In the Chesapeake Bay area, summer is crab season! The claws make it easy to pick the meat, but the sweet, pearly white backfin meat is the real prize. To get to it, you have to crack, clean, and slurp the crab in a certain way that only a true Chesapeake native can.
Once you master the technique, it becomes second nature, leaving you with plenty of mental space for talking with friends. You’ll remember this summer for a long time if you have a nice breeze and enough cold beer to cool off from the strong spices in the crab pot.
Blue crab meat is a delicious and nutritious seafood that is popular along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. But what exactly is blue crab meat and why is it so popular?
The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is a species of crab that lives in the waters along the eastern and southeastern coasts of the United States and in the Gulf of Mexico. Blue crabs get their name from the blueish color of their shells, which can vary from olive to light blue.
Blue crabs are crustaceans with a hard outer shell or exoskeleton. They have five pairs of legs for walking and swimming as well as large front claws for catching prey and defending themselves. Blue crabs are opportunistic feeders and will eat fish, plants, mollusks, worms, and even smaller blue crabs!
The meat that we eat from blue crabs comes from the muscles that allow the crab to walk and swim. Male and female crabs are harvested, though males tend to be more sought after for their meat.
Blue Crab Season
The blue crab season varies by region, but generally runs from early spring through late fall when waters are warmer and crabs are more active.
- In the Chesapeake Bay, the season peaks from April through November.
- In the Carolinas, peak season is May through October.
- In the Gulf states, you can find blue crabs year-round, but they are most abundant from March to November.
No matter where you live, summer is typically the best time to enjoy fresh local blue crab. Check with local fishermen or seafood markets to find out when crabs are being harvested in your area.
Types of Crab Meat
Blue crab meat is sold fresh or pasteurized in different grades depending on the part of the crab it comes from. Here are the most common types:
Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
This refers to meat from the two largest muscles on either side of the crab’s body. Jumbo lump pieces can be over an inch wide! The meat has a delicate texture and sweet flavor. It tends to be the most expensive type of crab meat.
Jumbo lump is perfect for dishes where you want the flavor and texture of the crab itself to shine, like crab cakes, toppings for pasta, seafood cocktails, and dips.
Lump Crab Meat
Lump crab also comes from body muscle, but the pieces are smaller and less uniform than jumbo lump. It has a similar mild, sweet flavor and delicate texture. Lump crab meat is versatile for casseroles, sandwiches, soups, and more.
Backfin Crab Meat
Backfin meat is flaky pieces of body meat taken from smaller body segments. The flavor is still delicious, but the texture is less pronounced. Backfin works well in dishes where the crab is mixed into a sauce or filling.
Claw Crab Meat
Claw meat is shredded and stringy texture since it comes from smaller muscles in the legs and claws. It has a stronger flavor that stands up to bold seasonings. Use claw meat in crab cakes, dips, soups, and anywhere you want the crab flavor to come through.
Special Crab Meat
This refers to a mix of crab meats from different parts of the body. Special crab may include some lump and backfin along with claw. It’s an affordable option for crab dishes like sandwiches, casseroles, and crab-stuffed fish.
Buying and Storing Crab Meat
When buying crab meat you typically have two options – fresh or pasteurized.
Fresh crab meat means the crab was recently cooked, picked, and packed. It has superior flavor and texture compared to pasteurized, but also costs more and has a shorter shelf life. Fresh crab meat should be kept refrigerated and used within 4-5 days.
Pasteurized crab meat is briefly heated to kill bacteria, allowing it to be shelf-stable. It is vacuum sealed and can be kept refrigerated for up to a year. The taste is still good, but the texture is not quite as delicate. Pasteurized crab is more widely available and budget-friendly.
No matter which type you buy, check that the crab meat smells fresh, not fishy, and that it is free of additives. Lump crab meat should have distinct chunks rather than stringy bits.
Crab meat can be frozen for longer term storage. Wrap it tightly in plastic and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
Cooking with Blue Crab Meat
Blue crab meat is versatile enough to be used in appetizers, soups and stews, pasta dishes, sandwiches, casseroles, and more. Here are some quick tips for getting the most of that delicious crab flavor:
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For lump or jumbo lump meat, handle gently and avoid breaking up the chunks too much. The beauty of this type of meat is showcasing the whole lumps.
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Backfin crab meat holds up well to mixing and stirring into dishes. Use it for crab dip, casseroles like crab mac and cheese, crab-stuffed fish, etc.
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Mix shredded claw meat with breadcrumbs and seasonings for delicious crab cakes and patties. The strong flavor of claw meat is perfect for boldly flavored cakes.
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Don’t overcook crab meat or it can become rubbery. For hot dishes, gently fold in lump crab meat at the end of cooking.
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Add crab meat to cooked pasta or rice for an instant meal. Mix with lemon juice, herbs, or sauces for extra flavor.
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Use a light hand when seasoning crab meat. You want the sweetness to come through. Lemon, parsley, Old Bay, paprika, and pepper are classic choices.
With its sweet and delicate flavor, crab meat is easy to dress up or down. A touch of crab elevates everything from sandwiches to cocktails!
Health Benefits of Eating Blue Crab
Not only is it tasty, but blue crab meat has some nice health benefits as well. Here are a few highlights:
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It is low in calories and fat, especially if you avoid the fat-rich hepatopancreas or “mustard”. 3 ounces of crab contains less than 100 calories.
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Crab meat is high in protein, providing over 15g in a 3 ounce portion. The protein in seafood is considered superior for muscle growth and maintenance.
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It contains important vitamins and minerals like selenium, zinc, copper, and magnesium. Seafood provides nutrients that are lacking in many land animal meats.
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Some research indicates that shellfish contain inflammation-fighting antioxidants like carotenoids and astaxanthin.
