Dungeness crab

Dungeness crab is the most popular pacific crab. Found along the west coast of North America from Alaska to Mexico it is a member of the hard shell crab family with a light reddish-brown shell that sometimes has a bit of purple toward the front. Its tail flap is rounded and claws have white tips. Most Dungeness crabs weigh between 1.5 to 3 pounds and can grow up to 9 inches. This type of crab has a sweet mildly nutty taste. Its body meat is very tender and leg meat is slightly firmer.

Dungeness crab is sold live, frozen or pre-cooked in its whole form and can also be bought as body and leg meat, pre-cooked, canned or frozen. You can even buy it in a gourmet food basket. When you purchase dungeness crab online look for the following:

• The meat should be an opaque white and should smell fresh and mild upon delivery. If it smells fishy it has gone bad and shouldn't be eaten.
• The meat yield of whole dungeness crab is about 25% of their entire weight so make sure to take that into account.
• Live crab should be lively. While it's normal for shipped crab to be inactive, if they are completely lifeless that means they are likely sick or dead from transit and should be returned.
• Whole cooked crabs should have a bright red shell upon inspection.
• If frozen dungeness meat appears discolored it is likely freezer burnt and should not be eaten and returned.
• Crabs with a soft shell and light weights should be avoided because their shells are not yet full. This is usually an effect of premature harvesting.

It's always a good idea to contact the company you are purchasing your live seafood from either by email or phone to make sure they are available to answer any questions that may arise once you have ordered your crab. I like to test customer service by asking a simple question via email to make sure they respond timely and cordially before purchasing frozen or live seafood of any kind over the net.

Shipping Seafood:
When buying dungeness crab over the internet you should carefully consider the carrier and transit times.  Also make sure you are home when it will be delivered.  The less time the crab spends in transit the fresher and better it will be. It's a good idea to confirm the crab supplier has a return policy as well, just in case your crab is spoiled upon arrival for whatever reason.

Most gourmet seafood companies ship their live dungeness crabs in a multi-layered, insulated box with seaweed and ice-gel packs, which will keep them alive during up to 24 hours of transit. Once the box arrives you should open it immediately and examine your crab to make sure it's still alive and hasn't gone bad during transit.

While it is best to eat dungeness crabs the day you get them home, they can be stored in an aerated tank for up to 2 weeks.  Raw crab meat should be cooked within 1 day of harvesting while frozen meat will last up to 4 months. Canned dungeness crabmeat is good for up to 6 months. Cooked crab should be stored at 32° F and frozen crab -10° F.

How to cook crab:
There are several ways to prepare dungeness crab. The traditional way of cooking crab is in a crab steamer, however it can also be broiled, grilled and boiled. Baked crab is very popular as well.  You can even eat it cold. It's a delight directly from the shell with butter and bread and is commonly sold this way at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Of course there are also many recipes that call for crab, if you need a recipe idea we have several on this website.

Congratulations on your decision to try some delicious dungeness crab. I am crazy for crab and I have personally ordered many countless dungeness crabs online over the years. I have yet to be disappointed!