The leg shells are then cracked with a small metal mallet. The legs are 

 torn from the body shell, broken off at the joints, and each section is 

 tapped against the side of a pan to shake out the section in a whole piece. 

 The leg meat and body meat are shaken into separate pans. An experi- 

 enced worker can shake from 150 to 200 pounds of meat during one 8- 

 hour shift and normally is paid at the rate of 10 cents a pound (the rate of 

 pay varies between locations). 



Time-saving improvements in crab meat processing have 

 been made in the past several years. One of the major improvements is 

 the use of the brine-flotation method for washing the meat. This operation 

 serves a threefold purpose: (1) it removes most of the shell fragments 

 and tendons that may be mixed with the meat; (2) it washes the meat; and 

 (3) it flavors the meat with salt. During this process the brine solution is 

 constantly agitated, so that the meat rises to the top and the shell fragments 

 and tendons sink to the bottom. Although this treatment is a big improve- 

 ment in processing techniques and saves time in sorting out shell and 

 tendons, it does not completely eliminate all of the shell fragments and 

 tendons. The meat is therefore thoroughly inspected as it connes from the 

 brine tank on a small conveyor. The meat next receives a short fresh- 

 water rinse as it goes up the conveyor into draining pans where it stands 

 until all excess naoisture has been drained off (fig. 8). 



Figure 8 



The meat is given a 

 brine-flotation treat- 

 ment, inspection, and 

 rinse. 



