How to eat Maryland Blue Crabs

[GODrules555]

Super informative. What a way to save from wasting a hard catch!  Thanks!

[neonhenry]

just watching this video is frustrating,this is too much time and work for little meat

[moralreef]

this is probably the most hypnotizing and beautiful video on youtube. it's so much more than one young man eating a crab, it's also a sensual experience of taste, and the triumph of man over puzzle. the crabshell is a puzzle, and this boy has solved it

[Repobrain]

@moralreef ---That was seriously poetic.... and right !!

[Dorby5826and360]

I was born in Baltimore and lived in Maryland until I was 10, then I my family moved to southern Pennsylvania , right above the Maryland border, but I still go down to Maryland to eat my favorite food of all time Maryland streamed crabs. Steamed crabs with Old Bay is the best!

[MrFootballman52]

@Dorby5826and360 Hey I'm right there with you. I live about 10 minutes from the Maryland border. I love eating these crabs with flavorful spices.

[Mlovexox]

Maryland has the best, gotta mix it up with some old bay to get the taste just right. Add in a few beers and you're set.

[showtime516]

I ACTUALLY LIKE THE YELLOW STUFF...

[Wicho023]

wonderful

[TheShnazzy]

good video kinda slow

[hugoo316]

lol 0:56

[monkeythelamar]

We need some of these blue crabs in california.. All they sell here is some king crab tastes horrible, I need a bucket of maryland crabs with some oldspice.

[Repobrain]

@monkeythelamar  Old Bay may be better than old spice.... since old spice is a men's cologne but I get what you mean

[monkeythelamar]

@Repobrain Old bay I mean, been confused with all those commercials.

[PILLOWPRODUCTIONS100]

@monkeythelamar i live in florida and all we get is sand crab but the crab we have here is tons and tons of crab that taste awesome and i hate king crab

[squadhq]

Thanks, I think this is a great vid.

[venessel]

I will be having crabs for the first time on Friday at a company picnic! So excited to just go at it and play around until I get the hang of it. I've had crabs before by the way, just not like that. mmmmm Thank you for the instructional video!

[sherlockbonez]

LOL...makes him a girl

[Repobrain]

@sherlockbonez Yes I screwed up line up nicely

[ExtrodinaryK]

you fail, you got so less meat. I am asian, we eat everything in the crab, even the lungs taste good. oh and btw, those aren't small claws, they are the legs.

[Repobrain]

I got all the meat..what you're specifically talking about are organs. I agree Asians can suck a crab clean. A number of Asian cultures eat pig blood, fish heads and even fried water beetles. Each culture is slightly different as to what they will eat. If you go it to a Maryland crab House you're not likely to see too many people sucking the lungs out of a blue crab. However lungs and other parts from crab picking houses are ground up to use as filler in some commercial recipes of crabcakes

[comandermalander456]

of course the fat guy would love eating that

[Repobrain]

@comandermalander456 ------Of course with gobs of butter that helps the fat part ! I'm size wise right up there with Andrew Zimmern and Emeril. Of course I eat this with a Statin chaser to keep that cholesterol in check

[amitpanchabhai]

why it is called blue crab while it is red?

[Repobrain]

Good question.... the crabs I showed were already cooked. The crabs when live are blue to green. When you cook them the blue-green color breaks down and leaves red. This also happens with lobsters.  You can see the original color of the crab on Wikipedia if you look up blue crab.

[FezSkate]

i think thats to much work -__-

[Repobrain]

Keep in mind I am going slowly for the camera. People who sit down to pick crabs can usually do it pretty quickly.

[Raawrbert]

'Hammers & hands' are fine if you know what you're doing. My uncle is a commercial crabber, and suffice it to say, we get along fine with knives or hammers or no tools at all.

[TheVideogamer000]

i love to eat crab but they r to much work just for that little amount of meat

[Moc870]

its a lot of effort man

[HARDCORESKELETORN]

I love all seafood, but i hate how its so much work for such little gain...

[pinoybro09]

its kinda werid king crabs have a lot more meat but the blue crabs taste little better

[censor48]

can you imagine this happening to humans when they are cooked and eaten by invading aliens?

[Repobrain]

Awesome... I wonder if they use any alien butter to dip us in ! It's good to be a higher form of life

[skabron7]

When are these crabs in season? I want to buy some.

