# Did I accidentally cook them?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-accidentally-cook-them/673600>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 10, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-accidentally-cook-them/673600 "2013-11-10T21:45:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-accidentally-cook-them/673600/1 "2013-11-10T21:45:02Z")

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I went to the beach today and came home with three crab’s claws to try to preserve. I made sure I sniffed them before taking them home to make sure they weren’t in an advanced state of decomposition. When I got home I stuck them in a mixture of 2/3 white vinegar and 1/3 water. I checked on them after 30 minutes and they looked bloated and had floated to the surface of the vinegar/water.

Did I basically just cook the claw meat in the acid? Should I have preserved them in alcohol instead? Will I still be able to keep and display them?

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**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-accidentally-cook-them/673600/2 "2013-11-11T01:50:21Z")

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You pretty much made a ceviche when you put them in acid. Don’t eat it though.

They are probably a total loss at this point. The shells are likely softened and the meat inside is definitely yuck. I doubt you could do anything to them now that would make them suitable for display. Maybe if you have a jar of formaldehyde you could pop them in?

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**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-accidentally-cook-them/673600/3 "2013-11-11T02:18:43Z")

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Crab shells are made of calcium carbonate. Mix that with vinegar, and you’re pretty close to the classic vinegar-and-baking-soda experiment. The reason they’re floating is because they’re now full of carbon dioxide bubbles. The crab shell will become soft and rubbery.

That’s about 2/3 speaking out of my ass, to be generous, but I think I’m right :).