widest point
Most body meat is in the chambers where the legs attach — use a pick or skewer
A crab pick, skewer, or small fork makes the job far easier

Cook First, Then Clean

For mud, sand, and spanner crab, the standard home approach is to cook the whole crab, then clean and pick it. Cooking firms the meat so it releases cleanly, and you keep every bit of flavour inside the crab instead of losing it to the cleaning water.

(The exception is wok dishes like chilli crab, where the raw, humanely dispatched crab is cleaned and chopped into sauce-ready pieces first. For everything else — cracked crab, crab salad, picking meat for pasta — cook whole, then clean.)

Not sure how to cook it first? See how to cook a live mud crab or our spanner crab guide.

What You'll Need

A heavy knife (chef's knife or cleaver) or a crab cracker
A crab pick, metal skewer, or thin-handled teaspoon
A board, a big bowl for meat, and a bowl for shells
A roll of paper towel — it gets messy, and that's part of the fun

Step-by-Step: Cleaning a Cooked Crab

1. Remove the legs and claws

Hold the body firmly and twist each claw and leg away at the base. Twisting (rather than snapping straight down) keeps the meat attached to the limb. Set them aside.

2. Lift off the top shell

Flip the crab onto its back. Lift the tail flap (the pointed "apron" folded against the underside) and snap it off — discard it. Then get your thumbs under the edge of the top shell (the carapace) and prise it away from the body. It should come off in one piece.

3. Remove the gills ("dead man's fingers")

Along each side of the body you'll see rows of feathery, greyish gills. These are the crab's breathing organs — rubbery and unpleasant, never eaten. Pull or scrape them all off and discard. (They're not poisonous, just not food.)

4. Remove the stomach sac

Just behind the eyes/mouth sits a small stomach sac. Pinch it out and discard it.

5. Decide on the mustard

The soft orange, yellow, or greenish-brown paste in the body is the hepatopancreas — "crab mustard" or "tomalley". It's edible and intensely flavoured, beloved in crab pastes and sauces. Keep it if you like it; scrape it out into a small bowl. As with all shellfish offal, enjoy it in moderation.

What's left — the white body and all the limbs — is all meat.

Picking the Meat

Claws

Lay each claw on the board and strike the widest part once with the back of a heavy knife or a crab cracker — enough to fracture the shell, not crush it. Peel the shell away and lift the meat out, ideally in one piece. Large mud crab claws reward a couple of measured taps so you can lift the shell off in sections.

Legs

Snap each leg at the joints. Push the meat out with a skewer or pick, or use the thin pointed end of one leg to poke the meat out of another — a classic trick.

Body (the hidden treasure)

Break the cleaned body in half down the middle. The white chambers where the legs were attached are packed with meat — this is where most home cooks leave the best bits behind. Work a pick through each chamber to clear it all out.

What to Do With the Picked Meat

Crab salad — lemon, good mayo, chives, on bread or in lettuce cups
Crab linguine — folded through at the last second so the heat doesn't toughen it
Cracked crab — keep it in the shell and serve with lemon and bread for a hands-on feast
Chilli or salt-and-pepper crab — toss cleaned pieces through the sauce

A Faster Way: Buy It Cleaned

If picking isn't your idea of a good evening, you can skip straight to the meat. Tasman Star sells:

Cooked crabs — ready to clean and eat
Picked crab meat — all the meat, none of the work, ideal for salads and pasta

Browse cooked crabs at Tasman Star →

Buying Crab on the Gold Coast

Tasman Star Seafood stocks live, cooked, and picked crab at both stores:

Varsity Lakes — 20 Casua Dr, (07) 5522 1221
Labrador — 5–7 Olsen Ave, (07) 5529 2500

Gold Coast home delivery runs Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.

→ New to crab? Start with mud crab vs sand crab vs spanner crab to choose the right one.

Browse live seafood → · Browse cooked crabs →

Fresh seafood delivered to your door

Order cooked crabs online from Tasman Star Seafood — Gold Coast delivery, open 7 days.

Shop cooked crabs →