Unloaded from our Wooden Baskets, Bushels Showcase Our Daily Awesome Catches!

A Tradition Worth Talking About...

Rippling through the waters, our crab boats carry our bushel baskets filled with snapping blue crabs. Large canopies shade them, along with damp towels and seaweed to ensure a calm crab. Stressed crabs tend to perish quicker and some even say taste less fresh than the “relaxed” crabs. Our crew respect this feature and rush them back to the crab house for a traditional Maryland Style Steaming.

What is a Maryland Style Steaming?

Preparations guide the crab’s transition from storage in a basket to stacking in a custom cooler for a fresh home delivery. Our captain charts tides and currents, along with catching trends to pot the best, healthy crabs. Keeping from stacking them in storage and also avoiding shaking their basket ensures the perfect crab for the steaming. Some crab houses even dispense some sea grass, oysters and clams, and fish parts to keep the crabs full. Just remember, a stressed crab tastes less salty-sweet. Once ready, our crew load up the pots with like sizes and carefully follow recipes for exact steaming times. Scoops filled with JO Spice #2 douse the crabs for a spicy peppery pop. Once the timer notifies the cooks of another finished pot, the lid is quickly lifted, and the crabs are allowed to cool before any refrigeration. In this process, the meat firms and doesn’t become “mushy.” It’s important that the steam omits completely and the meat cools gradually for the best tenderness.

It’s as Simple as a Ruler. Quality Control Keeps Each Order Perfect!

The official Chesapeake Bay Grading Scale categorizes by size, your “meaty” crabs. Mature crabs for each size has a shell filled with meat: front pincers filled with claw, center crab halves with lump, and back swimming legs with jumbo. The ruler measures the top shell from that piercing point to the other point. Here are the results: Small {5”-5.5”}, Medium {5.5”-6”}, Large {6”-6.5”}, XLarge {6.5”-7”} and Colossal {7”+}. Beware of some crab houses who don’t use the official scale. You may end up paying more for less when not looking at “inches,” but size.  For instance, they call “Large” crabs “Premiums,” and measure them from 5 ½” – 6 ¼” point-to-point. The official scale mandates a “Large” size from 6”-6 ½”.  Following a transparent scale keeps everyone’s feast delicious!

Behold, our Bushel Sizes!

Bay Crabs [Small-Medium, 5”-6”, 7-8 dozen]*  Bay Crabs boast loads of crab meat perfect for hot butter dipping. Even though our smaller crabs, they serve well as a feast with some popular sides: potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, seafood salad, and even cream of crab soup. The typical crab enthusiast scarfs down 6-8 crabs. With bays consider a dozen each.

Jimmy Crabs [Medium-Large, 5.5”-6.5”, 6 dozen]* Yes, Jimmy names a male crab, but we use it to designate our #1 Blue Crab Catch. This choice offers a crab for everyone in the family. Mediums satisfy the young ones, while the large fit the pro eater’s style. Both weigh heavy with about 2 ¼ ounces of meat per crab. A fresh farmhouse salad, corn bread, and live oysters will complement this popular catch perfectly.

JUMBO Crabs [Large-XLarge, 6”-7”, 5 dozen]* Many die-hards or crab eating experts consider this huge crab size as the “Cadillac of Crabs.” Each one pulls mounds of jumbo from the back swimming legs, thus, the name ‘jumbo’. Some say the succulent meat has a more buttery taste from the added maturity in this crab. Crabs live between 3 and 4 years, so jumbos have grown to maximum lengths. All you need with this selection is a cold one to wash down the tender meat.  Just locate a handy butter warmer for that hot butter dunk!

Female Crabs [Small-XLarge, 5”-7”, 6 dozen]* Female or “sook” crab fans claim the meat is sweeter and they enjoy the potential in finding “roe” or crab eggs. Yes, the meat boasts a denser texture, which may explain the sweeter quality since the salt water couldn’t permeate it as compared to the male’s flaky texture.  Most chefs use female crabs for crab cakes since the males are reserved for feasts, so you know the taste. Have you ever noticed an orange morsel in your fresh crab cake? That’s the roe. By the way, with such a variety of sizes, you may want to offer sides for those choosing the smaller females.  Consider lobster mac-n-cheese or shrimp and pasta to complement the freshly steamed females.

*approximates.