Crab and Shellfish
Crab and Shellfish Collection
Crab legs and crab meat are tender and slightly sweet with a mild flavor that most any seafood eater enjoys. Crab legs freeze well and cook up quickly, making them a favorite choice for many busy people.
Did you know that most of the crab legs you eat at home come from the cold waters off of Alaska? The next time you're searching for "king crabs near me," look no further than Global Seafoods. We source our crab from only the best and most trusted fishers who flash freeze our crab for the best flavor and texture possible.
Eating crab by itself or dipped in butter is one way to enjoy this succulent and tender seafood, but there are so many more creative and delicious ways to cook and eat crab legs.
Learning how to Cook Crab at Home:
Before you can jump into all of the different and amazing recipes for crab, you should be able to tell the difference between the various types of Alaskan crab. Every kind of crab has subtle differences in flavor and texture. Every kind of crab we offer lends themselves to different ways to cook, serve, and eat crab legs!
Crab Varieties:
- King Crab
- Dungeness Crab
- Snow Crab
- Bairdi Crab
- Opilio Crab
- Jonah Crab
King Crab:
Red king crabs are some of the best and largest crab legs you can buy. King grab offers big crab legs that impress your guests because of their colossal size and fantastic flavor. King crab is a giant crab native to the cold, rough waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean.
King Crab season is a competitive and challenging season for fishers because of the choppy Alaskan waters. King crab is worth the effort for fishers because of the impressive size and asking price of the crab. As the biggest crab commercially available, one crab can have over 10lbs of meat in its legs alone!
Red King crab has large legs offering up to one full pound of meat per leg! We love dipping King Crab Legs in most than just butter. Flavorful dipping sauces will impress your dinner guests and can also be healthier than butter alone.
All crab, but especially king crab, is high in protein and low in fat. Most of the heaviness from eating king crab comes from the tubs of butter people dip crab in.
Get creative with your dipping sauces, and you can make eating Alaskan king crab healthier too.
When buying king crab, we recommend that you buy enough to offer each person 2-3 Alaskan king crab legs at dinner.
Don't forget to offer your dinner guests high-quality crab cracking tools. King crab boasts some of the thickest and roughest shells of any crab, making it difficult to reach every last morsel without the help of hammers and other cracker tools.
King Crab Price:
Fishing for king crab is only allowed for a short, competitive season. Fisher's brave the rough and cold Bering sea waters to bring you this massive and delicious seafood. With such high demand and such a short window for fishing for king crab, king crab's price is higher than other Alaskan crab types.
Global Seafoods offers some of the largest king crab legs for sale.
Snow Crab:
Snow crab is another variety of jumbo crab you'll find available for good eats. Snow crab and snow crab legs are some of the best tasting crab meat available. Snow crab is native to the Bering Sea. There are three varieties of snow crab clusters:
- Opilio Crabs: The smaller of the three types, opilio crab average slightly over one pound per crab.
- Bairdi Crabs: The largest variety of snow crab, Bairdi, can weight up to five pounds and measure over three feet long from tip to tip.
- Tanner Crab: Tanner crabs are only slightly larger than opilio crabs with skinnier legs.
Measuring up as Big Crab:
Is Snow Crab the Biggest Crab in the World?
Not the heaviest or most meaty, but snow crab legs could be the longest.
Snow crab legs are actually longer than king crab legs.
Snow crab may be larger, or rather longer, with longer legs than Alaska king crab; king crab legs are much thicker and heavier with more meat than snow crab.
Snow crabs’ legs are longer yet narrower than king crab legs. While a whole king crab can reach up to 20 lbs. in weight, snow crabs only reach up to five pounds on average.
Snow Crab vs. King Crab
Snow crab legs have slightly tougher meat but the sweet, briny taste more than makes up for what snow crab might lack in texture when compared to king crab. Snow crab meat is fibrous in texture, and those fibers shred beautifully for crab salad or crab cakes.
