VirginiaHuguenot
Puritanboard Librarian
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSSUePEtUdI]YouTube - How To Pick Chesapeake Bay MD Steamed Blue Crabs[/ame]
Crabs
- Thread starter VirginiaHuguenot
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Mushroom
Puritan Board Doctor
Man... I thought this thread was gonna be about eating real crabs, not those glorified waterbugs they pull out of the Chesapeake.
Just be sure not to eat the nasty yellow stuff!
Mushroom
Puritan Board Doctor
Oh, come now Bill. I am a former Alaska King Crab harvest laborer who married a native VA Northern Neck girl. Where she's from, people don't have BBQ grills, they all have brick and steel crab cookers in their backyards. After having cracked one King leg and finding more meat than you'd find in a half-bushel of those MD waterbugs, how could they ever satisfy? I'm certain the proprietor of the establishment in your story and song did not lose out so much by your meal.... you'd be so worn out from the amount of work it took to obtain a nibble that you would pass out from the exhaustion before it ever got unprofitable for him.
Besides, Ches. Bay Crabs have gotten so expensive, may as well pay the $10/pound for AK King and save on the labor.
Southern Presbyterian
Puritan Board Doctor
Almost makes me wish I wasn't allergic to shell fish. 
Oh, come now Bill. I am a former Alaska King Crab harvest laborer who married a native VA Northern Neck girl. Where she's from, people don't have BBQ grills, they all have brick and steel crab cookers in their backyards. After having cracked one King leg and finding more meat than you'd find in a half-bushel of those MD waterbugs, how could they ever satisfy? I'm certain the proprietor of the establishment in your story and song did not lose out so much by your meal.... you'd be so worn out from the amount of work it took to obtain a nibble that you would pass out from the exhaustion before it ever got unprofitable for him.
Besides, Ches. Bay Crabs have gotten so expensive, may as well pay the $10/pound for AK King and save on the labor.
You don't get it. It's not about the quantity of meat per crab. Picking blue claws is rite of passage. It's a tradition handed down from generation to generation. I first started picking crabs as a boy in New Jersey. Yes, we had plenty of blues in Barnegat Bay. When I moved to Maryland it only got better. And all that work that goes into devouring a bushel? It's the work that makes it special.
Mushroom
Puritan Board Doctor
Oh, come now Bill. I am a former Alaska King Crab harvest laborer who married a native VA Northern Neck girl. Where she's from, people don't have BBQ grills, they all have brick and steel crab cookers in their backyards. After having cracked one King leg and finding more meat than you'd find in a half-bushel of those MD waterbugs, how could they ever satisfy? I'm certain the proprietor of the establishment in your story and song did not lose out so much by your meal.... you'd be so worn out from the amount of work it took to obtain a nibble that you would pass out from the exhaustion before it ever got unprofitable for him.
Besides, Ches. Bay Crabs have gotten so expensive, may as well pay the $10/pound for AK King and save on the labor.
You don't get it. It's not about the quantity of meat per crab. Picking blue claws is rite of passage. It's a tradition handed down from generation to generation. I first started picking crabs as a boy in New Jersey. Yes, we had plenty of blues in Barnegat Bay. When I moved to Maryland it only got better. And all that work that goes into devouring a bushel? It's the work that makes it special.
I hear ya, brother. But I have to maintain my standards in this long-running tease betwixt my beloved and me. She watched the vid, and all the time was shaking her head that it was all wrong. She informs me that only turistas use a mallet, but that local crab mongers use the heavy end of a butter knife, and that only for whaking. Claws were cracked by setting them on a corner of the table and hammering it with the bottom of your fist. And no utensil for scooping out goop.... that's to be done with the fingers. I possess a determined inability to learn the technique so that when attending such a feast, my bride will joyfully demonstrate her superiority in that art by feeding me what she labors so hard to extract.
My observation was that it took 7 1/2 minutes to show how to pick one lousy crab, and then the guy didn't even use any Whitehouse Apple Cider Vinegar. My wife says the pile of Old Bay and salt was accurate, but you're supposed to dip the teeny little scraps in the vinegar first. She also says he tossed the little claws, which is wasting teeny bits of meat, and that real men would eat the "mustard" (that nasty yellow goop). Maybe the Virginia side is a little more rustic... she says you should have scars from crackin' and scoopin' by hand, and no self-respecting Northern Neck crabber would crack a crab for his kid. If he cain't crack it hisself, he ain't ready to eat crab!
Enjoy!
A5pointer
Puritan Board Sophomore
Hi, didn't watch the vid, home on dial up. We eat em all the time here in SJ. Blue claw to King Crab, apples to oranges, both are good. I like to clean them before cooking, that is ripping the backs off while they are alive and rinsing out the guts and liver. Then while eating, no tools needed for sure. Not even a knife just the teeth for cracking the claws. For me a little garlic salt and crushed pepper does the trick. Also great sauteed in olive oil and garlic.
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