Boiling Crabs & Lobsters

[Orleander]

Why do crustaceans turn red when boiled? Do they all turn red or does their beginning shell have to be a certain colour?

 

[cosmictraveler]

Crustaceans have exoskeletons, and while the animal is in the sea, the exoskeleton primarily has a blue-green to grayish color. The exoskeletons contain a carotenoid called astaxanthin. Carotenes are pigments, and astaxanthin is the same carotene that gives salmon its color. When crustaceans are uncooked, the astaxanthin pigments are hidden because they are covered with protein chains; these protein chains give the shells their bluish-gray color. Heat destroys the protein coating, and when the animals are cooked, the astaxanthin molecules are released, thus changing the color of the crustaceans.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...tMm1Dw&usg=AFQjCNEqelAbaE6eP1-IA1xCSyz7yBdkOQ

 

[tostig]

...Heat destroys the protein coating, and when the animals are cooked, the astaxanthin molecules are released, thus changing the color of the crustaceans....

They don't necessarily need to be cooked to turn red. I had algae-eating shrimp crawl out of my fish tank. When I found some dead ones on my floor they were red, looking exactly as if they were cooked.

 

[Orleander]

Crustaceans have exoskeletons, and while the animal is in the sea, the exoskeleton primarily has a blue-green to grayish color. The exoskeletons contain a carotenoid called astaxanthin. Carotenes are pigments, and astaxanthin is the same carotene that gives salmon its color. When crustaceans are uncooked, the astaxanthin pigments are hidden because they are covered with protein chains; these protein chains give the shells their bluish-gray color. Heat destroys the protein coating, and when the animals are cooked, the astaxanthin molecules are released, thus changing the color of the crustaceans.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...tMm1Dw&usg=AFQjCNEqelAbaE6eP1-IA1xCSyz7yBdkOQ

thank you! So this is only for crawdads, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters? Are there any other animals with astaxanthin pigment?

 

[cosmictraveler]

thank you! So this is only for crawdads, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters? Are there any other animals with astaxanthin pigment?

Yes, there are others. Here's one...

 

[Captain Kremmen]

Crustaceans have exoskeletons, and while the animal is in the sea, the exoskeleton primarily has a blue-green to grayish color. The exoskeletons contain a carotenoid called astaxanthin. Carotenes are pigments, and astaxanthin is the same carotene that gives salmon its color. When crustaceans are uncooked, the astaxanthin pigments are hidden because they are covered with protein chains; these protein chains give the shells their bluish-gray color. Heat destroys the protein coating, and when the animals are cooked, the astaxanthin molecules are released, thus changing the color of the crustaceans.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...tMm1Dw&usg=AFQjCNEqelAbaE6eP1-IA1xCSyz7yBdkOQ

thank you! So this is only for crawdads, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters? Are there any other animals with astaxanthin pigment?

Yes, Salmon.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

Yes, there are others. Here's one...

The Horseshoe crab. Related to the spider.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

Mod note: I have moved all posts related to animal ethics, animal pain and humane animal treatment to a split thread (Animal Pain and humane treatment) as such posts are not related to the question in the opening post of this thread.

 

[Orleander]

Yes, Salmon.

salmon meat is already red. It doesn't need to be cooked to change its colour