Snow crab legs are easier to crack by hand and require fewer tools and effort to eat than king crab.
Snow crab is a variety of red crab whose shells turn a bright red when cooked. The snowy nickname comes from the bright white color of the snow crab meat. If your snow crab is anything but white, it's getting too old to eat.
Snow crab has a much longer fishing season than king crab. Snow crab is a sustainably managed seafood making them a more affordable choice for consumers.
From soups, stews, salads, and plates of pasta, there are many delicious ways to enjoy some of the best snow crabs our cold oceans offer.
Dungeness Crab:
Dungeness crab is a smaller variety of crab named after the small fishing village where fishers first discovered them. Dungeness has unique flavored meat as one of the sweetest types of crab available.
Dungeness crab is harvested off the Pacific coast off of the northern coast of California, the coast of Washington state, and Oregon. Dungeness crab is in season from early December through spring.
Most often, you purchase Dungeness crab when it is cooked and processed. Once caught, we quickly cook and freeze Dungeness crab to preserve its delicate texture and succulent flavor. You can find live Dungeness crab locally if you live in the Pacific Northwest.
Dungeness Crab for Sale:
Global Seafoods offers delicious Dungeness crab at an affordable Dungeness crab price.
You can purchase whole Dungeness crab or Dungeness crab leg clusters.
Dungeness crab frequently gets compared to the east coast variety of Jonah crab because of their similar taste. Jonah crab is slightly denser in texture; they both have a similar flakey pattern.
We love the sweet and spicy combo of Dungeness crabs and chili in our recipe for Garlic and Chili Roasted Dungeness crab.
Jonah Crab:
Jonah crab is native to the Atlantic coast of North American from Newfoundland to Florida. Jonah is similar in flavor to Dungeness crab with a slightly denser texture. You find Jonah crab used in various recipes from simple crab legs to crab cakes and crab soup. The thicker Jonah crab shells require tools for cracking and cannot be broken by hand.
Jonah crab is similar in taste as Dungeness crab but a much smaller and less meaty crab variety. Jonah crab is favored for their crab claws. The beauty of eating Jonah crab claws is that the crabs quickly regrow a new claw when broken off, a sustainable way to enjoy tender and succulent crab meat!
Where to Find Crab Legs on Sale:
Crab legs are often sold pre-cooked and flash frozen, making them easy to purchase right online. At Global Seafoods, we ship our Alaskan king crab, Dungeness crab legs, and Jonah crab claws over dry ice to ensure they remain frozen until you receive them at your door.
It's easy to buy frozen crab legs for sale through Global Seafoods. We offer a money-back guarantee because we know you'll love ordering through us!
Frequently Asked Questions:
How to eat crab legs?
Crab legs are delicious by themselves or dipped in butter, but if that's the only way you eat crab legs, you're missing out. Crab legs and crab meat are delicious in many great recipes. But first, you may need some tools.
Crab shells are the tough exoskeleton of the crab, and these shells are meant to protect the crab from its harsh environment and predators. Crab crackers and tools must protect your hands while breaking through crab shells to get to the succulent crab meat.
Ways to Eat Crab:
- Steam crab legs
- Crab mac n' cheese
- Crab bisque
- Crab dip (hot or cold)
- Crab cakes
- Crab imperial
- Crab Pasta
- Crab legs with garlic butter
- Crab salads
- Crab Bowls
- Crab Alfredo
- Crab Sandwiches
How to cook crab legs?
It's rare to purchase raw crab legs. Once processed, crab meat starts to release enzymes that can negatively affect the meat's taste and texture. Crab legs are bought at sold as pre-cooked crab legs. For example, our crab legs are pre-cooked and flash frozen to ensure optimal flavor and texture.
The best way to reheat crab legs is steaming. Steaming crab legs preserves the texture of the meat while gently heating it through. You can grill king crab legs since they have such thick shells. The meat won't burn but rather will steam inside the shell while on the grill.