[Repobrain]

Maryland crabs start to come in season in May and last until October. When the weather gets cold the crabs tend to migrate more towards the ocean instead of the bay. However they do catch blue crabs quite far south year round. Always ask if the crabs are running light or heavy. When shedding they are light. Heavy ones have more meat.

[friedcrispy]

thank you for a great video! enjoyed it so now i can enjoy crab!

[chingonm1]

From the guts, what can you eat and what shouldn't you eat?

[Repobrain]

The yellow "mustard" which is throughout the center (breaks down when cooked). is enjoyed by many. I've heard if there's any toxins in the crab they will be in this mustard. I have seen a number of Asians like the inside remains of the upper shell. Personally I like just the meat... but on Man vs Wild or survivor man I'm sure they would eat the entire insides. Soft shell crabs (which are the same crab only during change of shell) are typically eaten with quite a bit of the innards intact.

[scumbubbles1]

Thanks for the post. The bodies have always been a pain for me.

[loywen]

thats so measly!!!

[eugenerichard]

all that work for such little meat.

[shades442]

wow that looks delicous

[Ndsntionz]

that his penis not the gw monument

[Repobrain]

Even Freud said..." sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". Actually the "Washington Monument" on the belly is NOT the penis.... actually its the "abdomen".... underneath this is the Pleopods (Gonoponds) which are more the business end when mating. Referring to the "Washington" Monument and "the Capitol" (Female) is more appropriate and visually correct for cooking video. Besides the males Pleopods (Gonoponds) penis(s) are as thin as dental floss....

[sosas0215]

why do people make a pile of meat and then eat it,all together,why not just crack and eat as you go! sucking on the crab getting all the juice,,yummy

[andybarone1984]

i think it´s cause he´s just showing how to do it.

[Repobrain]

Thank you.... your right ... just for the demo

[robert0380]

@sosas0215

I eat as I go. I think he did it this way for demonstration purposes. You'd also do it this way if you plan to use the meat to make something else (crab cakes anyone?).

[real998877]

See, this guy in the video is smarter. He's not eating off newsprint and doesn't lay meat on newsprint like in some of the other crab-eating videos.

[Zemiko]

That "mustards" the roe and it tastes great

[sickndboy]

yum i eat well i 4 got the name

[Irishboy0691]

I just got back from my hometown of timonium maryland and went to gibbys and got a whole bushel of crabs. They were covered in old bay and steamed to perfection. Eating blue crabs is truely an art, and I was in heaven eating them this summer.

[luvmangamaniac]

You can't eat blue crabs without old bay :(

[Repobrain]

cooked with Old Bay .... just bushed off for the film. Many like Old Bay or JO seasoning.... and I agree would not be a Maryland crabs without it. You can see a little bit when I turn the crab over. Putting a little seasoning in the butter also works.... and of course there are those that like vinegar mixed with seasoning as a sauce to dip in

[SgtBaxter1]

Forget all that, just pull off the legs, stick your knife in the front hole and cut around the bottom of the crab. The bottom pops off making a "plate" of meat. Don't have to pick or clean anything from the crab to get all the meat. Much faster and more efficient.

Also the "mustard" is the hepatopancreas, not the liver. It's what filters out pollutants, and though it's delicious it's probably best not to eat it!

[Repobrain]

You are correct the mustard sometimes called "tomalley" is the hepatopancreas. It's not the liver but of course I wouldn't eat that from a large animal either (beef liver, etc). Both of these organs are going to be where heavy metals like mercury and chemicals like PCBs would be filtered and stored. Mercury is quite high in Tunafish

[ranger0504]

after looking at this vid i now then know that blue crab does not have much meat

[jakegolfs93]

not much meat but it sure is delecious

[darklotuslord13]

i can smell the Old bay from here :)

[kollol1001]

wow, very helpful video .......thnx

[falansh]

wow

[palad006]

Great instructive video!

[CleeksFire]

lol this is a really helpful video

....and now i have a craving for those crabs! XD

[jaybeslig]

stop throwing the good stuff! heheehhe....

[rl0u8888]

I love the mustard....full of protein too :P

[mikefm4]

Great video! I was definitely overwhelmed the first time I dug into a Blue Crab. Good tips.

[Repobrain]

Thanks Mike

[JuanPapaNicolao]

Note to self do not eat the mustard !

