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Which is a better deal - whole crab or just legs.

15 years ago

I told DS and DH that for Mother's Day I want crab legs instead of going out. I haven't had some in a very very long time. DH said, wouldn't it be a better deal to get the whole crab. I always thought that was a waste because there is so little meat in a whole crab except the claws.

Like I said it has been awhile, so someone tell me which is the better deal?

TIA

Clare

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Comments (19)

User
15 years ago
What kind of crabs - Chesapeake Bay Blue crabs, King crabs, etc., etc?
sushipup1
15 years ago
No, we have Dungeness crabs here, altho out of season, they are available very fresh frozen. Or frozen King crab legs. Clare, to me they are very different. I'll take whole Dungeness crab any day. Can't speak for the value of either, tho. You just look at price per pound and how much it takes to feed the three of you, and o from there. Costco always has the frozen King crab egs, but I've never tried them. Phil's Fish Market has Dungeness crabs, but they are way out of season.
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Lars
15 years ago
I find quite a bit of meat in a whole crab, but the leg and claw meat is best, and the rest of it is a major pain to pick out. I would say go for the King Crab legs - I buy those often, and they are so much easier to use. The last time I was at Santa Monica Seafood Market, I bought crab meat that had already been extracted from the whole crabs, and it was quite a bit more expensive than King Crab legs, but it saved me a lot of work.

Lars
triciae
15 years ago
I think it depends on what you're having for dinner.

For the crab "experience" then, obviously, you want whole crabs. Cover the table in layers of newspaper & dump the crabs on the table along with fresh corn-on-the-cob & potatoes. Serve bread & a side salad & it's a feast. That's the kind of meal we do here on the east coast. Everybody just grabs what they want & we take a good 2 hours to eat dinner. It's as much about the "experience" as it is the food.

OTOH, if you're wanting something more restrained like a surf 'n turf dinner then I'd go with Alaskan King crab legs...less fuss & less mess.

Sounds like a good meal.

/tricia
sushipup1
15 years ago
Oh, and Dungeness have a LOT of meat in the body.
caflowerluver
Original Author
15 years ago
I saw Dungeness crabs being sold at the fish market on Santa Cruz wharf. They were advertised as fresh. Must have been fresh frozen. Kind of deceptive.

I grew up in New England so have had the whole lobster experience. I would rather have Lobster Thermidor. And I had the crab experience when I moved to CA. Not wild about all the effort and work. At least you burn off some of the calories. LOL!

I hadn't thought about Surf 'n Turf but I like that idea. So I will get steaks and King crab legs. Yum!

Thanks everyone for the information.
Clare
sushipup1
15 years ago
They might still be bringing in crab from up the coast. The season is different at different locations along the coast. A properly frozen one is still awfully good. Phil has a tank of live ones.

Since I haven't have King crab legs in probably 30 years, I think I'll try them when I see them at Costco next.

You'll have a Mother's Day feast!
hawk307
15 years ago
Clare:
How about Filet Mignon and lobster!!!!!
It's your day, enjoy it.
Lou
canarybird01
15 years ago
Well if you decide on buying anything like a Spanish crab "buey del mar" like the ones I bought for the exoskeletal challenge thread then I would warn against opening up the body and trying to find anything useful inside LOL.

What a mess I had for nothing.
There was some meat in the legs but as these weren't Dungeness or any other large type of crab, it wasn't worth prying open the body to look for white meat as there was none. :-(

SharonCb
caflowerluver
Original Author
15 years ago
Lou - As much as I love lobster, and I do, I think I will go with crab legs because I haven't had them in such a long time.

Now I have to decide which steak to buy, Tenderloin, T-bone, Filet Mignon, Porterhouse, Top loin, Rib-Eye or Sirloin. Maybe I should start a new thread. LOL
Clare
hawk307
15 years ago
Clare:
I'm with Sushipup on the Dungenous Crab compared to the amount of meat there is in Crab Legs.

We stop at the places in Maryland, where they put news papers on the table and
shovel on the Crabs. A lot of fun but a lot of smashing and picking.

How about Whole Crabs steamed , New York Strip and Dungenous Crabs.
Make everyone happy, especially you . It's your day.

On one of my wifes birthday's, I was trying to pick out a card for her.

They all looked good so I bought all of them.
She said what did you do now ?????

You woman just don't appreciate nice things.

Lou

PS: If you buy Steamed Crabs be sure the legs are floppy.
If they are stiff they were dead for a while before the were Steamed.
caflowerluver
Original Author
15 years ago
Lou - You bought them all - what a nice DH you are! Though I would have said the same thing. LOL Thanks for the tip on floppy vs stiff. I didn't know that.

Another reason to go with legs. DH just reminded me, DS has a problem with faces on the food he eats. One of his quirks, he has Autism. He doesn't like whole fish, freaks him out to see the eyes staring at him. Once when we got whole lobster, he wouldn't eat it until I went back in the kitchen and removed all the meat so he didn't see the 'body'. I grew up on fish and seafood on the East Coast since a was a little kid and never thought a thing about it.
Clare
sushipup1
15 years ago
Clare, you can get the Dungeness already cracked, no face at all.

Question: How much King Crab legs do you buy per person, by weight or by piece?
velodoug
15 years ago
Steak and king crab legs sounds like a real winner. Here on the East Coast, my favorite crabs are soft shell blues. We're just coming into the season now.

--Doug
jimster
15 years ago
Crab is high on my list of fine foods. However, this thread's question has me stumped. I don't know how to compare the different preparations of one kind of crab, let alone whole vs. legs or one kind of crab vs. another. They all have their gustatory good points. The economics have everything to do with the preparation and serving method.

Steamed blue crabs stand out as my favorite. The recipe starts with "Catch a few dozen large blue crabs..." This is best done with the aid of a bunch of kids and provides a half day of great entertainment as well as cheap food of the best quality. The recipe ends with dumping the spicy steamed crabs in a pile on a newspaper covered picnic table and settling in for a long, lazy, messy session of picking and eating with a cooler full of thirst quenchers.

Buying a bushel of blue crabs, then steaming and serving them the same way, is an option. But you're deprived of half the fun.

Jim
hawk307
15 years ago
Jim:
Way back when we went Crabing a lot.
And the best part was when I dumped over a bushel of Crabs in the 16 foot boat.
There isn't much room but all 4 of us were Step Dancing.

One of my Favorites is Crabs in Spaghetti Sauce over Pasta.
Lou
jimster
15 years ago
"...all 4 of us were Step Dancing."

That's what I meant by "entertainment". What a picture you created! I can just see it. They really can pinch, can't they!

Jim
sushipup1
15 years ago
We used to buy live crab at New Year's Eve and have crab races across the kitchen floor. First one into the pot!!!

But seriously, there is a world of difference in the meat (quantity/where in the body) and the taste between the West coast Dungeness and the East coast soft/blue crabs.

My DIL, a Philly native, can take or leave the East coast crabs but goes wild for the Western Dungeness. If you haven't tasted both, you can't compare the two. King Crab legs are, to my distant memory, more like the Dungeness in flavor. Can anyone else add to my memory?
caflowerluver
Original Author
15 years ago
Never had Blue Soft Shell crabs, always wondered about the taste. I have had both King Crab and Dungeness, but it has been awhile. Maybe I will get both for Mom's Day and do a taste test. I don't think you can get Blue crabs out here in CA.
Clare

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