How Long Can You Keep Crab Cakes Before Cooking Them?
Crab cakes can typically be kept in the refrigerator for about 1 to 2 days before cooking. However, for a longer shelf life, you can freeze them. Properly packaged and sealed, frozen crab cakes can last around 3 to 6 months. For the best texture and flavor, it is recommended to cook them within 1 to 2 months of freezing.
Always ensure to check for any signs of spoilage before cooking, regardless of the storage method. The texture and taste of the crab cakes depend heavily on the freshness of the crab meat and the storage conditions.
Our Community Tradition: Crab Cake Dinners
Our church, like many others in Maryland, used to host ham and crab cake dinners at the end of the summer. We would purchase large 20-pound plastic sacks of crab meat. To ensure the quality of the crab cakes, we would repick the crab meat on Thursday night, as there is always some shell in it unless you opt for backfin.
Purchasing regular lump crab meat is more cost-effective for our rural neighborhood. On Thursday night, we meticulously handpick the shell out of the crab meat, a time-consuming task that significantly improves the final product.
Preparation and Storage
On Friday night, we prepared the crab cakes along with other side dishes for the event. Once made, the crabcakes were placed on baking sheets and refrigerated around 9 pm. We started cooking the crab cakes around 11:00 on Saturday, after they had been in the refrigerator for about 14 hours. We never experienced any issues during this time, and this practice has been consistent over a period of 20 years, with over 500 crabcakes prepared annually.
Crab meat is a precooked product that is pre-refrigerated. The trick is to only remove as much crab meat as you can work with from the cold environment. The premade crab cakes remained cold to the touch when placed in the refrigerator.
Handling Crabcakes and Crab Meat
When we do not eat all the steamed crabs in one sitting, we will shell them and put the cleaned bodies and claws in plastic containers. These can be consumed the next day or even the day after, as a freshly steamed crab is good for 48 hours when kept refrigerated. A crab cake is a bit different because the crab meat is already at least 24 hours old, and it has raw eggs or egg whites added, which need to be stored properly.
Based on general guidelines and our specific experience, my guess is that an uncooked crab cake would be good for approximately 24 hours before cooking. This timeframe may vary depending on the freshness of the crab meat and the specific storage conditions.