How To Tell if Your Stone Crabs Are Fresh or Frozen

Most people would agree that the best time to eat food is when it’s fresh. It isn’t any different for stone crab, as the meat is best when it comes right out of the water. Freezing food is necessary to its preservation, but it does damage the food’s quality the longer it’s frozen. Unfortunately, some people try to take advantage of the fact that most people can’t tell if a crab is fresh until they eat the meat. This is why you’ll want to know how to tell if your stone crabs are fresh or frozen.

Sheen

The first way you can tell if the crab is fresh or frozen is by the sheen on the crab’s shell. A fresh crab that hasn’t gone through freezing will have a glistening shell, while a frozen crab’s shell loses that glow. That’s the best way to visually tell whether the crab is fresh or not.

Meat Texture

The texture of the meat changes depending on whether the crab meat was fresh or not. Good, unfrozen crab meat will peel away from the shell easily. So, if you ever have a stone crab and you struggle to peel it from the shell, the crab might not be fresh.

Juiciness

The last big way to tell if the crab meat is fresh is through the juiciness of the crab. The freezing process of any food tends to leave it a lot drier than a fresh meal; this is also true for stone crab meat. Dry crab meat indicates frozen crab, as fresh stone crab is juicy and wet when you eat it.

Reputable Source

Now, this is only a guide on how to tell if your stone crabs are fresh or frozen. The only true way to guarantee that you’re getting fresh meat is to buy it from a reputable source. PATAS sells jumbo stone crab claws for sale, and we have a proven reputation for good, fresh claws.

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