A male blue crab “molts” or sheds its exoskeleton about twenty times before reaching adulthood. Maryland Blue Crabs can be found all the way down the eastern coast of the United States, through the Gulf of Mexico and even as far down as Argentina. It mates only once in its lifetime. Iron is a trace mineral that carries oxygen from your heart to all cells. Crab meat that is hand picked, and consists of luscious chunks of pure backfin lump crab meat which is packed here on the Chesapeake Bay and is available fresh as well as jumbo lump crab meat, claw crab meat, or crab claws. Eating crab. But when we gorge on crabs, we don’t really check if we are about to eat a male or a female crab, do we? How to Eat a Maryland Blue Crab. Each hard crab is delicately hand picked and then packaged right here in the heart of the Chesapeake Bay. Here at Cameron’s Seafood, we want to make sure you get exactly what you want. Blue King Crab. Read the Blue crabs - male or female - do you prefer your crabs to have a Y chromosome? In some areas, it may be illegal to catch female crabs in order to allow it to reproduce, so it is very important to know how to distinguish a female crab from a male crab. An average blue crab weighs about 1/3 pound with the edible portion quite low. ). discussion from the Chowhound General Discussion, Crab food community. The Maryland Blue Crab is a famous staple of summer cuisine, though you don’t need to be in Maryland to enjoy its sweet meat. It is also believed that female crabs have dense meat. Interestingly, soft-shell crabs are in fact Maryland Blue Crabs. Now you can use your fingers to pull the remaining meat right out of the body. Backfin - The swimming or paddle fin. The Chesapeake Bay has had the largest blue crab harvest for more than a century. A crab that has filled out its shell will have what looks like a dirty rusty under body with a lot of moss under the points. On this page, we compare Lobster Versus Crab to see which food has fewer calories, less fat, more protein, and more fiber. Here at Cameron’s we specialize in the Maryland Blue Crab. They also take time to grow into their new shells. 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. Our crab meat is packaged fresh and contains luscious chunks of delicious blue crab meat. "Sometimes the shell will appear translucent. See Blue Crab Identification for more information. An adult male blue crab may mate many times in its lifetime. The #1 Male crab, also known as a “Jimmy”, are typically the most sought after type of crab. When you sit down at a seafood restaurant and see the menu, do you get overwhelmed by all the different types of crab on the menu? With climate change, these crabs have been spotted recently as far north as Maine. Snow Crabs are found all over both the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. When it comes to lobsters the meat from the female is sweeter. With a hard-shell and five legs on each side, snow crabs have a nice, sweet taste. ). There, however, the crab is invasive. Claw Meat picks from the swimming fins and claws. Adolescent female blue crabs, or “sally,” have triangle-shaped flaps and are also called “v-bottoms” in some areas. King Crabs are the most popular variety of crabs. We wrote a thorough article detailing everything you need to know about Maryland Soft Shell Crabs on our blog. In areas where catching female crabs is allowed, females are eaten not only for their delicious meat but also for their roe (eggs). This crab is very distinct when seen in the wild, due to its blue shell. Snow crab legs are typically less expensive than king crab legs. Snow crabs have snow white meat, which gives it its name and its reputation as a delicacy. Greenbaum also said the crabmeat imported from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Venezuela is from an entirely different species than Maryland Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus. 1. Aside from its claws, a male blue crab can also be identified by the shape of its “apron,” which is the flap on its bottom. The quality of the meat is at its highest when the crab is cooked alive or euthanized within seconds of going into a steamer. Under the point of the carapace you will not find any “moss” or very little and it will be light in color. Snow Crab. “When you go to buy a crab, flip it up side down,” says Rorapaugh. The Maryland Blue Crab is a famous staple of summer cuisine, though you don't need to be in Maryland to enjoy its sweet meat. Of protein, and also as a by-catch on shrimp boats size of the crab difficult to determine sexual! Thorough article detailing everything you need to get excited about, too which... A moist, meaty, flaky texture legs on each side, snow have... 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