For delicious crab meat dish planning, you should know how to select different crab meat quality based on their grades. This will also affect their price too for example the lump crab meat is the most expensive grades for canned crab and followed by back fin, special, and claw. Here are the grades of canned crab meat product which referred to pasteurized or pressure heated refrigerator canned crab instead of the small shelf stable cans one which usually can be found displayed in canned fish aisle:
1. Colossal and Jumbo lump canned crab
Colossal lump crab meat or also know as super or mega jumbo lump is the largest chunks of meat taken from the meat that connect to the swimming fins of the crab. It has large size and since they are only two of these muscles available per crab, the price of the canned crab meat colossal and jumbo lump is the most expensive one among crab meat can products. As for the jumbo lump, it is the same two muscles but in smaller crab size than the colossal canned crab. Both of these products are good enough when you want to dip large chunk of crab meat into sauces or butter.
The texture of colossal and jumbo is so fine and they are have sweet flavor as well which is why they need to be savored alone rather than using them as crab cakes ingredient. It is because the seasoning of crab cakes may overwhelm the delicate taste of colossal and jumbo lump. Not to mention that mix the meats together with other ingredients can break up the tender texture. In conclusion, it will be pricey and poor choice when you used them as that delicacy.
This is another grade taken from broken jumbo lumps mixed with large chunks of crab body meat. The product is less expensive than colossal and jumbo lump, but they are still offer delicate flavor with nice bright color. This is best selection when you want to make impression making dishes when the appearance is all that matter. You can make fancy dishes such as crab Louis or butter poached crab which you need large or big chunk of crab meat. This is also great when used as ingredient for restaurant quality or fine dining crab cakes because the size is large and thus they can be hold easily only with small binders.
3. Backfin crab canned meat
The next canned crab meat supplier products are the backfin crab canned meat which consist of smaller broken chunks of lump crab meat. They are mixed with white body meat flakes of the crab. Although it is cheaper than the lump canned crab, however they are still offer delicious flavor and enough texture to offer appealing appearance when served on the plate. You can use them for dishes when the crab meat is still visible such as for salad, sandwich, conventional crab cakes, and pasta dishes.
Special crab canned meat consists of smaller flakes taken from body cavity white crab meat. It is great to be used for dish that shows delicate flavor and good color rather than visual impact. Examples of such dishes are like omelets, dips, mayo-based salads, and bisques. The price is of course least expensive than backfin crab canned meat or other canned crab which we already mentioned above.
5. Claw crab canned meat
This is the cheapest canned crab meat since it consist claw meat of crab with pinkish brown meat rather than white meat. It has flavorful taste which not going to lose even when you mixed it with other seasonings. This is good choice for dish like tacos, soups, crab meat stuffing, and stir fries.
The advantages of buying canned crab meat is that you do not need wasting your time to go visiting fresh market since they are available even in supermarket. This is good thing where you live far away from coastal area or fresh seafood market. To buy canned crab meat, here are certain guides you can follow to be able to get the desired product:
1. Check the cans to make sure that there is no leak. You also need to ensure that the cans are not crushed and the lids are not opened or damaged in any ways. If you spot such things then they are mostly already spoilage and contaminated by bacteria, you should move to the next product.
2. Check for the expiratory dates to make sure that they are still edible and not old stocks. This is important although you may think that the life shelf of canned crab is longer than fresh or frozen crab meat.
4. Check for the ingredients label to make sure there is no additional salt or sodium or any other unnecessary additives. Some companies like to added extra additives just to give more flavors or to make the flavors go stronger.
5. Check whether the canned crab meat inside is really ‘true’ meat crab and not fake fish meat mixed with seasonings to add crab flavors. You need to search the company’s track record and testimonies from other customers for such thing.
Those are few guides buying canned crab meat in supermarket or grocery stores. Hope this information help you find high quality of crab meat in cans.
