Every summer, people from near and far flock to Maryland’s coast to get their fill of blue crabs. Here now, the how’s and where’s of crab season.
The Sweet Spot: Navigating Soft Shell Crab Season in Maryland
For seafood aficionados, there is perhaps no greater seasonal delicacy than the soft shell crab These tender crustaceans with edible shells offer a singular culinary experience during a fleeting window of time. In Maryland, the epicenter of soft shell crab harvesting,anticipation runs high for this seasonal treat Read on to learn all about soft shell crab season in Maryland, from when it happens to how to savor it.
What Makes Soft Shell Crabs Special
Unlike a typical hard-shelled crab, soft shell crabs can be eaten whole, shell and all. This is because they are harvested immediately after molting, before their new shell hardens. During this brief phase, the entire crab is edible, offering uniquely succulent and sweet meat. Soft shell crab season provides the exclusive chance to enjoy crabs in this rare state.
Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay: A Soft Shell Mecca
Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay provides ideal conditions for harvesting soft shell crabs. Its blue crab population and brackish water foster a perfect soft shell crab environment. This launched Maryland’s reign as the nation’s soft shell crab epicenter decades ago. Today, Maryland remains renowned as the place to get prime soft shell crabs.
When Is Soft Shell Crab Season in Maryland?
The coveted soft shell crab season in Maryland typically runs from April to September. Peak season is May through August. This aligns with crabs’ natural molting cycles when soft shell crabs become plentiful. Late spring through summer is when enthusiasts flock to Maryland seafood markets and restaurants to relish top-quality soft shells.
How Are Soft Shell Crabs Harvested?
Timing is everything when gathering soft shell crabs. Specialized watermen monitor crab shedding tanks for freshly molted crabs. Once a crab emerges soft, the watermen must immediately yet gently remove it before its new shell starts hardening. The soft shells are then cleaned, packaged, and rushed to market so their delicate state isn’t compromised. This swift process enables soft shell crab aficionados to enjoy the crabs at their fleeting prime.
Purchasing Soft Shell Crabs in Maryland
Those wishing to experience Maryland soft shell crabs have plenty of options during season. Local seafood stores, fish markets, and grocery stores carry fresh soft shells. Many restaurants showcase soft shell crab dishes ranging from fried soft shells to innovative soft shell preparations. Soft shell festivals and popup crab shacks are also popular during peak season.
How to Store and Prepare Soft Shell Crabs
Because soft shell crabs are so perishable, they should be consumed ASAP for ultimate freshness. If briefly storing them, keep soft shells chilled atop damp paper towels, allowing air to circulate. They will keep one day max. Most fans prefer frying, grilling, or sautéing soft shell crabs to highlight their signature crunch and sweetness. Soft shell crab sandwiches are also a regional must-try.
Why Soft Shell Crabs Are Worth the Hype
Beyond their novelty, several factors make soft shell crabs a sublime delicacy:
- Unique tender-crisp texture
- Sweet, succulent meat
- Mild flavor with a hint of brine
- Ability to eat the entire crab
- Extremely limited availability
By tapping into Maryland’s soft shell bounty each spring and summer, you can savor one of coastal cuisine’s greatest gifts. Just be sure to time your visit or shipments to align with the fleeting yet fantastic soft shell season!
Soft Shell Crab Season FAQs
Can you harvest soft shell crabs year-round?
No, soft shell crabs can only be caught during crabs’ molting season, generally April-September. Outside of soft shell season, the crabs’ shells will be hardened.
Do soft shell crabs ship well?
Soft shells are highly perishable, but some vendors overnight ship them packed in gel packs to help preserve freshness.
Are soft shell crabs sustainable?
Strict harvesting regulations in Maryland help maintain a sustainable crab population. Buying from licensed watermen supports sustainability.
Can you freeze soft shell crabs?
Freezing is possible but can diminish texture. Most chefs recommend eating them fresh.
How do you prepare soft shell crabs?
Most soft shells are fried, sautéed, or grilled to bring out their signature crunch. They work in many dishes like sandwiches, tacos, pastas, and more.
What do soft shell crabs taste like?
Soft shells offer sweet, succulent crab meat with a mildly briny finish. Their soft crunch contrasts beautifully with the tender meat.
How big do soft shell crabs get?
Soft shells harvested in Maryland typically range from 4-6 inches across the shell. Jumbo soft shells over 6 inches are especially prized.
Should you clean soft shell crabs before cooking?
Reputable vendors sell soft shells pre-cleaned. Just rinse before cooking. Do not soak them or the meat may become soggy.
What are soft shell crab sandwiches?
A soft shell crab fried and placed on a bun with fixings like lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce is a signature Maryland sandwich.
Can you re-freeze soft shell crabs after thawing?
It’s not recommended. Refreezing severely diminishes texture. Thaw only what you will eat within a day.
The allure of soft shell crab season endures for good reason in Maryland: these singular crabs offer an unmatched culinary experience. Time your visit right to savor these local delicacies during their fleeting yet fantastic season. Soft shell crab connoisseurs agree: this sweet spot on the seasonal calendar is not to be missed!
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Summers in Maryland aren’t summer without crabs. Not just any crabs, but the delicate, sweet blue crabs that live in the Chesapeake Bay. Their Latin name, Callinectes sapidus, means “beautiful swimmer.” Marylanders get very excited when they rip into a bushel of red-shelled beauties covered in crab seasoning or when they enjoy the deliciousness of a fried soft shell with a chilled Natty Boh.
