How to pick Steamed Blue Crabs like a Maryland Native

Or alternative title. "How My Dad Taught Me to Pick Crabs"

So you are invited to a crab fest and you are presented with a pile of bug eyed clawed critters with tiny legs, that are covered in seasoning. Then are handed a squat little knife and no nut cracker. What do you do? Well you can take "panic" off your list of options as I will now explain how to bluff your way through this like pulling apart an entire crustacean is something you have done since you could walk.

Dad has these rules or techniques for how to pick crabs, and according to him, this is how "REAL Marylanders" pick their crabs but as that falls into the "REAL men sleep on rocks and eat live fire ants for breakfast" line of thinking I am not sure how common this is to all of Maryland or if its just his family. None the less this is the general idea of how you should pick Blue crabs

First you will need:
Steamed Blue Crabs
Newspaper
short straight (not serrated) thick handled knife

Cover the table with newspaper this will protect the table and make clean up easier.
So here is your crab we will call him Chadwick. Now lets get to know him some.

From the front you have eyes mouth and claws, as far as picking and eating are concerned we only really care about the claws. From the underside you can see his legs and swim legs or back fin. This is also how we know he is a he. That Washington Monument shaped part of the shell is call the apron and if it looks like that then it is male, if it is more rounded, then its female. (A real Marylander does not eat females. This is because females lay eggs, and eggs make new crabs you eat the females and it hurts the over all population of blue crab, which is Bad with a capital B) Sorry about the picture quality its hard to photograph yourself picking crabs.

So to begin with you will pull off Chadwick's claws and his legs including the back fin. The legs don't really have a ton of meat in them, and its hard to get at and is often dry or tough, so most people don't bother if they are picking to eat or to make crab cakes, if you are picking for soup, or a sauce then it may be worth while as it is still flavorful, its up to you. (Just grab it by the joint, twist slightly and its should break and you can slide the meat out if it is eatable)

The next step is actually getting into Chadwick. What you will want to do is take your knife and slide it under the apron. Slide the knife down separating it from the body then press it to the table to break it off from the body.

This will basically "unlock" the top shell (the red part) from the bottom (the white) you will then pull them apart. Grab one of the sockets that you pulled a back fin out of and rest your hand on the body. Then with your other hand grab the point of the top shell that is on the same side of the body that you grab the back fin on and pull.

You will now have a full view of the inner workings of Chadwick here. Just about all of what you now see you do not want to eat. You will take your knife and scrap the stuff (digestive tract, heart, other organs) from the center of the white section into the top shell and then take your knife and use it to scrap off the stuff (gills/lungs) on the outside of the white section. (the yellow or gray goop is fat and on some crabs is tasty on some is more bitter)

You will want to at this point use the knife to pin the mouth and things in the front to the table and pull the crab back to break them off cleanly. You now have the part of Chadwick that you will be getting meat from the rest of him can be put into the bowl of the top shell and put onto the discard pile. Take your knife and cut that part in half.

You will now take one half and cut it in half again resulting in having a half and two quarters. You know have access to the crab meat! Yay success!

The generally recognized "best meat" is the back fin meat which you will find in a nice big chunk near where the back fin was. the rest of the meat is in little compartments separated off with thin shell dividers (see image below). Take your time and get all the meat its too good, too much work and too expensive to throw away some becuase you were a little careless when picking.

 And repeat with the other half.

Now about those claws you set aside earlier. There are two ways to get at the meat in them. First take Chadwicks claw and lay it down so that the joint bends up. Position your knife just below the pincher part of the claw itself making sure the sharp part is down. With the base of your palm hit the back of your blade until it just cracks the shell twist the knife to enlarge and extend the crack. Then wiggle the two parts until the pincher separates with the meat (if your lucky) if it did then you will scrape the meat off the inner tendon with your teeth (like artichoke petals if you have ever enten those) or with your fingers if picking to cook with. If the meat does not come out for some reason, you can simply use the knife to scrape it out. 

Repeat the process with the second part of the claw placing your knife near the elbow joint. This portion does not have the center tendon so you don't need to worry about that. I almost hesitate to mention the second way to do claws as this is outside of the way "REAL Marylanders" do it. You can take a small wooden crab mallet (I may be disowned for mentioning this) and then lightly tap the shell where you would place the knife this should, if done correctly, crack the shell but not break it allowing you to get the meat out. If done incorrectly this will shatter the shell and crush the meat giving you the job of picking the shell out of the meat.

 Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Recipes for all this crab meat to follow at some point.