Dried Seafood,Dried Seafood Snacks,Dried Seafood Products,Great Ocean Dried Seafood Yanji Yongzhen Food Co., Ltd , https://www.yanjiyongzhenfood.com
Low-grade high-quality crab meat processing technology
The microbiological standards for boiled crab meat must meet the FDA requirements: in 10 samples, *E. coli*, *Salmonella*, and *Staphylococcus* must not be detected. Additionally, the count of *E. coli* should be less than 30 per 100 grams, and the total bacterial count per gram must remain below 100,000.
**1. Production Process Flow**
Raw material acceptance → washing → cooking → meat picking → sorting → rinsing → draining → weighing → packaging → sealing → sterilization → cooling → freezing → final packaging → storage.
**2. Key Operating Procedures**
Select live, fresh crabs with good quality—check that the carapace is bright white and shiny, with no visible stomach marks on the belly. Avoid any crabs that show signs of spoilage or contamination. Wash the crabs thoroughly under running water using a brush to remove dirt, sand, and other impurities from the fishing and transport process.
Cooking can be done by steaming or boiling. When boiling, maintain sufficient water to avoid burning and ensure even cooking. Cook for about 20 minutes until the shell turns yellow and the meat begins to set. After cooking, let the crabs cool naturally before removing the meat. Use a stainless steel knife to carefully separate the meat from the shell, removing the viscera, legs, and other non-meat parts. Rinse the crab meat gently with ice-cold water (3–4°C) to preserve its natural color and remove any remaining debris.
Place the cleaned crab meat on a clean stainless steel surface and manually pick out any bones, shells, or foreign matter. The meat should be placed in a sieve and immersed in cold water for gentle shaking to further clean it. Do not overfill the sieve—half full is ideal. After rinsing, place the sieve on an inclined rack to allow excess water to drain naturally.
Use a calibrated scale to weigh the crab meat accurately. Add enough water to the container—typically 2 kg of meat with 8% moisture content. Ensure the plastic containers used are hygienic, heat-resistant, and suitable for both high and low temperatures. Avoid placing the crab meat too close to the edges of the box. Each box should contain either 1 kg or 2 kg of product.
Before sealing, use a heat sealer to remove any moisture or crab meat clinging to the edges to ensure a tight seal. The seal must be smooth, wrinkle-free, and free of folds. Sterilize the product using steam in a sterilizing pot. Based on temperature and time tests, the optimal sterilization condition is 3 minutes of pre-temperature exposure followed by 12 minutes at 105°C.
After sterilization, cool the product naturally. To speed up the process, you may use ice cooling to bring the temperature down to around 37°C before freezing. Freezing can be done using a flat freezer or air blast freezer. Once the internal temperature reaches -15°C, the product can be removed. For air freezing, the freezer temperature should be below -25°C, and the freezing time at -15°C must not exceed 14 hours.
Final packaging should be sturdy, clean, and suitable for long-distance transport. The outer carton must clearly label the product name, factory name, weight, production date, batch number, and “steamed†information. Store the finished product in a cold room at a temperature below 18°C, ensuring the temperature remains stable and does not fluctuate significantly.