Deadliest Catch: Captain Keith Colburn's Secret Culinary Background Explained

Most of the crab fishermen on Discovery's "Deadliest Catch" have deep roots in crabbing. After all, it's an unforgiving industry, and familial ties are a surefire way of catching nascent crabbers hook, line, and sinker (one such fishing bloodline is explored in the Sig Hansen-starring spinoff "The Viking Returns.")

Other fishermen seek out the industry on their own. In 1985, at the age of 22, Keith Colburn hopped on a plane from Lake Tahoe to Kodiak, Alaska to find work as a fisherman, despite having zero experience. A gig as a greenhorn on the Alaska Trader turned into a full-fledged career, and three years later, he became a deckhand on the F/V Wizard. Over 30 years later, he's captaining the same ship.

Colburn may have been green when he started out, but he did have some experience with seafood — from a culinary standpoint, that is. Before he decamped to Alaska on a whim, Colburn had been working in a French restaurant since he was 14 years old. By age 21, he was already a sous chef and trained for the role of executive chef. He was prepared for a career in the kitchen until the siren song of crabbing called to him.

Colburn's culinary skills even helped him get the gig on the Alaska Trader. "For the first six weeks that I was in Alaska, I worked for room and board," the captain told GamerLive. "When I first got on the boat, one of the things that kept me on the boat... was being able to cook."

Although Keith Colburn traded the kitchen for the crab boat decades ago, he's still maintained his cooking chops, with an emphasis on seafood. Moreover, he has shared his love of cooking with the masses. Colburn and fellow "Deadliest Catch" star Jonathan Hillstrand appeared on the Hallmark Channel to share a recipe for seafood scampi, explain the technical cooking apparatuses that exist on fishing vessels, and reveal the hefty price tag ($15,000, give or take) that comes with stocking a ship with enough food for the whole crew.

Indeed, Colburn spends much of his time on the mainland showing off his crab cookery. He and Hillstrand appeared on Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart's "Potluck Dinner Party" to break down a giant crab alongside Anthony Anderson and Christina Milian. "I was surprised to find out Snoop Dogg was scared to death of getting close to any crustaceans," Colburn later told the Tampa Bay Times. "He did not want anything to do with that." The captain has also led cooking demos, chatted with a chef at Kroger's, and even helmed a fish fry with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.

Colburn synthesized his TV fame and love of cooking to launch his own product line, Captain Keith's Catch, which includes sauces, dry rubs, and crab boil seasoning.