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About the KitchenCraft Red Lobster & Crab Cracker

Crab crackers give you controlled pressure that ordinary cutlery can't. The toothed jaws hold the shell steady, and the claw-shaped handles give you leverage, so even thick claws give way to steady pressure rather than a bash with a rolling pin.

This KitchenCraft lobster and crab cracker works as a crab claw cracker, a lobster claw cracker and a general shellfish cracker for hard shells. The bright red finish is easy to spot on a busy table covered in shells and napkins, and it looks the part next to a whole cooked crab.

Crab claw crackers like this are for cooked shellfish at the table: crack the shell, then pick the meat out with a seafood fork or pick. If you're cooking a crab at home, our guides on how to prepare a cooked crab and lobster and crab tools go through the steps.

In a brown crab, the claws and legs hold most of the sweet white meat, so they're where a cracker earns its keep. Twist each claw off at its socket, crack it, then break it at the next joint and pick the meat out, taking out the hard white cartilage inside. Gentle, building pressure works better than one hard squeeze, which drives shell into the meat.

Dressed crab is a British classic, from Cromer in Norfolk to Newlyn in Cornwall: the meat is picked out and served back in the shell, usually with brown bread and lemon. BBC Food's guide to dressing a crab lists just two tools for the job: a nutcracker (a crab cracker does the same work) and a crab picker or thin metal skewer.

Wash it by hand after use and dry it before storing. If you're serving a crowd, seafood crackers are worth buying in twos or fours so guests aren't waiting for one to come round. It also makes a good small gift for someone who loves crab.