Preparing fresh crabs for a stew or gumbo.

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I take fresh crabs and ice them down real good just until they're too cold to move, but still alive. You can also scald them if you like.  

Remove the top shell, lungs and intestines. Break away the mouth and bottom side apron. Break the claws off. Keep them iced up.

Here are several crabs ready to be cleaned.

Now get your fish skinner out to do some clipping.

First clip the legs off. Using the fish skinner allows for a nice clean cut. Trying to pull the legs off many times leaves you with a hunk of meat left on the leg. 

Next take the skinner and clip away an upside down "V" shape in the shell where the mouth was. There's a reason for this that I'll explain below. 

Here's what it looks like when it's clipped away.

Now you should have crab bodies and claws. 

The next step is cleaning the shells to remove any dirt. Use an old toothbrush (I keep one handy just for this purpose) and scrub the crab body and claws to remove as much dirt as possible.

Once that process is complete break the larger crabs in half by folding them inward and then back. Notice how easy they break apart because you clipped away the "V" in the shell earlier. The piece you clipped away is probably the hardest piece of the shell on the body.

That's it, you're done

They're ready for the stew or gumbo.

To freeze them put them in a labeled zip lock bag and cover with water. Get all the air out. Handle the bag carefully because there are many shell barbs that will pop the bag.