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Started By
Message
Cleaning lump crab meat
Posted on 12/27/25 at 11:12 am
Posted on 12/27/25 at 11:12 am
Is there a secret to cleaning the shells out of crab meat? I sit there and pick through it all and it’s a pain in the arse and ineviteably there are still some shells that people almost choke on. Am I unrealistic to think that a $50 container of lump crab meat should have less shells in it?
Posted on 12/27/25 at 11:37 am to Knuckle Checker
If it doesn't have shells in it, it's not real crab, it's krab.
Posted on 12/27/25 at 12:01 pm to Knuckle Checker
Use a black light to see the shells better
Posted on 12/27/25 at 2:11 pm to Knuckle Checker
“Lump” crab meat only comes from
The flipper. There is no “picking” involved, as the meat comes out in a big lump, hence the name.
To answer your question, I don’t know. I remember there was a guy in a thread many years ago that claimed to have some amazing method for picking crabs but he never explained it. For me? I remove the top shell and break the body in half. Remove the flipper to get the lump meat. Then I sort of pinch and crack the body just inside where the legs meet the body to loosen up that portion of shell. Next, I pull the legs off carefully in hopes that the meat on the end comes with it and eat that. Next, I split the remaining portion in half, dividing the top and bottom and pick through the channels to get the meat out.
Everything but the lump is a pain in the arse. I love crab meat, maybe more than crawfish, but I will take the ease of peeling and eating crawfish all day over picking and eating crabs.
The flipper. There is no “picking” involved, as the meat comes out in a big lump, hence the name.
To answer your question, I don’t know. I remember there was a guy in a thread many years ago that claimed to have some amazing method for picking crabs but he never explained it. For me? I remove the top shell and break the body in half. Remove the flipper to get the lump meat. Then I sort of pinch and crack the body just inside where the legs meet the body to loosen up that portion of shell. Next, I pull the legs off carefully in hopes that the meat on the end comes with it and eat that. Next, I split the remaining portion in half, dividing the top and bottom and pick through the channels to get the meat out.
Everything but the lump is a pain in the arse. I love crab meat, maybe more than crawfish, but I will take the ease of peeling and eating crawfish all day over picking and eating crabs.
Posted on 12/27/25 at 2:39 pm to SUB
A Chef friend of mine said that you're inevitably going to have bits of shell sometimes and if you pick through it, it's no longer jumbo lump.
Posted on 12/27/25 at 3:20 pm to SUB
quote:when the crabs are fat it’s worth it. When they aren’t it’s still worth it for the lumps. But it’s close
the ease of peeling and eating crawfish all day over picking and eating crabs.
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