How to choose the right crabs?

There are several thousand varieties of crabs that differ in size and appearance. The weight of the crab can reach 9kg. The meat eaten is found in the front claws and legs. Crab can be sold whole or cut into parts (meat, claws and legs).

Crabs can be sold in the following forms:

• live crabs;
• frozen crabs;
• chilled crabs;
• boiled crabs.

Crab shell can be:

• triangular;
• quadrangular.

Crabs can be shallow water or deep water. The price for them does not differ and these types are not inferior in taste to each other. When choosing crabs, you can ignore their habitat. It is much more important to evaluate them visually and identify a really high-quality product.

How to choose crabs

It is recommended to purchase live crabs, but if this is not possible, then you can buy them frozen or ready-to-eat – boiled. Crab meat may vary in color. Variety is key here. Some crabs have snow-white meat, others almost brown.

What kind of crabs should you buy:

• a good live crab is always active (activity is one of the main criteria for evaluating the quality of a live crab);
• live crabs should be of medium size (a small crab has little meat, while a large one may not be too tender and sweet);
• it is better to buy male crabs (you can distinguish a male from a female by a small tail tucked under the belly, in a female it is wider and more pronounced);
• if boiled crab is bought, then a slightly sweet aroma should be felt from it;
• the crab shell, regardless of whether it is live, boiled or frozen, should always be as firm as possible;
• fresh crab never has a pronounced “fishy” smell (if such a smell is present, then the crab is stored for a long time and, most likely, they do it wrong);
• the body of the crab should not be damaged (bacteria actively multiply at the sites of damage, and the meat loses its taste, becoming unhealthy);
• the eyes of a fresh crab are always black and shiny;
• if the crab shell does not differ in density and is small in size, then you can buy it (the crab was just caught at the moment the old shell was dropped, and the new one had not yet hardened);
• the crab must be clean (the presence of any plaque on the shell or painful spots is not acceptable).

When buying frozen or chilled crab, you should carefully study the packaging date and expiration date of the product. It is not recommended to re-freeze it, therefore it is recommended to purchase seafood before consuming it. It is necessary to defrost crabs only in natural conditions. Hot water, microwave ovens, and other defrosting methods make meat tough and less palatable.

What crabs you shouldn’t buy:

• sluggish and sedentary crabs are not worth buying;
• too large crabs may have coarse meat (the taste will also change);
• female crab has less meat than males;
• a crab with a soft or squeezing shell is not worth buying;
• you can not buy a crab if there is plaque or pollution on its shell;
• clouded eyes of a crab are a sign of its staleness;
• lethargy crab can be a sign of any disease.

It is recommended to give preference to the meat of male crabs, but in females it is more fatty and there is a possibility of the presence of eggs. The first option is considered a dietary product. If the crab is bought frozen, then there should be a minimum amount of ice, and in the chilled version there should be no snow or ice particles at all. Frozen liquid is a sign of repeated defrosting and freezing of the product.