Steamed Blue Crabs

With the big Labor Day weekend on the horizon, I wanted to feature a recipe for steamed blue crabs and I knew just who to call for the recipe. I called my friend Kevin, who lives here in Atlanta put who’s from Baltimore originally. He says as a true Baltimorean “we can get a little uppity about our crabs.” Since blue crabs are native to the western edge of the Atlantic Ocean, you can use this recipe for any blue crabs, not just the ones from Baltimore. Some folks like to add hot pepper flakes to the liquid and/or coarse ground salt to the seasoning blend, but the Baltimore crab purist like this recipe as is the best. He also shared a recipe for crab soup that I’ll share later this year.

Blue Crabs caught in North Carolina steamed to perfection. Photo compliments of Tim Shannon Photography.

Steamed Blue Crabs

Ingredients

1 can of beer (“the real stuff, no light beer”)

½ cup white vinegar

Water

Seasoning blend for each layer of crabs:
  1 part dry mustard
  3 parts Old Bay Seasoning
  2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper

First, chill the crabs with ice in the sink or cooler so the crabs are immobilized. Fill a large crab steam pot with beer and vinegar, and then add enough water to line the bottom of the pot, but not enough to surpass the first layer of crabs that will be added. Add a layer of crabs and sprinkle with the seasoning blend, proceeding the same way for each layer until the pot is full. Place the lid on the pot and then place a heavy bowl on the lid while steaming to keep the crabs from escaping. When the crabs are a nice red color they are done.

Optional:  Add hot pepper flakes to the liquid and coarse ground salt to the seasoning blend as desired.

If you need helping learning how to eat a blue crab, then go to the Old Bay Seasoning’s Web site and watch their very informative How to Pick a Crab video.