Crab that smells like ammonia.

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greenaccord02

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My wife and I just cooked up some snow crab clusters from the grocery store. This place always has top-quality seafood and I've never previously had a bad experience.

Anyway, we steamed up this crab and most of it tasted fine, however one of the clusters had meat that while firm, smelled of ammonia. The outside of this particular crab looked a little banged up, but nothing gruesome. The smell wasn't enough to make your eyes water, but enough to when it came near your mouth, you caught a whiff of pine-sol. I have a sensitive sense of smell, and even I couldn't place it at first. I ate a very small piece out of curiosity and while it didn't taste particularly bad, it wasn't as good as the rest. My wife didn't touch it.

After the meal, I looked it up and found that this can be a product of:
A - past-due crabs
B - 'dirty' crabs
C - 'weak' crabs
D - crabs that have been through a storm or were from an area where increased levels of ammonia are present in the water.


So, my questions to you guys are two:
1 - Am I going to get sick from the little piece I ate?
2 - What do you think caused this smell? One of the four reasons above, or something different?

Anyway, I thought this might be a good topic to start talking about experiences where you've gotten bad seafood as well as how to judge good seafood by sight or smell. Apparently, I have a lot to learn. I know we've got some seafood aficionados in the midst who can share some knowledge.
 
Ammonia is a byproduct of the decomposition of seafood. Possibly the crab was kept in a filthy tank. Crabs excrete ammonia instead of urine.

I don't understand how anybody can eat arthopods. I know on what they feed, and you are what you eat!
37.gif
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman


I don't understand how anybody can eat arthopods. I know on what they feed, and you are what you eat!
37.gif



+1000
 
of all of the food-borne illnesses, seafood presents the greatest risk of a more serious reaction. likely by now you are already feeling the effects, if any. (purging either up or down) if it lasts more than a day, seek medical attention. oh, and keep the remaining sample of food, if you still have it - of course, they can mine bacteria from you if you dont still have the offending crab. for a minute there, I thought you were gonna mention "crabby patties"
 
Ammonia is a byproduct of protein metabolism. Your body converts it to urea, before passing it into the bloodstream to be excreted by the kidneys.

If you are concerned, or experience anything out of the ordinary, seek an appointment for a blood test to determine how much ammonia is in your blood. Anything else will be a hit or a miss.
 
This site gives reasons that caused ammonia smell: http://www.ari1.com/id41.htm

In case it goes away, here is the detail:

WHERE THE AMMONIA COMES FROM

DECOMPOSING MORTALITIES
THE METABOLIC PROCESS (OFF THE GILLS
)SILT/MUD
FECES (POOP)
REGURGITATED FOOD

At times it might seem that there is a conspiracy of ammonia producing sources intent on killing your product down to the last crab. However, once the potential sources are identified the conspiracy seems less threatening. The main sources are, in order of potential severity of concentration:

1) DECOMPOSING MORTALITIES :
The main thing to remember here is that from virtually the moment a crab dies it starts to decompose and just gets worse from then on. How fast things go to [censored] depends mainly on the temperature of the water . The colder the water the slower the decomposition. I don't have any hard science to back this up but a rule of thumb I use is that one 2 lb. mortality left in a system for 24 Hrs.can equal the metabolic ammonia output of 50 Lbs.of live crab.
ACTION TO TAKE: PICK THROUGH AND REMOVE DEAD OR WEAK CRAB AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.

2) THE METABOLIC PROCESS (OFF THE GILLS):
In a clean, well maintained system this is the main source of ammonia and is easily handled by an adequate bio-filtration system. As the crab respires ammonia is released from the gills as a natural part of the metabolic process. The higher the temperature, the higher the metabolic rate, the more ammonia is produced per pound of product.
ACTION TO TAKE: REDUCE THE SYSTEM TEMPERATURE TO 38 DEGREES F. FOR BULK HOLDING AND 40 DEGREES F AND UP TO 50 DEGREES F. FOR DISPLAY TANKS. KEEP A WELL MAINTAINED BIO FILTER OF SUFFICIENT CAPACITY RELATIVE TO THE POUNDS YOU ARE TRYING TO HOLD. WATCH YOUR DISOLVED OXYGEN.

