SGEF120 Preparing Blue Crab: A Seafood Delicacy 1 Donald E. Sweat 2 1. This document is SGEF120, one of a series of the Sea Grant Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date May 2007. Reviewed October 2017. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. 2. Donald E. Sweat, retired Marine Extension Agent with the Florida Sea Grant College Program, serving Levy, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, and Pinellas counties; UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county’s UF/IFAS Extension office. U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension. Choosing Like its crustacean cousins, shrimp and spiny lobsters, the blue crab ranks high on the list of seafood delicacies in Florida. Although blue crab meat is available year -round in the pasteurized form, live crabs are seasonal and much more plentiful during the warm-water months of the year. Fresh or pasteurized cooked crab meat is usually available for purchase as lump, flake, or claw meat. Lump meat consists of whole lumps from the large body muscles which operate the swimming legs. Flake meat consists of small pieces of white meat from the body. Claw meat consists of a brownish-tinged meat from the claws. Blue crabs in seafood markets usually are sold by the dozen. An average blue crab weighs about pound, but the edible portion is quite low. An experienced crab picker can produce about 2 ounces of meat from each pound of live blue crabs. is is just about a 14 percent yield. e actual yield depends on the size of the individual crab and experi- ence of the crab picker. e consumer is probably better off to purchase the crab meat already prepared unless the picking is incorporated into a “crab boil” or “picnic type” activity. You can estimate a price comparison between fresh andpasteurized meat by studying the following example: Pay $15 per dozen 1 crab weighs pound 1 dozen crabs weigh 4 pounds Donald E. Sweat, UF/IFAS Extension Marine Agent, demonstrates the preparation of blue crabs. Credits: UF/IFAS