How to Buy Crabs and Get the Best Deal
It’s June! Summer is here, and crab feasts are underway. Whether you are hosting a big get-together, or you just want to have a smaller crab dinner, I want to help you find the best-priced crabs closest to you.
There is some terminology everyone who buys crabs needs to know, as well as information on which type of crab you should buy. Depending on where you source your seafood, you will be dealing with actual fishermen. It’s important to come to the table with a bit of knowledge to make sure that you get the best deal possible. So, let’s go over the process of buying crabs.
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TLDR Summary
As a general rule, One dozen Blue crabs will make a meal for two and can be purchased via a local crabber or online. Buying locally means you will get live crabs, usually caught that day. You will have to go pick them up and cook them yourself. From a website, the crabs will be shipped to you pre-cooked. Ask for their #1 or #2 option male crabs, #1 being their largest.
Along with Blue Crabs, Dungeness Crabs are a great option for whole-bodied crabs. We only eat the legs and claws of Snow, and King Crabs. It’s not that their bodies do not have meat, but because they are not as meat-dense as Blue and Dungeness Crabs.
When comparing many crab vendors, Blue Crabs are the cheapest option for whole-bodied crabs and Snow Crabs are the cheapest option for purely crab legs and claws. Both are meat-dense and will make for a great meal.
First, Decide which type of crab you want to buy.
You should know that there are plenty of crabs you can choose from. All of them have different tastes, but they all taste amazing. I took a few graphics from my article: Which Crab Has The Most Meat? A Quick Comparison to help go over each.
Dungeness crabs are local to the West Coast, specifically the Pacific Northwest. They’re much larger than the Blue Crabs you’ll see on the East Coast. They’re sold by the number, while other crabs in this post are sold by weight or bushels. If you’re interested in buying Dungeness Crabs, click here to read the part of this article where I show how much Dungeness Crab you’ll need to buy.
Blue crabs are caught along the entire East and Gulf Coast. In the South around The Gulf of Meixco, they’re caught nearly year round. Because of this, they’re usually the freshest option for people looking to buy crabs East of the Rockies. They’re much smaller than King, Snow and Dungeness Crabs but they have an excellent taste. They’re also the cheapest option. If you want to see how many Blue Crabs you will need for a crab dinner, click here to see that part of this article.
King Crabs are the meatiest, tastiest, and most expensive option of crabs out there. They’re caught off the coast of Alaska and sold frozen to the rest of the United States throughout the year. Unlike Blue and sometimes Dungeness Crabs, they’re sold by the pound. You only buy the legs of this crab, not the whole body.
If you want to treat yourself to some King Crabs, click here to read the part of the article where I show you how much you will need.
Snow crabs are a great alternative to King Crabs as they’re much cheaper. Like King Crabs, Snow Crabs are sold by weight and clusters. You won’t have to deal with the whole body of a crab and instead get to pick through their legs and claws. They’re caught off the coast of Alaska and sold fresh to the entire United States. If you’d like to look into Snow Crabs, click here to read the part of this article where I show you how much you will need for a meal.
The time of year is very important in selecting a crab.
You may notice in each graphic I mention the crab’s season. This is referring to when crabbers are actively out in the water catching these types of crabs. Be aware that these are generalizations and vary by year because of the weather, crab population, and plenty of other factors.
To keep things simple, remember that Dungeness Crabs are the best option from December to June, so from Winter to the beginning of Summer. Blue Crabs start to pick up in Summer in Maryland and stay in season until Mid-Fall. So, pick Dungeness Crabs for the first half of the year, and Blue Crabs for the second half.
For the most accurate information on whether a crab is in season or not, check with your state’s local DNR. There, they will post fishing reports and dredge surveys on crab populations. For example, here is Maryland’s 2022 crab population survey.
Whole-bodied crabs vs crab legs
I want to briefly go over the difference between buying whole-bodied crabs and just crab legs. If you are buying Blue Crabs, they always come as the whole crab. This means that along with the crab meat, there are guts, shells, and gills that need to be removed before you eat the crab.
