King Crabs

The King crab is the largest of all crab species by far. They are of such a size that they have the most firmest meats with a very different and individual flavour in contrast to the other species.

Learning About King Crabs And Why They Are Delicious

If you are a seafood lover you most likely enjoy the flavor of king crab. There is a lot to know about king crabs and what makes them unique. They are considered a delicacy by some and an amp up from an average meal to a special one. Let's learn about the king crab and what makes it so delicious.

There are three main types of king crabs. They are found in cold Alaskan waters and are invertebrates, meaning they are animals without backbones, but they are crustaceans as well. Although there are three main types of Alaskan king crabs there are around forty species known and about 10 of those are fished for marking purposes.

Red king crab is most likely the type you think of when you think of cooking and are the most consumed. They can grow as large as six feet in their length across and weigh over twenty pounds. This size has a lot to do with their environment in regards to how big they can get. It has a dark red brown shell and though they can grow to be very large their average weight is six to ten pounds, but that is still pretty big.

Blue king crab is the second category of the three and is identified by its blue toned shell. They are skinnier with an oval shape that is more distinctive than the other species of crabs.

The third type is the golden king crab. It is also the smallest of the three different types and weigh on average five to eight pounds at full maturity. It is known for its dark brown shell as well.

What separates king crabs from other types of crabs is the number of their legs. Other crabs have eight legs while a king crab will have only six. These are the parts that are typically sent to restaurants for consumption and grocery stores for sales. It is the most popular part of the crab for eating. The rest of the body is typically sent to canners for their use.

If a person is measuring a king crab, this is done by their legs. For example, if someone gave you a size rating of 5-8, this means that it would produce 5-8 crab legs and add up to about eight pounds. This is just the legs and not the claws as you are counting the meat that is consumable in the measurement. However, the claw is still attached to the leg but not counted in the weight.

When you have fresh crab, it has an average shelf life of five to seven days. You should not use the crab if it has been longer. Typically you will go buy the crab the day you are going to use it for ultimate freshness or have it shipped to you directly. If you experience a bluish color when you are eating, this means that the meat is not fully cooked and should not be consumed. If you get crab that is just a little too salty then it most likely was not stored properly in a cool place.

King crabs are delicious to eat and now that you know about the different species you will know what you are ordering. Enjoy king crab meat in many recipes or by itself. It is a great part of a healthy diet and tastes great.

King crab is difficult to get hold of and is very regional specific, so if you are lucky enough to get your hands on it, don't let the chance slip by you. They are usually supplied pre-cooked and frozen, thus meaning you don't really have to cook them, but simply re-heat them to your satisfaction. You don't want to boil or steam them longer than necessary as this will induce a loss of the unique texture that the King crab comprises, and this is what makes this type of shell fish so special. You can remove the shell before hand if you wish or you can simply cook all at once with the shell and all. This will take a slightly longer time to cook and a suggestion would be to boil them for approximately 10 minutes. If your meat is frozen, let it thaw overnight in the fridge, remove the shell and simply cut into large chunks. With the meat, you could even shallow fry for a short time and mix it in with a stir fry.

There is of course the traditional way of cooking crab meat and that is by boiling and serving with melted butter and lemon wedges with a little salt and even some black pepper.

The problem with this species of crab is that the popularity in past years has decreased its abundance within our waters. This has caused massive increases in prices and lower amounts for people to try. So as previously stated, if you get the chance, try it, as it will be worth the money. In due time, there may not be any more to try so grab it while it is here.

 Price trends

The majority of King crab that is being caught is going to Japan. The price has increased from about $11 a pound to approximately $13.50. This reflects an increase demand for many restaurants.

 Buying tips

More restaurants are wanting to bring King crab in due to increasing popularity as a delicacy. Being available from October time be sure to develop a close bond with your supplier as they could easily do you out of money.

The industry standard is 5 percent maximum. Be sure to sample shipments regularly, or your crab supplier could be making more money than he should.

 Culinary notes

When many top chefs are paying top dollar ($30-40 per pound), they don't really want to fool around with it. Most restaurants will simply serve as stated above, boiled, melted butter and lemon. Many other restaurants try new methods and try to be fancy, but a recommendation would be to simply try it the classic way and taste this shell fish the way it is meant to be tasted.

Peekytoe Crab