Crab, snow

Scientific name:  Chionoecetes spp.
Market name:  Snow crab
Common names:  Snow crab, Alaska snow crab, spider crab, tanner crab, queen crab (Canada)

The Snow Crab Story

The North American snow crab fishery targets three species: Chionoecetes opilio, C. bairdi and C. tanneri. Technically, opilios are snow crabs, and bairdis are tanners. Alaska’s opilio fishery occurs in the Bering Sea and is much larger than its bairdi fishery. Bairdi are taken in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. The most important commercially is opilio, which is also the only species caught in both the Atlantic and Pacific. It has supported major fisheries in both Alaska and the Canadian Maritimes (where it’s sometimes called queen crab). Snow crabs are taken in traps, from sandy bottoms in depths of 30 to 1,500 feet. They are smaller and less red than king crabs and, instead of the king’s three sets of walking legs, these crabs have four sets, plus a pair of claws. Bairdi are the largest snow crab, averaging 5 pounds and measuring 3 feet from tip to tip. Opilio average just over 1 pound; tanners are slightly larger, with longer, skinnier legs.

Product Profile

Snow crab meat is sweet and delicate, with a more fibrous texture than king crab. Texture ranges from the tender, longitudinal fibers of shoulder meat to firmer fibers of claw meat. Cooked shell is red, though not as red as king crab, running to brownish at the shoulder. The meat ranges from snow white to reddish.

Like king crab, snow crab is marketed already cooked.

You Should Know...

As snow crab ages, it can become “dirty,” with black patches, barnacles and mottling on its shell. This doesn’t affect the quality, but “dirty-shell” crabs can be cheaper and meatier, since they haven’t molted.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 100g/3.5 oz. (raw)
Amount per serving
Calories 90
Fat Calories 11.7
Total Fat 1.3 g
Saturated Fat 0.2 g
Cholesterol N/A
Sodium N/A
Protein 18.4 g
Omega-3 0.4 g

Cooking Tips

Because the snow crab sold in the U.S. market is cooked before processing, all you need to do is thaw (slowly — one to two days in the fridge) and reheat. Do more than warm it up, and you run the risk of making it dry and tough. Snow crab meat can be used in chowders, omelets, crepes, casseroles and quiches. Split legs are often served cold as appetizers or are broiled and served warm with drawn butter. Whole legs and clusters can be steamed.

Substitutions: Other crab species, Lobster meat

Cooking Methods

Bake, Broil, Grill, Steam

Primary Product Forms

Live (limited)

Fresh

• Picked meat

Frozen (most common)

• Cooked sections
• Cooked legs
• Cooked legs and claws
• Cooked meat
• Blocks (meat)
• Cooked claws

Value-added

• Canned meat
• Snap-’n-eats
• Splits
• Cakes

---

Put this information and more at your fingertips with the Seafood Handbook

If you buy, source, process, study, sell, prepare, handle or work with seafood, you need the Seafood Handbook. The only professional seafood reference book available anywhere.

Visit Wiley.com to save 15% on The Seafood Handbook and more! Your discount will be applied automatically upon checkout. If you do you not see the discount being applied, please enter code aff15 in the Promotion Code field and click the Apply Discount button.

Order the Seafood Handbook Today!