How to Split King Crab Legs

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Alaskan king crab legs can be split for eating.

People have used a variety of tools from the commonplace hammer to sophisticated and pricey crab-specific products to split king crab legs. You can even use a fork, inserting the tine and splitting the leg along the soft section of the shell, but the best way to split king crab legs is with kitchen shears or scissors. You can sometimes buy king crab legs split beforehand or cut them yourself before or after cooking.

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Step 1

Crab leg joint meat can be used in stir-fries and other recipes.

Cut each crab leg into 2- to 3-inch pieces, saving the joints for later use.

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Step 2

Heavy-duty kitchen scissors can easily cut through crab shell.

Insert a scissor blade at one end of the crab leg piece and cut along the lighter-colored, thinner shell side.

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Step 3

You can ask your local merchant to split crab legs for you.

Move the scissors about 1/2 inch from the first cut and make a parallel cut along the crab shell.

Step 4

Remove the freed shell portion to allow access to the tender king crab meat.

Warning

Beware the large spikes on the shells of the crab legs.

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