3) SILT/MUD:
Most first receivers know about what I call 'storm crab'(those crab that have been in the pots through a storm and, as a result, are extremely dirty and, depending on the length and severity of the storm, possibly weak). Storm crab are at the extreme end of the spectrum of the dirty crab syndrome. Much of the silt or mud brought in with the crab is of an organic nature rather than of a silicon nature like sand would be. It decomposes so rapidly that when I tried to have it analyzed one time the lab trying to measure the particles microscopically gave up because it was dissolving as they measured. A certain part of the stuff is, however, stable enough to collect in your bio-filter causing clogging, channeling and therefore reducing the effectiveness of the bio-bed resulting in increased ammonia due to ineffectual bio-filtration.
ACTION TO TAKE: FIRST RECEIVERS: TRY TO SEASON THE CRAB AND SORT ONCE BEFORE SHIPPING. SUBSEQUENT RECEIVERS:RINSE THE INCOMING PRODUCT BEFORE PUTTING IN YOUR TANK EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO USE FRESH WATER FROM A GARDEN HOSE. DO NOT SUBMERGE THE CRAB IN FRESH WATER.
4) FECES (POOP):
Not many options here is there? The good news is that for other than first receivers there's not much left by the time you get them. It's not a significant source of ammonia anyway.
ACTION TO TAKE: FEED 'EM CHEESE (just kidding)
5) REGURGITATED FOOD:
Unless you are a first-receiver you probably don't have to worry about this unless it is very early in the season and your supplier is "short stopping" your crab ( just giving them a drink before shipping to you) or direct shipping from the boat. First receivers may have to deal with a fairly significant amount of bait, especially squid, when the gear is getting turned quickly at the beginning of the season.
ACTION TO TAKE: WHEN YOU NOTICE SOMETHING NASTY HANGING OUT OF A CRABS MOUTH OR FLOATING AROUND IN THE WATER, GET RID OF IT.
 
I'm fine. No ill effects. Everything digested normally and without issue. I guess it wasn't *too* bad after all, but I'll have to try to tune my nose to detect that certain je ne sais quoi that eminates from bad crab next time I'm at the seafood counter.
grin2.gif


Thanks for all the help with this thing guys. I was a little worried.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Any smell from seafood, other than the brine of the ocean - NOT FRESH.


I always think it's odd when people stand at the shore and say, "I love that ocean smell!" What they smell is decomposing seaweed, algae, all sorts of dead critters, and tar! I guess they've never been out on the high seas.
 
Originally Posted By: greenaccord02
I'm fine. No ill effects. Everything digested normally and without issue.


Had you gotten ill, we would have had to rename you peagreenaccord.
 
Originally Posted By: crinkles
Originally Posted By: moribundman


I don't understand how anybody can eat arthopods. I know on what they feed, and you are what you eat!
37.gif



+1000


Ah, but what, my friends, do you imagine cattle, swine, and poultry eat these days--especially those raised on factory "farms"?

Besides, anybody who will eat mushrooms ....
 
lobsters are just big juicy cockroaches!

What makes me sick is when people eat the none muscle parts of these animals. Sorry, but I'll never eat the liver or any other organ from a bottom feeder. Leg meat, yeah....organs, no. These guys end up eating all the [censored] we dump into the ocean...
 
Yeah, alot of the cajuns suck on the bodies of crawfish (that's crayfish to you folks up north) and I can't believe that. I tried it once - it's basically gut soup. I couldn't handle it. Except for the odd bit of liverwurst I don't eat the liver of anything. I grew up with 2 biologists so from a young age I was taught the liver's purpose in the body.
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Any smell from seafood, other than the brine of the ocean - NOT FRESH.


I always think it's odd when people stand at the shore and say, "I love that ocean smell!" What they smell is decomposing seaweed, algae, all sorts of dead critters, and tar! I guess they've never been out on the high seas.


Are these the same people who grew up in a big city or factory town? To them, the smell of the ocean is a huge step up from what they are used to smelling (factories, sewers, garbage dumps, etc).
 
This is why I prefer my fish to be made from frozen. At least you're somewhat guaranteed that they were processed as soon as possible after catching.

When they say fresh or unfrozen in the fish store, one has no idea of how long it's been since they were caught, especially in the Midwest markets.
 
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