Steerpike

I bought my first whole dungeness crab the other day - cooked. I learned how to break it down and separate out all the meat. It was an amazing feast for $10! Ironically, picked it up at Costco in AZ !

Beaverstate

Next time you are in the Bay Area or farther north you should be able to get some live ones. Cooking is very straightforward. #1 bring a large pot to boil. # 2 insert live crabs. #3 cool, rinse and remove the meat. Don't forget the claws. Don't recall how long to boil them but I'm sure google knows.

Bob

You'd love Maine then, seems so much cheaper on the coast up there than down here in Mass, grocery stores here in Mass seem to get it from the same places in Maine too and it's like 2-4 times more expensive.

Those dodgy little vans on the side of the road are best, at the back of petrol stations and the like

What's really nice is crawfish, not worth the hassle to cook it yourself as there's not enough reward, but it tastes fantastic....though seeing folks who eat it regularly, they know now to plough through those things in no time.

Bob

You'd love Maine then, seems so much cheaper on the coast up there than down here in Mass, grocery stores here in Mass seem to get it from the same places in Maine too and it's like 2-4 times more expensive.

Those dodgy little vans on the side of the road are best, at the back of petrol stations and the like

What's really nice is crawfish, not worth the hassle to cook it yourself as there's not enough reward, but it tastes fantastic....though seeing folks who eat it regularly, they know now to plough through those things in no time.

Beaverstate

My dad and older brother used to catch/gather crawdads for a local river on the Oregon coast. This was back when I was a kid. They would come home with a sackful and start boiling. Mom and dad probably didn't get much to eat spending all the time shelling them for 3 kids 6, 4 And 2 years old.

Oregon4now

Just to add #4 to your list, Boil them outside or else you will end up with a house smelling like rotting fish in a day or two. We learned this the hard way after boiling 42 of them ( 6 of us ) inside, took us weeks of washing the walls down with white vinegar to get rid of the smell. needless to say we now do the crab boil in the backyard, live and learn.. On the bright side we only pay $7.00 for a 1 year shellfish license...Life is good in the PNW

Beaverstate

Wow, I don't know what you did, I didn't have that result, I only cooked six however. Did yours come out tasting good?

Oregon4now

They tasted wonderful, Old Bay seasoning in the water is the trick.
Well according to the locals I committed the greatest Faux Pas by cooking them inside and now I know why, perhaps it is the amount we cooked that created the smell ? We only go out as a group of friends so 35-60 Crabs is the usual amount we cook, clean, package for freezer etc..

Nutek

Struck out at trader Joes and Wholefoods over the weekend... No "real" bacon, and no bangers. A huge sea of imposters...chicken sausages and "sweet italian" sausages, but nothing else.

Any other places to try before I cave in and use the intarwebs?

WEBlue

Hmm, I see you're in CT. Much as I love Trader Joe's, I've been very disappointed. I guess like any other supermarket, TJ's has different products in different parts of the country. I've been told that other TJ's will sometimes have decent bangers & things like Halloumi cheese. I've gone to 4 different TJ's in southern CT at different times of the year, & never found either. In fact, not one of the TJ's even understood what Halloumi cheese was! I had to write it down for the staff. (I requested it but have no hope it'll ever appear.)

I like TJ's in general (no additives!), but this seems pathetic. Maybe there aren't enough Brits around CT? The one thing my local TJ's has is big boxes of strong Irish Breakfast teabags for a low price--I live on that stuff, so that gets my

Nutek

Sounds like what I experienced on the weekend.

I can go online for the stuff, but I'm reluctant to, due to the prices and a slight worry over the thought of having a box of bacon sat on my front porch all day while I'm at work.

SultanOfSwing

How far's this place from you?

UK Gourmet ...

Can't imagine CT is that big - look on the front page at those big fat, juicy sossies. I reckon that's your best bet. Prices are in line with other 'British stores' I've seen as well.

Nutek

Not too bad.. it's about an hour away. Could be our best bet. And yeah... The sossies look... drool... damn you.

SultanOfSwing

An hour's not too bad, actually. The bacon on the freezer page looks good too, and they have Danish

Nutek

That hour IS looking shorter and shorter....