Dungeness, Snow, and King Crabs, on the other hand, come as just the claws. Dungeness crabs may also come with the whole crab, but not always. With these crabs, you will still need to pick the meat from the shell. However, you will not have to deal with cleaning out the gills, guts, and outer shell.
I want you to stop and think about who you are buying crabs for. I know a few people who love crabs but hate picking apart their shells for meat. These are the same people who love animals but also love burgers. It’s seeing the body of the crab that ruins it for them. If you just have the shell, however, it’s not an issue. If your friends are as squeamish as a few of mine, I would skip out on Blue and Dungeness Crabs and go for Snow or King Crabs.
Crab legs are also easier to pick than whole-bodied crabs. You will not need to figure out the difference between what is meat and what isn’t. This will also lead to less of a cleanup. As anyone who has been to a crab feast can tell you, crab shells will pile up when you’re picking whole-bodied crabs.
Where is each crab the freshest?
Personally, I want to eat the freshest crab possible. I made a map (see above) showing where each crab is actually caught. From this, you can figure out what crab will be the freshest near you.
I just want to point out that if you are purchasing crabs online, where you are is not a very big determining factor in how fresh your crabs will be. Online retailers such as Cameron’s Seafood (my top crab vendor recommendation and affiliate partner) ship crabs nationwide in short periods of time. The crabs shipped to people in Kansas as just as fresh as the crabs sold in Maryland. Click here to find out how fast they can ship crabs to you (Affiliate Link).
When it comes to Dungeness Crabs, they are caught off the West Coast and will be freshest there. Anyone in California, Oregon, and Washington State will find the freshest Dungeness Crabs and have access to crabs usually caught that day. The surrounding states and those as you head East can still buy Dungeness Crabs from online retailers. However, they may have been kept alive in a holding tank or already pre-cooked to preserve their meat.
Blue Crabs are caught from the Southernmost point of Texas to New England. If you live along the coast, you should be able to find a local crab vendor to buy blue crabs caught that day. If you live in a state adjacent to a coastal state, you should also be able to purchase blue crabs kept alive in holding tanks or pre-cooked from an online retailer.
Snow Crabs and King Crabs are caught off the coast of Alaska between October and February. However, most fisheries freeze these crab legs as soon as they are caught and ship them to the lower 48 states. Because of this, every state can receive equally fresh Snow and King Crab legs.
I just vomited a bunch of information. To summarize all of this, Remember that Dungeness, Snow, and King crabs are caught during the winter months. Expect these types of crabs to be the freshest around January. Blue Crabs, on the other hand, are caught throughout the summer and are the meatiest during late summer and early fall. I further explain this in my article: Which Crab Has The Most Meat? A Quick Comparison.
Second, Know what you want before you order your crabs.
A little tidbit about myself, I have to rehearse what I want at the drive-through or before I call my local pizza shop. I’m not one for split-second decisions. I like to know what I’m getting before I talk to the cashier.
I want you to do the same when it comes to ordering crabs. No, I do not want you to be nervous like I am sometimes, but instead, have a solid idea of what you want to walk away with from this transaction. I want you to know how many crabs you need, what size to ask for, and an idea of how much this will cost.
I’m going to assume that you have the type of crab you want to buy in mind. I break down this section by the type of crab. So, go to your choice to see how much you will need for your crab dinner.
How many Blue Crabs should you buy?
You will yield one pound of lump crab meat (enough to feed one person) with 6 to 8 whole blue crabs. If you order a crab vendor’s smaller crabs (size 2’s), you may need up to 10 crabs to get 1 pound of lump crab meat. If you order their larger crabs (size 1’s), you will need 6.
