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REFRIGERATION

Food storage

How to store crab (live, cooked and crab meat)

Crab needs two quite different storage approaches. Live crabs, such as the mud crabs popular in coastal Indian restaurants, must be kept alive until cooking, because dead crab spoils quickly and should not be cooked if the time of death is unknown. Live crabs are kept cool, moist and well ventilated, not in a fridge at 0 to +4 °C, which can stress or kill tropical species. Once a crab is cooked or its meat is picked, it becomes a high-risk chilled food to hold at 0 to +2 °C, or to freeze at −18 °C or colder.

  • Chilled0 to +2 °C (cooked crab, crab meat)
  • Frozen−18 °C or colder

Do

  • Hold live crabs in a cool, shaded, well-ventilated space, covered with damp sacking or packed in moist material, as your supplier advises.
  • Keep claws tied and crabs in shallow containers so they do not pile on and crush each other.
  • Check crabs before cooking. Discard any that are dead, smell off or do not respond.
  • After cooking, cool crab quickly and chill it at 0 to +2 °C, covered.
  • Store picked crab meat in sealed containers on ice in the fridge and use it within your plan's limit.
  • Freeze cooked crab meat in small portions for longer storage.

Avoid

  • Do not seal live crabs in airtight bags or containers; they need air.
  • Do not keep live crabs submerged in still fresh water.
  • Do not cook crabs that died at an unknown time.
  • Do not store cooked crab next to raw seafood.

In Indian conditions

Coastal Indian restaurants often display live mud crabs to customers. Keep display tanks or baskets out of direct sun and away from kitchen heat. In 35–40 °C conditions, live crabs lose weight and condition quickly, so buy only what you can sell in a day or two. Restaurants should agree holding methods with their supplier, as the best conditions vary by species and how the crabs were caught. Cooked crab and crab meat are high-risk; keep them in a properly chilled reach-in or undercounter fridge, not in an open display.

General good practice for commercial kitchens and shops. Where your FSSAI licence conditions or food-safety plan set stricter limits, follow those.