Shell-free crab meat

Scrape out as much white meat as you can from the claws

For many people, the best part of a crab is the white meat found in the claws. There’s a knack to getting that delicious white flesh out from the crab claws without ending up with bits of shell in it. First, using the slender handle of a spoon, scrape out as much white meat as you can from one of the two large claws. You want big flakes of flesh, so get inside the shell.

Now, how do you get to the rest of the meat inside the claw? A lot of people smash the claw. If you smash the claw, you tend to get lots of little bits of shell in the meat. This means, that when you’re eating a crab salad or a crab sandwich, you almost become scared of eating it because of these bits of shell. The secret is to crack the claw, rather than smash it.

Place a cloth around the claw and hit the claw with a meat hammer or a rolling pin firmly, so as to crack the shell, but not so heavily that you smash it. Pick off the cracked shell. You’ll see the blade in the middle. Pick the white meat off the blade.
This is the prime flesh here, so make sure you get every little bit. Repeat the process with the other crab claw. For a nice little touch, break off the little pincer tips of the claws and reserve them for garnish. There’s our crab meat. I can guarantee you there’s no shell in it.