Blue crabs are a delicacy that is often synonymous with Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay areas of Virginia. However, crabs can be found almost anywhere along the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States where there is coastal marsh land. This includes the Peace River in Punta Gorda Florida where Peace River Seafood is found. As I watched the owner shuck oysters, pop shrimp tails off, and pick meat from crabs that had just been caught that morning, it reminded me of doing the same things as a child. Unfortunately, not everyone has had the chance to eat fresh crabs as a child like I did. So, here’s a quick guide on how to eat blue crabs.
Blue crabs are a delicious summer treat, but eating them can be intimidating if you’ve never tried it before. With some handy tips you’ll be getting every bit of sweet crab meat out of those spindly legs and claws in no time. Here’s a guide to the tastiest morsels a blue crab has to offer and how to extract them.
Claws
The claws are most people’s favorite part of the crab to eat They contain a good amount of meat for the amount of effort it takes to get it out. Use a mallet or cracker to break open the hard shell. Be careful of pinching! Then pick out the lump crab meat inside Dip the sweet claw meat in melted butter or apple cider vinegar. Yum!
Legs
While the small legs don’t contain much meat, the first two pairs of legs near the claws are worth eating. Break them off the crab body and use your hands or a knife to open the shell. Scrape out the crab meat inside. I like to suck the juice from the leg shells too.
Lump Crab Meat
The prized lump crab meat is found by prying open the body shell and scooping it out in chunks. This part takes some work, but it’s so worth it for the large, juicy pieces of crab. Use a knife, hands, or even a crab leg to crack open the body shell and pull it away. Then dig for those glorious lumps!
Backfin Crab Meat
The backfin meat lines the swimmer fins along the back of the crab. After removing the top shell, use your fingers to pull and scrape the backfin meat away from the swimmer fins. It comes off in long strips. The backfin isn’t as prized as the lump meat, but it’s still very tasty.
Shoulder Meat
There is nice crab meat tucked into the shoulders on either side of the crab’s body Crack the body open, then wiggle a knife, claw, or your own fingers in the shoulder joints to remove the meat. It’s fun and satisfying when those meaty chunks come loose.
Brown Crab Meat
This refers to the darker meat found inside the body cavity after removing the prized white lump and backfin meat. It has a stronger flavor and texture than the white meat. Brown crab is often used in dishes like crab cakes rather than being eaten by itself. But I enjoy nibbling on it straight from the shell for full crab flavor.
How to Pick Out All the Meat
To get absolutely every bit of meat from the crab, you’ll need to do some detailed picking. Break the body completely open and go section by section, pulling out meat and brushing crumbs into your dish. Use a knife or pick to get into every nook. Suck the juice from sections of shell before discarding. It takes time, but it’s worth being thorough!
Here are a few tips for successful blue crab eating:
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Cover your table with newspaper for easy cleanup. Things get messy!
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Use mallets, knives, and your hands as tools to dismantle the crab.
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Don’t forget to crack the claws – they contain some of the tastiest meat.
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Dip the crab meat in melted butter, vinegar, or lemon juice as you eat it.
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Take your time and pick carefully to get every little bit.
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Suck the juices from shells before discarding them.
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Wear bibs, roll up your sleeves and don’t wear your nicest clothes.
With some newspaper, tools, and determination, you’ll be able to enjoy all the sweet crab meat those spindly blue crabs have to offer. It’s worth the effort for such a unique treat. What’s your favorite part of the crab to eat?
Tools You Need to Eat Blue Crab …
For the most part, all you need to enjoy eating blue crab is your bare hands, a surface you don’t mind getting dirty, and clothes you don’t mind getting crab, guts, and seasoning on.
However, like any job – the proper tools make things a lot easier. To help break up the leg clusters, a pairing knife, and some kind of pick to get to the meat inside the legs that is hard to reach, these are the tools you should have. A bucket for shell pieces to go in, lots of paper towels, and wet naps to clean your hands are also good to have. After that, you’re pretty much on your own, but I like to eat blue crabs in a casual setting, like on a back porch or a picnic table with old newspapers spread out on it.
Step Three: Remove the Gills and Guts
Next, with the top shell gone, youll find the gills attached to both sides of the crabs body. Remove them along with the guts you find inside. After taking out the crab’s gills and guts, you can crack it all the way down the middle and start picking out the meat.
How to PROPERLY Pick & Eat Maryland Blue Crabs
How do you eat blue crab meat?
Eat them straight away with lemons and cold beer, or check out our favorite recipes for blue crab meat right here. 1. Turn the crab over so that its belly faces you. Using your fingers or the tip of a sharp knife, lift up its heart-shaped apron, or tail, and pull it back to snap it off of the body. 2.
What do blue crabs eat?
Blue crabs love to eat other shellfish like clams, oysters, smaller soft-shelled blue crabs, and mussels, but they also eat fish like sea bream and eels and other plant and animal debris.
Are blue crabs edible?
The edible parts of a cooked blue crab include the meat from the claws, legs, and body. Even the yellow mustard inside the crab is edible. The gills and viscera are inedible and should be discarded when you pick a crab.
How do you pick a blue crab?
When you “pick” a crab, you are taking apart the shell and cracking the legs to get to the meat. You can grab a mallet and start whacking, but you’ll end up with a huge mess and the meat will be full of shell fragments. Unlike snow crab and Alaskan king crab legs, hard shell blue crabs require more effort to reveal the maximum amount of crab meat.