Eating Maryland crabs is a summertime activity that people from across the country enjoy. These delicious crabs bring families and friends together to enjoy not only the taste but watching all the different techniques that people use for cracking them open. Although locals probably think that they have the most effective techniques, other people use their own methods. Check out these tips for picking Maryland crabs.
- The first step in picking Maryland crabs is to start with the claws and legs. Take them off but leave the back flippers as you’ll be using them later.
- Turn the claw so that the ridge is facing upward toward you. Using a mallet, smack the ridge to break it cleanly. Be careful not to hit it too hard as you’ll crush the shell and leave small pieces mixed in with the meat.
- Repeat step 2 on both sides and pull the claw off to reveal the claw meat.
- To reach the meat in the smaller legs, all you have to do is twist the leg to crack off that segment. Give it a good squeeze to force the meat from that section out.
- To get into the main body of the crab, flip it over on its back so that the flap in the middle of its abdomen is facing you. Use your fingers if you can, or a knife to pull that flap back and remove it.
- After step 6, it should be relatively easy to pull the top of the shell off the rest of the body.
- Once the top of the shell is removed, you’ll now need to pull off the gills and dispose of them.
- Crack the main body of the crab in half so that you’re now working with two individual pieces.
- This is the part when things get messy. Dig into these pieces when your fingers to get the meat out of each side. Those back legs from step 1 will help you get the meat out in bigger clumps.
YOUR SEAFOOD DESTINATION THIS SUMMER
Costas Inn has been a Baltimore tradition since 1971. You may recognize our restaurant, which was recently featured on the Food Network with Michael Symon on Burgers, Brew, and ‘Que! We were also voted the 2015 #1 Baltimore Seafood Restaurant by USA Today, as well as #1 Crab Restaurant 2014 in the Baltimore Business Journal. You may have also spotted Costas Inn during one of our 9 appearances on the Today Show or heard one of our many interviews on WJZ TV Channel 13 with Ron Matz and Marty Bass.
You can enjoy our famous crab cakes in-house or order them online for anytime eating. We also provide some of the best seafood catering in the Baltimore area! You can also get your fill from Costas even when you’re not in our dining room: follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube!