How to Cook, Clean, and Eat a Crab the Right Way, According to Experts

In many coastal states and cities, cooking and enjoying crab is nearly as iconic as breaking bread. Bread, however, poses many fewer hurdles to consume. Cracking and cleaning whole crabs can seem more like an intimidating feat rather than a big feast, but once you learn that success is more a matter of strategy and know-how than brute strength, you can approach every crab with confidence. Whether you're enjoying crab in a restaurant or at home, follow our guide for preparing and handling this beloved crustacean.

Common Types of Crab to Prepare at Home

These are the most popular (and delicious) types of crab.

Dungeness and Maryland

The two most common varieties of crab that are cooked whole are Dungeness crabs (along the Pacific coast) and blue crabs (along the Atlantic coast—famously Maryland). These crabs have succulent, tender meat both in their legs and within their bodies.

Stone Crabs

Stone crabs, which primarily live in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, are mainly prized for their claws. Stone crabs uniquely regenerate their own claws, so along with being delicious, they are also a highly sustainable seafood. Fishers will remove the claws from whole stone crabs and return their bodies to the ocean.

Snow and King

Snow crab and king crab are less often consumed whole simply because of their size. King crabs, for example, can grow up to 25 pounds and five feet long.

The Best Way to Cook Crab

Crab needs to be cooked before it is cleaned. While cartoon chefs might lead you to believe a big pot of water is the best method for preparing lobsters and crabs, seafood experts say that steaming is much better for maintaining the integrity and flavor of the delicate flesh.

Steaming Crabs

To steam crabs at home, you'll need a large steamer pot and a steaming basket, the crabs and either water or beer to use as a steaming liquid.

1. Place a steamer basket inside the steamer pot. Place the pot over a burner and add a few inches of water or beer to the pot.
2. Cover the pot and steam until the crabs are cooked through, about 10 minutes for small blue crabs and 15 for larger Dungeness crabs.
3. Remove the crabs from the pot and let sit until cool enough to handle.

The time the crabs need to cook through varies depending on the size of your pot and the number of crabs you are steaming. Be sure to monitor the level of liquid level at all times so you never lose steam—literally.

How to Clean a Crab

Before you handle them, give the crabs a few minutes to cool after steaming them, so you don't burn your hands. Then, start removing the parts of the crab you don't want to eat.

1. Remove the legs one by one, in a slight twisting and gentle pulling motion.
2. Flip the crab on its back and remove the apron, which is the triangular piece toward the crab's bottom.
3. Pry apart the two halves of the shell to expose the inside, and remove the gills, lungs, and mouth by simply pulling them all away from the shell.
4. Take the remaining shell, containing the lump crab meat, and crack it in half with your hands in order to make the crab meat more accessible.

Tools You Need to Crack a Crab

When a whole blue or Dungeness crab is placed in front of you, the first step for eating it is getting it open. Having the right tools makes all the difference—and you'll be happy to hear you don't need specialized utensils. "In my opinion, all you really need is a sturdy knife," says Andrew Gardner, co-owner of famed Locust Point Steamers, a family-owned crab shack in Baltimore, Md. "I hardly ever use a crab mallet. The mallet is only for the claws anyway, but I crack mine with just a few taps from the bottom of my fist to the back of the blade of the knife. It cracks the crab claw shell in a much cleaner way. You get way less shell fragments in your delicious claw meat."

You'll also need a small seafood fork or a wooden skewer for removing delicate pieces of crab meat from inside the shell.

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Eating Crabs

Novice crab eaters often make the same mistakes. Gardner shares what to avoid so you can look like a pro.

Don't Eat the Lungs

"The most common mistake we see people making on their first crab cracking experience is that they try to eat the lungs," says Gardner. People assume that anything similar to meat inside the crab is edible, he explains. The crab's lungs look like feathery cones lining the side of the body. Remove and discard them.

Savor the Mustard

According to Gardner, never ignore or throw out the mustard, which is the the golden yellow matter that usually spills from the inside of the crab. In spite of its less-than-savory appearance, it has a delicious briny flavor and is tragically overlooked by many first-timers.

Enjoy the Experience

Once you have the basic skills down, the most important step is not to agonize over them. "Eating crabs is more of a social thing than it is a meal," Gardner says. "Take your time and have fun. Eat with people you enjoy talking to. Also, it will take some time to get proficient, so just hang in there."