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Things You Will Need
- Crabs
- 1 large pot with a raised rack at least 2-4 inches.
- Water
- Vinegar (optional)
- Beer (optional)
- Seafood seasoning ( Old Bay, J.O.'s, seafood seasoning of your choice )
- Salt (optional)
- Tongs
- Brown packaging paper, or newspaper
- Mallets or Hammers, knives
- Bibs (optional)
How To Steam A Maryland Blue Crab
First you will want to add your liquid to the bottom of the steamer pot.  You can add just water, 50/50 water and vinegar, or 1/3 water, vinegar, beer. In my opinion they turn out great any of the three ways. Some people sprinkle seasoning in with the liquid, but that is up to you. Cover and bring to a boil. You will want to get your seasoning ready. You can mix 50/50 Old Bay and Kosher Salt, use J.O's by itself, or any seasoning of your choice. Once boiling remove crabs from bushel, you may have to pull them apart (carefully!) and put/shake a few at a time into pot. It is best to grab them from behind to avoid the claws, as their legs only move forward. Add enough crabs to fill bottom of pot. Sprinkle with seasoning, continuing with alternating crabs and seasoning until pot is nearly full, leaving about an inch at the top. Cover tightly and steam over high heat for approximately 20 minutes, or until shells are bright orange. When they are done, spread the crabs onto a large tray and place them in center of the table layered with brown packing paper or newspapers, where guests help themselves. Left over crabs can be kept up to four days in the refrigerator.
How To Eat A Maryland Blue Crab
Flip the cooked crab on its shell (the belly should be face up). Get the knife, put it under the apron then lift the apron and break it off and discard. Re-flip the crab again (the shell should be on top). Male crabs have a thin apron and female crab’s aprons are wider and rounder. Look for a hole between the shell and the actual body of the crab. Hold the body of the crab with your left hand and stick your right thumb in the hole and lift it up so the shell comes off, discard the shell.Use your fingers or knife to clean the gills on either side of the crab. (the gills are NOT edible, so discard them) The yellow/green/brown/orange colored substance is the fat, heart, lungs, and eggs of the crab, which are edible. Break legs and check for meat. Sucking is okay. Use the knife and break the crab in half. Choose one side of the crab and take your knife to cut it in half again (lengthwise) through the center of each half, from there you pick out all the white, fleshy "lump" crab meat with your fingers. You repeat on the other half of the crab. Eat the claw! Put the claw on the table with the pincers facing up. Place the knife just behind the joint and get the mallet and hit the knife gently so the shell will crack (do it on the other side of the claw as well). Then, pull the shell off and the meat should come out whole. If this doesn't work, use your knife and dig the meat out.
Nutrition Facts:
1 Cup cooked Blue Crab
| % Daily Value* |
|
Total Fat 1 g
|
1% |
| Saturated fat 0.3 g
|
1% |
| Polyunsaturated fat 0.3 g
|
|
| Monounsaturated fat 0.2 g
|
|
| Trans fat 0 g
|
|
|
Cholesterol 131 mg
|
43% |
|
Sodium 533 mg
|
22% |
|
Potassium 350 mg
|
10% |
|
Total Carbohydrate 0 g
|
0% |
| Dietary fiber 0 g
|
0% |
| Sugar 0 g
|
|
|
Protein 24 g
|
48% |
| Vitamin A |
0% |
Vitamin C |
7% |
| Calcium |
12% |
Iron |
3% |
| Vitamin D |
0% |
Vitamin B-6 |
10% |
| Vitamin B-12 |
75% |
Magnesium |
12% |
|
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