If you don't like dungeness crab, I'd skip the rock crab. The rock crab is smaller, but other than that, they are very similar.

Thank you Dawn, I had a hunch that they would be similar.

I'm such a dolt! I got them confused with stone crab which are harvested in our area of the country. I am not fond of stone crab at all. I was I was, and that they were like my favorite dungeness. They're far more sustainable as they harvest by taking a claw off and sticking them back in the water. The claw regrows. But they don't call them stone crabs for nothing! Hard as a freaking... rock. Hence, my confusion.

Stone Crabs

I haven't found a crab I didn't love! I too was thinking of stone crab claws. They are my favorite claws. Love Dungeness! Sweet meat. Love Louisiana blue crabs. Snow and king legs. Just had snow crab Wednesday night. I don't recall ever having Rock crab but I definitely would like to try it.

You're welcome, janey.

I think that which types of crabs many people like or don't like depends on what they are used to eating. I remember when I was traveling to the east coast on business, the folks there didn't care for dungeness but they loved their local blue crabs.

Personally, I find Alaska king crab to be much more like lobster in taste and texture than other types of crab. Snow crab seems to fall somewhere in between for me. The meat of the Dungeness isn't as soft (for lack of a better word) as Alaska king crab which just melts in my mouth. The body meat of the Dungeness is more like Alaska king crab while the leg meat of the Dungeness is more on the fibrous or stringy side.

Having said all that, I'm very much looking forward to the start of Dungeness crab season in November! We're planning on coming over to the coast with our crab traps and trying our hand at some crabbing. We've crabbed many times in Oregon but never in California.

It may be that familiarity is the key for different types of many food items.

Personally, I dislike king crab. They remind me flavor-wise of overgrown anything from the garden. Tomatoes that are too big, squash that's too big, fruit that's too big, etc., too often have weaker/diluted flavor and smaller ones are more tasty. I find that with king crab. Dungeness and other smaller ones seem to have better flavor.

I'm not sure what these are. Alaska King Crab? I had them on my trip to Alaska. Our little boat would pull into a small bay at night for us to sleep and the crew would drop the crab pots. They served these for lunch the next day after bringing up the pots. It was so fun to watch them work and see what they would catch.

Anything that fresh must have been delicious.

For comparison, for a dungeness crab (a standard type crab with a shell covered body) , the sideways length of the body, the longest dimension, is often 6 inches or a bit more, about the size of the one leg section in that photo from where it attaches to the body to the first joint. They can be a bit bigger too but not that much. I know there are other quite small crabs, including the Chesapeake soft-shell ones.

What I've mostly figured out, I only care for cold water crustaceans. I don't care for Caribbean lobsters, for instance.

Dungeness is the gold standard for me

Murraysmom the plate nearest are king crab. The plate farther away may also be king or snow, hard to tell from the distance. I would love a platter of those!

Alaskan king in the front; not sure what's in the back. The claws are shaped differently from the crabs that I'm familiar with. Both look delicious!

One of the things I love about crabbing is how fresh the crabs are. They go from the trap straight into the cooking pot within just a few hours of being caught.

The minimum size of Dungeness that can be taken in California is 5.75 inches across the body. A mature crab can be as big as 10 inches across. We caught two that were a little over 8 inches across once while crabbing in Oregon. What a thrill that was!

Rock crab isn't a favorite with me. I would not turn it down but if I had a choice I would go with Dungeness which is the other choice locally. We get the Snow and King at the store. Snow is nice but not particularly flavorful and King is so expensive comparatively speaking it would have to be stellar and it isn't better than Dungeness. For me Rock seems a bit chewy. I like Blue crab and when served softshell in a sandwich it is really good. Well I like crab. Bisque. Crab bisque is wonderful stuff with julienned carrot and cucumber in cream with leek. Hmmmm.