With this, we can determine how many crabs you will need for your crab dinner. See the table below:
| Number of people eating | Amount of Size 1 Blue Crabs | Amount of Size 2 Blue Crabs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 (1/2 dozen) | 8 |
| 2 | 12 (1 dozen) | 16 |
| 3 | 18 | 24 |
| 4 | 24 | 32 |
| 5 | 30 (1/2 a bushel) | 40 (1/2 a bushel) |
Notice that thirty size-1 crabs and 40 size-2 crabs make up one-half of a bushel. This is because using bushels as a measurement is based on how many crabs fill up one-half of a bushel basket. Since size-1 crabs are larger, fewer are necessary to fill up half of a bushel basket.
If you are interested in ordering Size-1 or Size-2 Blue Crabs, I found that Cameron’s Seafood has the best price online. You can check out their online store by clicking this link (Affiliate Link). They categorize their Blue crabs as standard, premium, and colossal. Standard crabs are equivalent to size-2 crabs mentioned above and premium crabs are the equivalent to size-1’s. Their colossal crabs measure 7 inches across and higher and are much more expensive.
How many Dungeness Crabs should you buy?
You will yield one pound of lump crab meat (enough to feed one person) with two Dungeness Crabs. If you are buying by the cluster, expect one pound of meat from every four clusters of Dungeness Crab Legs. Three pounds of clusters total will usually yield 4 individual clusters, which will yield one pound of lump crab meat.
| Number of People Eating | Whole Dungeness Crabs | Dungeness Crab Clusters (in lbs) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | 8 | 12 |
I got these figures from, yet again, Cameron’s Seafood. I did a price comparison of different online retailers later in this post, and they have the best deal on Dungeness Crabs (as of the time of this article). They sell their Dungeness Crabs as clusters, which includes the claws, legs, and the crab’s meat-filled body that connects to the legs.
If you’d like to check the current price of Cameron’s Seafood’s Dungeness Crabs, you can click this link to see thier product page (Affiliate Link). They sell their Dungeness Crab legs as clusters by the pound. They say that every 3 pounds of these clusters will be 1.5-2 servings of crab meat.
You may have noticed that I said every 3 pounds would be enough for one person, what gives? Well, I did not take into account any sides courses that will be served with these Dungeness clusters. If you were to pick this as your crab dinner, I would recommend it. This would mean you wouldn’t have to buy as many crabs.
Every crab dinner needs a starchy carb as a side. A few ideas could include corn on the cob, baked potatoes, or french fries. Along with that, you will need a vegetable to even things out. Brocolli, spinach, and asparigus are all popular options.
How much Snow Crab should you buy?
You will yield one pound of lump crab meat (enough to feed one person) with 4 clusters, or around 3 pounds, of snow crab legs. If you include side dishes, 4 clusters of snow crab will be enough to feed two people. To make sure you have enough crab, buy 3 lbs of snow crab for each person.
| Number of People Eating | Snow Crab Clusters | Pure Crab Meat (in oz) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 14.4 |
| 2 | 8 | 28.8 |
| 3 | 12 | 43.2 |
| 4 | 16 | 57.6 |
| 5 | 20 | 72 |
You may be wondering how I got these figures. If you read my article: Which Crab Has The Most Meat? A Quick Comparison, you’ll find several studies I cited that determined the average meat yield per crab.
A study by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans found that snow crabs have a 35.6% meat yield on average. This depends on how recently the crab has molted, which in itself depends on when the crab was caught.
I’m getting too technical. All that you need to worry about is how much meat you’re getting with every dollar spent. I can’t really say an exact price that you’ll be paying for crabs, beacause it flucuates with supply and seasonality. I recommend you check with crab retailers such as Cameron’s Seafood (Affiliate Link) to see the current price.
How much King Crab should you buy?
