Crab Meat is the edible flesh of crab. One of the most popularly eaten seafoods, crabmeat is much valued for its rich and refined flavor. Crab meat refers to the meat of different types of crab, namely, Blue Crabs, Blue Swimming Crabs, and Red Swimming Crabs.

Culinary Use of Crab Meat

Fresh or canned crabmeat is cooked in a number of ways for making different types of seafood dishes. Crabmeat can be boiled, steamed or baked. Fresh crabs are cooked by boiling. Frozen crabs are defrosted first before cooking. The meat is cooked in pure water or water flavored with seasonings. Popular crab meat recipes include appetizers, casseroles, dips, cakes and salads.

Grades of Crab Meat

Crabmeat is graded according to the part of the body of the seafood selected for consumption and the size of the crab that is selected. The Colossal, also known as Mega Jumbo Lump is the largest unbroken chunk of crabmeat from blue and blue swimming crabs. Next is the Jumbo Lump which is a smaller piece than the former. Lump, Special, Backfin, Claw, and Claw Fingers are the other grades of crabmeat. The Jumbo Lump is eaten whole, the Lump, consisting of smaller pieces of the Jumbo lump is ideal for making crab cakes. The Special grade consists of flaked white crabmeat which is used for making white crab dishes. The Claw grade meat is used in soups because of its strong flavors and the Claw Fingers are served as hors d'Å“uvre.