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Eating seafood is linked to numerous health benefits including improved heart health, better brain function, and lower risk of some cancers.
Of course, moderation is key as with any rich food. But overall, crab can be part of a healthy diet. It provides lean protein, essential nutrients, and satisfaction.
Is Eating Crab Cruel?
Some people may wonder if eating any animal, including crabs, is cruel and unethical. Crabs and other crustaceans certainly react to stimuli in ways that suggest they feel pain.
However, research on the nervous systems of crabs indicates that they do not process pain or experience suffering in the same way as mammals and other vertebrates. Their reactions are mostly instinctual reflexes.
Responsible harvesting and cooking methods minimize any potential suffering. There are also sustainable crab fisheries that have little wider environmental impact when managed properly.
While ethical concerns are understandable, crabs lack the anatomical structures associated with conscious pain. Enjoying them in moderation does not seem to raise the same moral issues as consuming vertebrate animals. But each person should reflect on what feels ethical to them.
How to Eat Blue Crab
Now that you know all about blue crab meat, let’s discuss how to actually eat blue crab! There are some tricks to opening up a steamed blue crab and getting out all of that delicious meat.
Here is a quick step-by-step guide:
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Twist off the legs and claws. Crack the claws open and pull out the tasty claw meat.
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Flip the crab over and remove the apron on the bottom.
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Lift up the top shell. Discard the gills and innards.
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Break the crab body in half.
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Use your fingers or a seafood fork to pull chunks of meat out of the body and legs. Look for the sweet lump meat!
Work over a table covered in newspaper to make cleanup easy. Don’t forget hand wipes and a seafood cracker or mallet for breaking into the legs and claws. Enjoy your fresh blue crab feast!
What to Look for When Buying Blue Crab
Blue crabs are generally sold by the dozen or the bushel. There should be about six to seven dozen crabs in a bushel, but it depends on how big they are. (Pro tip: when buying crabs by the bushel, make sure that the bushel has been packed well. The crabs should be layered into the balsa wood bushel crate so that their claws are folded under them. The lid should be securely locked on top of them. If you don’t pack your crabs well, there will be fewer of them in a “light” bushel. This will give them more room to fight, which they will do. You’ll pay a lot of money for a small number of crabs compared to a heavy bushel, and the wrestling will damage many of the claws. ).
Crabs are sold in the following classifications:
- First, pick the biggest, meatiest males that you want to steam.
- Number twos are smaller crabs, and there may be a mix of male and female crabs if state laws allow them to be caught. If you want to save money, these are a cheaper option, but picking them will take a long time and be boring.
- Number threes: Very small crabs. Mostly females.
You want to buy at least four to five crabs per person. Six is a safer bet (you can always pick the meat, refrigerate it and enjoy it tomorrow).
Not up for picking? You can buy fresh crabmeat in-season and pasteurized canned or frozen crab meat out of season. Crabmeat is a delicacy and you can expect to pay quite dearly for it, particularly the increasingly rare freshly steamed, hand-picked meat. But you don’t need much. You want to factor about 1/3 to 1/4 pound of crabmeat per person. Then enjoy it all kinds of crab recipes, such as cakes, dip and soup.
When you go shopping for crab meat, watch out for imported species that are sold as “Blue Crab” meat but are actually a different species. Imported crabmeat is not sustainably produced and is labeled by Seafood Watch as a product to avoid.
Always look for domestic crabmeat. It comes in several distinctions:
- Jumbo lump: The queen of crabmeat. This should be used in recipes that show off the big, pearly chunks of buttery meat, like crab cakes. When you’re making your recipe, be sure to leave the big pieces of meat alone.
- Back fin: You can get great crab meat from the back of the shell, where it meets the last claws of the fin. In all of your recipes, big chunks of sweet meat work great.
- Claviar meat: This is the finely ground meat that you got from the claws. It’s still very tasty, though not quite as sweet as the lump and backfin. It can be used in soups and dips that don’t need big chunks of meat.
Blue Crabs and Geography
The blue crab lives in salty estuaries and lagoons along the coast from Nova Scotia to Uruguay and all the way through the Gulf of Mexico. But the Chesapeake Bay’s cold waters and unique ecosystem make it the best place for crabs to live. It also has the largest and most numerous populations. As scavengers, crabs eat almost anything they can find, like plants, fish, mussels, snails, and even dead animals and smaller blue crabs.
Unlike the bivalves that often share their waters, crabs are not farmed or seeded to expand their populations. Rather, they are encouraged to proliferate by protecting their environment and setting limits on the size, stage and sex of captured crabs, the season during which they can be fished and the equipment that can be employed to harvest them. Although each state manages its own regulations, it is widely illegal to take crabs in the “berry” or “sponge” stage, when they are laden with eggs or baby crabs. Such crabs must be returned to the water unharmed.
Like most crustaceans, the blue crab’s hard exoskeleton and many spindly legs make the creature look more like bugs than dinner. Yet, despite their appearance, crabs were a valued food source for Native Americans and early colonists. In fact, evidence of crab dinners dates to Pre-historic times.
Commercial crab fisheries have dotted the Atlantic coast for the past one hundred years, and have been a part of the Gulf’s seafood industry for the past fifty. Up until 1950, the Chesapeake Bay accounted for the lion’s share of available blue crab, about 75 percent, but that figure has since declined to about 50 percent of the domestic blue crab catch.
Because blue crabs go bad quickly, they were only available locally and were considered a treat until refrigeration and the easy availability of large amounts of ice made it possible for some regional shipping. The fragile nature of blue crabs means that live blue crabs can’t be shipped far. This means that the traditional steamed crab feast is mostly a local event.
Learn to Pick like a Pro!
FAQ
What is the difference between blue crab and regular crab?
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What is the difference between red crabs and blue crabs?
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