If you love experimenting and trying new recipes, we've got the article for you. Are you looking for nutritious and delicious Florida stone crab recipes? Check out these ten essential recipe guides for cooking Florida stone crabs at home.
- Understand Florida Stone Crab Sizes
Florida stone crabs come in different sizes and prices. Many places offer a variety of Florida stone crab sizes, where you can opt to mix and match different sizes. Listed below are Florida stone crab sizes to keep in mind to help give you a rough idea of how much you should order:
Jumbo Florida Stone Crabs
When ordering jumbo Florida stone crabs, you can expect at most 3 Florida stone crab claws per pound. This is often the smallest order you can get from stone crab purchasing sites. If you're not sure this is enough, you can choose to mix it with other sizes or order more.
Medium Florida Stone Crabs
Medium Florida stone will yield 6 to 7 Florida stone crab claws per pound. This is perfect if you need one and a half pounds for an entrée dish or a 1 pound appetizer.
Large Florida Stone Crabs
The large Florida stone will yield you 4 to 5 Florida stone crab claws per pound. This yields the same size as a medium which is one and a half pounds for an entrée dish or a pound of appetizer.
Colossal Florida Stone Crabs
The largest size of stone crab in Florida you can get is the Colossal Florida stone crab. Each pound will give you two huge Florida stone crab claws. After that, you can also use the leftover five or more ounces of meat for your entrée or appetizer.
- Estimate the Amount of Florida Stone Claws You Need
While Florida stone crab claws are nutritious, too much of anything is not healthy. If you plan to serve guests, you should know how much meat you can get from stone crabs to know how much to buy. In general, preparing two and a half pounds of stone crab claws gives you one pound of meat.
Make sure to take note of guests and their eating habits. It's usually better to have a larger estimate, so you don't run out of tasty crabs.
- Buy Fresh and Authentic Florida Stone Crabs
While many places sell during stone crab season in Florida, the prices can be quite inflated. If you are from Canada and are looking to buy fresh and sustainable stone crabs, then buy from Captain Stone Crab.
Captain Stone Crab offers overnight shipping from Florida Bay straight to Canada. Captain Stone Crab is your best bet if you want to get worry-free, authentic, and fresh stone crabs. Captain Stone Crab sells 100% sustainable seafood and doesn't kill harvested stone crabs.
The team of Captain Stone Crab consists of 80 experienced fishermen. Captain Stone Crab guarantees that your stone crabs become harvested from Florida Bay. Captain Stone Crab offers a wide variety of Florida stone crab and even Bester Osetra Caviar.
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- Before You Start Cooking Florida Stone Crabs
When you finally receive your package of Florida stone crabs, there are many things you need to check. Always remember that Florida stone crabs are flash-cooked before they become shipped. This means that you may overcook them, which ruins the texture and flavor of the stone crab meat.
The first step is to remove all wrapping from your Florida stone crab in a careful manner. After all the wrapping becomes removed, rinse well under running cold water. Set the timer to 15 minutes to let them dry before placing them in a large bowl.
Now that you have them placed in a large bowl add some ice cubes to the bowl. You may also place the large bowl with the stone crabs in the refrigerator for an hour before you start cooking. Before cooking, make sure that your stone crabs are at a temperature below 40°F.
- Steam or Boil Method
The first method of cooking Florida stone crab is either steaming or boiling. This process is pretty straightforward. The first step is to get your pot or steamer and put two cups of water in it.
Turn up the heat and wait for the water to boil, then place the Florida crab claws. Cover your pot, and then steam the claws for at least 10 minutes. As soon as you smell delicious Florida stone crab meat, turn off the heat and get your claws out of the boiling water.
It is important to get your Florida stone crab claws out of the water the moment you smell the aroma of the meat. Heating them for too long will ruin the texture and flavor of the crab meat.
- Grilling Method
Place the claws in your grill and put it on a medium heat setting. Grill each side for 5 minutes, and make sure to keep the grilling temperature at 300 °F to 325 °F. Baste the claws with olive oil while grilling to accentuate the flavor.
- Baking Method
Baking can give you succulent and firm stone crab meat. If you want to go the baking route, prepare your oven, one cup of water, a pan sheet, and aluminum foil.
The first step is to place all the claws in a sheet pan. When doing this, make sure that all claws are lying flat. Then, pour one cup of hot water and cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake for at least 10 minutes, and be sure to check on your crabs.
This helps you avoid overheating, which causes the crab meat to lose flavor and texture.
- Mustard Sauce Recipe
If you are from Florida, you know you can't serve Florida stone crab claws without the mustard sauce. Serving Florida stone crab claws with mustard dipping sauce is a Florida tradition. You must have tasted this signature mustard sauce growing up and want to learn how to make some.
Keep the tradition alive by making your very own mustard dipping sauce. While you can buy overpriced mustard sauce from your fishmonger, we recommend not to. Making your own mustard dipping sauce will be way cheaper and only take at least 5 minutes:
Ingredients for Florida Stone Crab Mustard Dipping Sauce
Listed are the ingredients you need for the famous Florida stone crab mustard dipping sauce:
- One tablespoon of Dijon mustard (Can we make this any more obvious!)
- 1/2 Mayonnaise
- Two teaspoons of Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/2 Lemon
- Hot Sauce (Optional)
This recipe can serve up to 4 people and is best paired with 4 pounds of Florida stone crab claws. Now that you have all the ingredients you need, it's time to mix. Get a bowl and put all ingredients listed inside and start mixing.
If you like to keep things spicy, add some hot sauce of your choice until you reach your preferred spice level. Whisk until all the ingredients combine. If you are serving for more than four people or 4 pounds of stone crab claws, add proportional ingredients.
- Microwave Reheating
This guide is for when you have some Florida crab meat leftover and want to reheat. You can also use this method to cook chilled crab claws.
The first step is thawing your crab claws before you microwave. Using a microwave-safe dish, spread your crab claws and place them in the microwave. Then set your microwave for 2 minutes under the medium setting.
- Prepare Other Entrees
Stone crab makes a perfect main course, but don't forget to prepare other dishes to complement your hard work. Salad or a shrimp cocktail ring are perfect choices. You can also get a selection of beers and wine to your liking.
Get Fresh Florida Stone Crab Today
Now you know how you can prepare Florida stone crabs at home. Follow this guide and be sure to wow everyone with your cooking skills during your next family meal.
Want to learn how to get fresh and authentic Florida stone crab delivered right to your doorstep? We've got some good news for you! Contact us at Captain Stone Crab and get a hassle-free next-day Florida stone crab delivery!