[kb3mm]

heyall,

listen to da man, he tell ya right shonuff. earlybird gets the worm, second mouse gits da cheez...listen to da man...you get crab!!!

[morgancc]

mmmmmmmmmmk

[lisak78]

What you did with the claw , that's the right way. You did good on the back end of the claw, but there's a better way. Try cracking it about 1/2 inch from the end and pull it from there. It works just like when you pull the meat out from the claw area. No squeezing of the crap required. That's just painful!  lol Take care.

[Repobrain]

Thanks for the additional tip !!

[sxrichardson]

head'n to the bethedsa crab house friday.

[grabastic]

Mark,

Thanks so much for the video. You have finally taught me how to clean and eat a Blue Crab. Just came back from a trip to the Nanticoke River, went crabbing and caught about a dozen and a half Jimmys!

For the first time in my life did not have to help me, thanks to your video, I did it myself!

I even have the skills to help her clean them so she can make Maryland Crab Cakes (which we had last night).

Thanks again for all your efforts in producing the video- it gets results!!!

Bob

[Repobrain]

Thanks... this way deftly makes getting in these guys a lot quicker. The technique of using the knife on the claws really keeps down on shell fragments from hitting it with the knocker !

[Terri3210]

Great video.... now im hungrier for crab and lobster.

[chasingDUCKS]

thanks, my mom loved the video

[tamolive]

here's another tip: dont pick off all the legs. leave them on, and when it time to pick the meat out of the ridges, grab the leg and lift. it will help to pull the meat right out because its still attached.

[pheeniefilms]

awesome vid

[cspence1970]

1 dozen Maryland Blue Crabs and a cold beer is about as close to heaven as a man can get.

[Tianhy]

maybe introduce how to cook maryland crab next time. i would like to know how to cook them, then i don't have to eat them only at restaurant, i could try to learn to how to cook them.

[Repobrain]

Sound like a great video for next time

[Tianhy]

love to eat them, did try once, but not enough, it's good taste, Yummy

[1beachluvr]

I'm heading back home in about a week and a half. Does anyone have any idea what the prices are. I'm not gonna get a bushel or anything. It's just me and my girl and I know before I moved about 6 years ago the price was moving up.

[Repobrain]

Near me... Large males are about $42 a dozen. The extra large (Swamp Dogs) males are $85 a dozen. Reg Males $35. There has been a lot of talk about not talking females (because of the low crab population) but so far still selling them. They have been ruing heavy ! July 21 08

[jase7725]

Nice Job! Looking forward to cracking crabs in Virginia over the weekend!!!

[thetruwu]

The mustard is the best part!

[Repobrain]

The"mustard" is part of the liver.... A lot of people eat it

[kinigit]

My gf and I are moving to Easton, MD soon. Your video was an excellent learning tool for us. Thanks for taking the time to slow down your technique for us newbies.

[RoboTekno]

yum yum yum, now i want some blue crab -drools-

[JJtocoolforu]

the male hads less meat then the famale so i hear

[Repobrain]

It really depends on the time of the year and shedding. When a crab sheds they tend to be light and take a week or two to fill out ..they look big but nothing in them. Anytime I buy crabs I ask if they're running heavy. The only problem is there is no real rule for what constitutes regular, medium and large. As the late George Carlin can there be something as JUMBO shrimp?

[Pheorach]

Woot! Maryland crab!

I looked up this video, because it's been a while since I've been able to eat crab due to prices and everything, and I am going to a crab feast this Saturday (I'm so excited)

LOTS of great tips, and I'll be sure to show them off. Great video.

[Repobrain]

Thanks, Mark

[Repobrain]

Don't forget the Beer !!

[mskerripa]

very cool

[ScotmanUK2000]

Very good!

[Jimmy81190]

Thats not how Eastern Shorners eat blue crabs... And the devil's fingers are lungs, they use them to breath on land also.

[Repobrain]

not lungs...gills.... lungs can not work underwater... Gills of a Blue crab work on land only by the fact that the crab is storing water in them...watch a crab make bubbles when he is on land too long. When he runs out of water inside the shell he will die because he can't keep the gills wet to draw oxygen from. Other crabs like the hermit can live on land (they have lungs) but drown in water

[Paulzilla]

Best picking vid I've seen on youtube so far!

[LETCA]

Very well done!