Delicate foods necessitate gentle heating methods for best results, and crabmeat requires a touch of finesse when reheating to maintain its naturally delicate texture and mildly sweet flavor. Steaming produces the moist, gentle heat best suited for reheating crab, in and out of the shell. Crabmeat should reheat to an internal temperature 165 degrees Fahrenheit or until steaming hot prior to serving, but only once. In addition to toughening the texture of crabmeat, repeated cooling and reheating increases its exposure to food’s danger zone -- the temperature gradient between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit where bacteria thrive. (See reference one; reference two page six)
Fill a stockpot with 3 inches of water and insert a steamer basket. Cover the stockpot and place it over medium-high heat.
Bring the water to low simmer (185 degrees Fahrenheit).
Uncover the stockpot and place the crab in the basket. Cover the stockpot.
Steam the crab for 10 minutes or until steaming hot.