Maryland Soft Crab

A soft shell crab is a Maryland blue crab caught at the one brief moment it can be eaten whole. As a blue crab grows it cannot stretch its hard shell, so it backs out of it and molts. For a few hours after that molt the entire crab is soft and edible, shell and all. That short window is the soft shell crab.

Wild-caught in Maryland waters.

Our soft crabs are caught in the local waters around Crisfield, in Tangier Sound where it opens into the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland's moderate water temperature and the bay's salinity are what give our blue crabs their sweet, rich flavor. Warmer southern waters make crabs molt too fast and lose quality, and colder northern waters barely molt at all. Maryland sits right in the sweet spot.

True Blue Certified, 100% Maryland.

Every soft crab we sell is caught, harvested, and processed in Maryland. The True Blue standard asks for at least 75% Maryland. Ours are 100%.

Hand-graded for the prime molt.

Watermen watch for peelers, the crabs about to shed, and hold them in flowing-water floats checked around the clock. A crab has only a few hours after it molts before it starts to re-harden. We discard the ones that do not make it through the molt and the ones that began to harden before they were pulled. Only crabs caught at the prime soft state are kept.

Cleaned, wrapped, and blast-frozen.

Each crab is cleaned by hand while still live (the eyes, gills, and apron are removed, and everything else is edible), individually wrapped, and blast-frozen at 20 below to lock in quality. Six crabs come sealed in each container, dry-frozen with no added water, and keep for up to a year.

Rich, buttery, and sweet.

Cooked soft shell crab has a rich, buttery, sweet flavor and a unique texture that is crispy on the outside and tender inside.