People in Maryland steam hard shell crab and other seafood instead of boiling them like people on the rest of the East Coast and in Louisiana do. Marylanders will tell you that boiling makes the crabmeat wet, rather than just moist. (Boiling proponents argue that steaming pushes the internal temperature too high and dries out the flesh. But, strangely, people from Maryland say that the seasoned boiling water makes the crab taste too evenly seasoned. They like the variety of heat and seasoning that comes from rubbing the spice onto the crabmeat with their fingers. As a result, in Maryland, steamed is usually the only option on offer.
WHEN TO EAT CRABS
The Maryland crab season starts in April and runs through December. But a lot of what you find in crab houses at the beginning of the season or in the winter comes from North Carolina and Louisiana.
Most of the Maryland crabs that are served in April and early May are ones that stayed north for the winter and dug themselves into the mud. Then, around Memorial Day, the first batch runs out, and crabbers wait for the crabs that are still making their way up the Bay.
People like to eat crabs most and most of the time in June through August. But September and October are the best months to get the biggest, fattest hard crabs at the best prices.
The Maryland soft shell season usually runs mid-May through September. Because they are a delicacy, the best time to eat them is whenever you can get them. However, they are typically the least expensive at the beginning of the season.
Mustard/Tomalley: Found in all crabs, the tomalley, known as mustard in the mid-Atlantic, is the crab’s fat. It can range in color from white to dijon mustard yellow to a greenish color. It is included with most pre-packed crabmeat to enrich its flavor.
Roe: Found in mature female crabs, crab roe is a bright orange color. It gets solid when steamed, and in Chinese food, it’s often used as a topping for tofu or pork and crab soup dumplings.
Jumbo lump: These are the large chunks of meat connected to the swimming fins of the crab. It is favored for its presentation and size, and is accordingly more expensive.
Backfin: Backfin meat comes from the body of the crab and broken chunks of lump. It tends to have a more shredded texture than lump and is less expensive.
Apron: This is the flap on the white underside of a crab, which terminates in a point. They can be used to judge the sex and maturity of the crab.
Jimmy: These are male crabs; the point of the apron is long and narrow. Adults have locking spines that allow them to open and shut their apron for mating. Most people like to eat these because they are big and easier to get because the catch limits are higher.
Sally: Also known as she-crabs, these are adolescent female blue crabs. Their entire apron forms a triangle, and their blue claws are tipped with red. The aprons do not open since they are not ready to mate or carry eggs. Typically these are thrown back due to their small size and reproductive potential.
Sook: A woman blue crab that is fully grown can be recognized by her apron, which is shaped like an upside-down U and ends in a triangle. She also has blue claws tipped with red. Sooks are usually less expensive and end up in the picking houses due to their smaller size. Some say that sooks have sweeter meat than jimmies.
Sponge crab: Sponge crabs are mature females that have fertilized eggs attached to the bottom of their abdomens. In Maryland, these must be thrown back into the water.
This is what a crab looks like as it gets ready to molt and turn into a soft shell crab. It is distinguished by a colored line on its paddling fin.
Size classes: There are no industry standards for crab sizes, so they may vary from vendor to vendor. Most are categorized by the distance from point to point on the top shell and sometimes by sex.
There are two systems of size classification. The first uses numbers, with #1 being the largest, heaviest males, #2 signifying smaller males, and #3 labeling the females and smallest crabs. The other way divides them into four sizes: small, medium, large, and jumbo. Smalls are about four-and-a-half to five inches across, and jumbos are more than six inches across.
Old Bay: The spice served up from the iconic blue and yellow box has become a pop icon. McCormick, the owner of Old Bay, doesn’t publicly disclose all 18 herbs and spices that are in the recipe, but the box lists celery salt, red and black pepper, and paprika. Speculators note the likely ingredients as bay leaves, cloves, allspice (pimento), ginger, mace, cardamom, cinnamon, and paprika. Locals sprinkle it on just about anything, and it’s found in consumables like Baltimore ice cream parlor the Charmery’s Old Bay caramel ice cream, or in Flying Dog Brewery’s Dead Rise Old Bay Summer Ale.
Some people in the area say that McCormick changed the recipe for the spice blend when they bought it from German immigrant Gustav Brunn in 1990. They say that Old Bay hasn’t had the same heat since the change from the original 1939 recipe made by Brunn’s Baltimore Spice Company. But a McCormick spokesperson denies any changes to the recipe since it was purchased.
J. O. Spice: Odds are at a crab house, whats seasoning the crabs is made by J. O. Spice Company, not Old Bay. The company has been around since 1945 and now supplies more than 800 restaurants in the mid-Atlantic. They often make custom blends that vary in how salty and spicy they are. The easiest way to discern if a restaurant is using J. O. is to examine the salt crystals, which are flaky rather than cubical.
A lot of people in Maryland think that apple cider vinegar is one of the best things to put on crabs, along with crab seasoning. Butter is used infrequently, and cocktail sauce is generally considered a big no-no.
Cooking Maryland SOFT CRAB
FAQ
What is the best month for soft shell crabs?
What is the best month for Maryland crabs?
Can you eat all of a soft shell crab?
What crabs are in season now?