Blue Crabs - peel and eat - Help
 

I need help! My wife loves to eat blue crabs, the kind you get a dozen of or more and break them apart and eat to your heart's content. But, where around here can we get such a delight? Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I think the season is over, but you can call Magnolia's in Leesburg, I had my fill there a few months ago. If you want to clean and cook them yourself, try Bubba's Crab House also in Leesburg.......they run ads in the Daily Sun!

High Tide Harrys Orlando
 

If you are traveling to Orlando, go to High Tide Harrys on Semoran Blvd close to the Airport. They have blue crabs (call ahead to ensure they have them when you plan on being there) as well as peel and eat shrimp and best of all they have all you can eat specials on both as well.

Check out their link: High Tide Harrys

The season closes for just a short time according to this link:

Recreational Blue Crabbing

We make a trip to Bubba's every 7-10 days for his fresh, great eating extra large blue claw crabs. We steam them with a mixture of 2 quarts water, two cups of white vinegar, and a can of beer. Each layer in the steamer gets a good dose of Old Bay. Florida crabs don't dig themselves into the mud for the winter like they do in the northeast, but I wonder if their growth slows down as the waters cool. The last batch we got seemed a little lighter in weight.

Last month the XL's were measuring 6 1/2" to 7 1/2", but were getting scarce. The large ones run 5 1/2" to 6 1/4" and are around $24/doz.
Some people don't like to bother eating them beacause of the cracking and picking, but to us it's a labor of love for the best and sweetest of all crab meat. IMHO.

Also his little neck clams are farm raised in the Crystal River area and are just great. 120 count bag for $20 with the $5 off newspaper coupon. They're sweet as can be and nothing like the awful Maine mahogany farm raised clams you see cheap at the stores in the north eat. Yum Yum

My personal favorite:
Peck's Old Port Cove
139 North Ozello Trail Crystal River, FL 34429
Sit down restaurant right on the Gulf, live crab pens in back, all you can eat available, newspaper and mallets on the table, need I say more?

Bubba's near intersection of 441 and 44a in Leesburg. Take money, lol!

Walker,

You didn't mention the lions, tigers and bears you face while traveling there. Just a warning. :a040:

Thanks this thread on blue crabs to date has been my favorite on TOTV. I only wished Bubba would steam them there to take out. But cleaning and picking out the meat along with the little cuts on your fingers when you are all done are worth it. The lingering old bay on your lips is a slice of heaven.

It is my understanding that they can get them mostly year round but that the boat that rounds them up doesn't go out when it is terribly cold or raining.

Dang!!! When I saw the title "Blue Crabs - peel and eat - Help," I thought you were looking for Help in eating them. Now I'm feeling blue and craby! :sigh:

went to Pecks today on the motorcycle, excellent ride excellent crabs. blue crabs were fantastic.

We're thinking of making the trip out to Peck's in Crystal River too. How big were the crabs, and how much are they?

Just finushed the last 18 we got from Bubba's yesterday. Larry at the shop said the XL Jimmies are really scarce now and until late spring. His large ones are around 6" ers. Still great eating. Only takes cash. Get a bag of clams. They're super, and there's usually a $5.00 off coupon in the paper.

Try Magnolia's in Leesburg, the blues are in they serve them boiled, seasoned with a hammer lol $2.00 ea............nice treat!:pepper2:

Good One!

Old Bay
 

Sounds like most of the posters are from the Eastern Shore of MD.:mmmm::wave:

I understand that the Hacienda CC has the recipe for crab cakes that came from Ocean City, MD. The cook or somebody there used to own a restaurant there, that was known for their crab cakes. Very little filler, lots of meat.

Personally, I don't eat them. My wife's happy about that. More for her, she says.:rolleyes:

Yep, she's from Maryland.

I'm not sure they have Blue Crabs, but if you want to travel a little way, Joe's Crab Shack on Daytona Beach is great.