Three pounds of King Crab will contain between 3-5 legs and contain 1.5 to 2 servings of crab meat. Six pounds of King Crab will reliably feed between 2 to 4 people. King Crab is a more expensive option than Snow, Dungeness, and Blue crabs, but its sweet taste makes it a popular choice.
| Number of People Eating | King Crab (in lbs) | Pure Crab Meat (in lbs) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 1.8 |
| 2 | 3 to 6 | 1.8 to 3.6 |
| 3 | 6 | 3.6 |
| 4 | 6 to 9 | 3.6 to 5.4 |
| 5 | 9 | 5.4 |
Unlike the other crab options mentioned, King Crabs offer the most meat-dense option to eat. Their price tag reflects that. If you choose this crab, be prepared to pay much more than you would for Snow, Dungness, or Blue Crabs.
Still, the taste of King Crabs can’t be matched. For the most up-to-date price for King Crabs, I recommend you visit Cameron’s Seafood’s page where they sell King Crab clusters (Affiliate Link).
Third, Decide between an online or local crab retailer.
The last point I want to make, and probably the reasn why you came to this article, is knowing what to expect when buying crabs from a local dealer and online. I want to compare and contrast the two, and help you pick the option that works best for you.
When does it make sense to order crabs online?
Ordering crabs online will make the most sense for those who do not live on the coast. If you live inland, the only live crabs you will find will be in a poorly-kept holding tank which depletes the flavor of the crabs. Online retailers will ship pre-cooked crabs to your door that retain their fresh flavor.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you need large steamers to cook your crabs. I use a 128-quart steamer pot and a propane burner to cook a bushel of crabs at a time, which cost around $200. If you’re interested in seeing it, I talk about it in my article: How to Pick the Perfect Crab Steamer (Size Chart).
If you order crabs online, however, you won’t need to worry about this large purchase. You will need to reheat the crabs when you buy them, which can be done with any stovetop pot or microwave.
Online retailers, unlike local vendors, are open even when it isn’t crab season in your state. Cameron’s Seafood, for example, sources crabs from Maryland during its season, and Gulf States such as Louisiana when Maryland crabs are not in season (usually during the winter). This ensures you can get your crab fix any time of the year. So, if it’s the off season, an online crab vendor will be a better option than a local vendor.
The Price of Enough Crabs to Feed 4 People from Several Online Retailers
| Online Retailers | Blue Crabs | Dungeness Crabs | King Crab Legs | Snow Crab Legs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron’s Seafood | $205.99 (1/2 Bushel) | $197.99 (6 lbs) | $429.99 (6 lbs) | $206.99 (6 lbs) |
| The Crab Place | $249.99 (1/2 Bushel) | None | $429.99 (6 lbs) | $219.99 (6 lbs) |
| Global Seafood | None | $225.00 (10 lbs) | $595.00 (10 lbs) | $210 (3 lbs) |
When does it make sense to order crabs in person?
If you live near the coast and don’t mind cooking live crabs yourself, a vendor will work great! You will be limited to Dungeness or Blue crabs, depending on whether you live on the West or East Coast.
I live on the East Coast and order my crabs at a place called The Crab Shack in Chesapeake City, MD. To buy crabs here, and many other crab vendors like it, you need to call and order the crabs you would like.
When I call, I ask for their size 1 crabs, which are their largest. If you would like cheaper, yet smaller crabs, ask for their size 2. You can also ask for a mix of the two by asking for their size 1 and 2 mix. Other crab shacks will group their crabs by medium, jumbo, and collossal. Medium would act as size 2, and jumbo would act as size 1. Their colossal crabs are the largest they have in stock. The measurement process is very arbitrary and will depend on the vendor.
Another thing to keep in mind is that local crab vendors price their crab on market price. If there is a shortage of crabs (like there is now in Maryland as of June 2022), prices will be much higher.
After you order your crabs, you will need to go pick them up. I would not go in a car! Crabs leave a lasting smell. I would use a pickup truck if you have one, or sweet talk a friend who does. Offer them some crabs. When you get the crabs home, they will have to be either steamed or boiled live. I’m from Maryland, so I am an avid supporter of steaming crabs over boiling them.
