How To Eat A Blue Crab

It's the height of blue crab season and tickets have just gone on sale for the third annual Hammer & Claws, New York's only authentic (or so they say) all-you-can-eat Maryland-style blue crab feast — September 21 & 22. At the two-day extravaganza, guests crack and devour thousands of Old Bay–steamed crabs along with all the traditional sides, washed down with all-you-can-drink beer from Abita Brewing Company.

We spoke to Hammer & Claws founder and Maryland native, Joshua Morgan about the tradition.

"Maryland crabs are caught in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, a region known for large quantities of blue crabs in the summer and fall. The Maryland economy still thrives on this fishing and the tourism surrounding it."

What sets a traditional Maryland crab feast apart?

"At an authentic Maryland crab feast, the male-only crabs are steamed, never boiled as may be common in other feasts. They are traditionally served with Old Bay seasoning, which originated in Baltimore for the purpose of eating with the local crabs and shrimp," says Morgan.

Here are his expert tips for how to master the messy, often intimidating, but delectable seasonal specialty. Here is the easiest way to break down and eat a crab.

Click on a photo for the slideshow

Pull all the legs off the crab, and put the claws to the side. Discard the small legs —they're not like lobster legs where you can bite/suck the meat out. 

Using your thumbs, separate the top shell of the crab from the bottom shell. Discard the top (red) part. The "apron" is on the underside of the crab. On male crabs (the only kind served at the feast), it is a triangle-shaped piece of the shell that narrows at the top and runs up the middle of the crab.

Using your fingers, clean the crab by pulling off all gills and soft parts (you don't want to eat that part). 

Split the crab in half. This will give you access to the lump meat and other innards.

Take one half of the crab, squeeze together and open like a book. Use your fingers to pull out the jumbo lump crab meat within the shell. Eat as much jumbo lump crab as you can! 

Using a mallet, gently hammer a knife into each crab claw, so it just barely cracks through the shell. 

Using your fingers, pull apart the claw and pull out the meat, then eat a perfectly cracked blue crab claw! 

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