The Type Of Crab You Should Buy For Your Crab Boil

When spending time by the water, a seafood boil and boating excursion make for a fun summer weekend. Though if you've never been to a proper crab boil, it can be hard to know what exactly to buy. We spoke to Kory Foltz, the culinary director at Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte Harbor, Florida, and his insight is super helpful to know before you shell out your hard-earned cash for some hard shell crabs.

Naturally, Foltz explains that the type of crab you'd want depends on whether you're boiling crab legs or the entire crab. For whole crab, Foltz is very much in favor of blue crabs. According to him, they have a nice flavor and texture and are fairly common along the East Coast of the United States. Importantly, they cook up really nicely. "Blue crabs hold up well to the high heat of boiling without falling apart and soak up the spicy seasoning nicely, which is why they're a favorite for seafood boils," Foltz told The Takeout.

Let's say that you're just looking at leg meat — king crab or snow crab will be much better bets. "King crab legs are huge and packed with sweet, tender meat, making them super popular for their rich flavor and big portions. Snow crab legs are smaller but still meaty and sweet, with a slightly firmer texture," Foltz explained. He said both king and snow crab legs can easily handle being steamed and boiled, and they're good at absorbing seasonings.

Once you start looking into these different kinds of crabs, Kory Foltz' reasoning makes sense. Blue crabs are wide and meaty, and while they can be sold as soft shell crabs (which means they've molted), the bodies of hard shell blue crabs are what chefs typically boil. Meanwhile, snow crabs are mostly just legs attached to a smaller body, and king crabs have major leg muscles too.

As far as where to buy your crab of choice, if you're expecting the answer to be fresh crabs from a market rather than frozen crabs, you'd be correct. According to Foltz, "Buying live and local crabs is definitely ideal because they're the freshest and usually taste the best. You get the sweetest, firmest meat when the crabs are super fresh." However, frozen crabs aren't a dealbreaker and still retain some flavor since they are typically frozen shortly after being caught. He would certainly choose frozen over precooked crabs, as the latter lose a lot of flavor.

Different crabs usually don't have different seasoning styles, and as long as you're working with lemon juice and surprisingly versatile Old Bay seasoning, you're on the right track. A crab boil certainly benefits from plenty of spices and tasty extras like potatoes, corn, sausage, and shrimp — just make sure you don't commit a major seafood boil mistake and dump everything into the pot at once.