#BLUE CRAB SIZE CHART DRIVERS#

It depends on how hard you want to work for that precious lump meat. And while size varies between restaurants, you can usually trust the crab houses to rank the crabs appropriately: four mediums is probably equal to two or three larges, which are equal to one jumbo or extra-large. Order fewer if you’re also ordering corn, hush puppies, oysters and other appetizers. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)Ī good rule of thumb is three to four crabs per person. Nicholas Hudec, 5, uses his mallet to get to the meat of his steamed crab at Quarterdeck in Arlington. I recently enjoyed some medium (about 5 1/2 inch) crabs in Annapolis that were packed with more sweet, delicious meat than the larges (6 to 6½ inches) I’d had the week before in Baltimore. Others use more conventional terms, such as “small, medium, large, jumbo.”īut even those descriptions vary from crab house to crab house: At Jimmy Cantler’s famous crab house in Annapolis, for instance, a large crab is 6 to 6 1/2 inches, while across the bay at Ocean Odyssey in Cambridge, a large is between 5 1/2 and 6 inches.

Some places will tell you that the largest and heaviest crabs are #1s, crabs that are a bit smaller are #2s and so on. There is no standard size guide, other than Maryland’s legal minimum, which is 5¼ inches. They mean whatever a restaurant wants them to mean. What do the different sizes of crab (#1s, #2s, jumbo) on the menu mean? Some popular crab houses serve Maryland crabs throughout the summer, but rely on Gulf or imported crab in spring, when catches are light, as well as throughout the winter, which pulls them below the 75 percent line. It’s worth noting that you can eat local crabs at a restaurant without True Blue status. If a restaurant isn’t in compliance, it can be removed from the program, but there are no further penalties. Instead, restaurants are randomly audited a few times each year and asked to show proof they’re purchasing crabs from local watermen. Karen Knotts, who manages True Blue for the DNR, stresses that the program - which has grown to more than 160 members in Maryland, the District, Virginia and Delaware - is “promotional, not a certification program.” The state doesn’t use forensic tests to prove that the meat comes from Chesapeake blue crabs. To participate in the True Blue program, which was launched in 2012 by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, a restaurant must promise that at least 75 percent of the crabmeat it uses each year will be “harvested and/or processed in the state of Maryland.” Every business that makes the pledge provides the DNR with invoices proving that its crabs were purchased from local wholesalers or watermen before it’s listed on the True Blue website. The easiest way is to check the list of “ True Blue” restaurants on. How can I tell if I’m eating Maryland crabs? Harris Crab House in Grasonville, Md., is a “True Blue” restaurant. This is compounded by the short crabbing season: In Maryland, it’s legal to catch crabs only from April 1 to Dec. This pushes up prices for restaurants that are willing to pay more for a local product, and means that some restaurants can’t afford to carry Chesapeake Bay crabs if they want to turn a profit.

#BLUE CRAB SIZE CHART DRIVERS#

The primary drivers for this are price and supply: Maryland’s crab population is climbing again, but the state produced 33.1 million pounds of crabs in 2015 - far from enough meat to feed all of the region’s hungry crab lovers. The dirty secret of some area crab houses is that while the kitchen might be only miles from the Chesapeake Bay, the crabs have traveled much farther: Those blue crabs or swimming crabs were spawned in the Gulf Coast, Indonesia, Vietnam or Venezuela. When I sit down at a waterfront crab house, I’m eating Maryland crabs, right? The crustaceans have spent the summer growing, molting and fattening up, which makes them more fun to eat than the skimpy little crabs that are common around Memorial Day.

Here are the answers to some commonly asked questions. But for many, going to a crab house for the first time can be confusing - and that’s before your friend explains why his crab-picking style is the most efficient. Some of us grew up eating crabs at backyard feasts, whacking the bright red shells with wooden mallets and pinching younger brothers with discarded claws. Mid-August through mid-October is the best time to eat steamed crabs, such as these from Harris Crab House in Grasonville, Md.

Blue crab size chart