Snow crab vs. king crab

[rl belyea]

Can anyone tell me what the difference is, specifically? All the talk in
another thread about crab legs has me wondering... I've had king crab legs
at places (best place: Boardwalk Billy's in Charlotte) and only experienced
snow crab when my mother ordered a platter of snow crab claws (not legs)
from Red Lobster for a party. They were horrible...completely tasteless and
watery once they were cracked. I've tended to shy away from anything that
says "snow crab" since then.

I've found that Harris-Teeter and Lowe's carries the snow crab legs, but I
haven't found anyone who carries king crab, which I'd prefer. Any
suggestions?

--
robin
(reply address spamproofed...)

[Anne Lurie]

rl belyea wrote:

> Can anyone tell me what the difference is, specifically?

King Crabs (from Alaska) are *big*, really big. Snow Crabs are much
smaller, and so are Stone Crabs. (I'm only familiar with them in
restaurants, no idea where to find 'em).

The Seafood Handbook website has lots of info about all kinds of
seafood:
http://www.seafoodhandbook.com/index2.html

> All the talk in
> another thread about crab legs has me wondering... I've had king crab legs
> at places (best place: Boardwalk Billy's in Charlotte) and only experienced
> snow crab when my mother ordered a platter of snow crab claws (not legs)
> from Red Lobster for a party. They were horrible...completely tasteless and
> watery once they were cracked. I've tended to shy away from anything that
> says "snow crab" since then.

> I've found that Harris-Teeter and Lowe's carries the snow crab legs, but I
> haven't found anyone who carries king crab, which I'd prefer. Any
> suggestions?

Sam's Club carries frozen king crab legs. Have you checked the freezers
at the stores you mentioned? (I could not tell from your post. I'm
fairly sure that any King Crab found east of the Mississippi, or
California for that matter, *must* have been frozen.)

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

[Fred Holt]

"rl belyea" <moc.onuj@amraksan> wrote in message
news:LVfH7.356$Jy2.1...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...

Whaddya got to lose to find out for yourself? 3 bucks? Snow crab legs like
those available at local groceries are yummy IMO. I find them probably a bit
more variable in quality than you might see in King legs.

As the other reply mentions, the snow crab is much smaller (tho still much
larger than Atlantic (blue) crabs which yield meat from teh body but not
legs). It is also, as the ads will show, much less expensive. You can
often see Snow crab legs for $3/#, but I don't recall seeing king crb legs
for less than $10/#.

I've never heard of anyone selling snow crab claws by themselves - when you
get the clusters you have a claw (max) on each cluster, and the claw is
perhaps the least preferable part. The snow crab claw texure is not like
the rest of the legs, which I find better. (my wife always gives me her
claws and says she can't crack them....it's really that she want's to move
on to more legs....)

I do sometimes see King legs at HT or Kroger...

FH

[Jade Walker]

King crab is more highly armored and so is a little harder to crack,
but I think you know that. They taste "meatier" to me than snow
crab.

Snow crab legs are pre-cooked then frozen and then are heated up
by immersing them in a big pan of hot water. Perhaps the snow crab
legs you had were in the pan too long and all the flavor leached out.

Jade Walker

On Sat, 10 Nov 2001 20:15:40 GMT, "rl belyea" <moc.onuj@amraksan>
wrote:

[Jeremy P]

On Sat, 10 Nov 2001, rl belyea wrote:

> I've found that Harris-Teeter and Lowe's carries the snow crab legs,
> but I haven't found anyone who carries king crab, which I'd prefer.
> Any suggestions?

FYI, Harris Teeter does carry king crab occassionally. I'm not a seafood
aficionado, so I haven't kept close track of when we have it and when we
don't. But call your local store and ask for the seafood manager -- s/he
would be happy to let you know of the availability. If you want a whole
bag, they might even be able to special-order it.

--Jeremy
(HT customer service clerk)

[Guy Noir - private eye]

ah, the crab claw is the best part! Lots of meat in there. just pull out the
pincer, crack it in the middle and open it up like a nut. I've got a system
perfected for rapid consuming of crab legs. heh.

D.B. Young. Team OS/2!
-->this message printed on recycled disk space<--
antique computer virtual museum, turbo pinto + more at
www.nothingtodo.org

Delete the obvious (Aolsucks) to reply.

[MinnesotaGal]

Sometimes, I've been able to get King Crab at Sam's Club. King Crab is much
bigger & has more flavor IMO but also costs more!

rl belyea <moc.onuj@amraksan> wrote in message
news:LVfH7.356$Jy2.1...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...