Cracking Crab Legs At The Seafood Buffet..

Getting More Meat Out Of Each Crab Leg At The Seafood Buffet

I was always a little envious when someone has that perfect crab shelling. You know that snow crab leg that cracks right in the middle perfectly and slides off. This of course is followed with the other end of the crab leg shell coming right off revealing that perfect piece of crab meat. And then the dunk into the warm butter. Possibly one of butter’s greatest moments is the mix of a perfectly shelled crab leg covered in it’s buttery goodness.

But what about the ones that don’t come out perfectly. You know, that shredded crab meat that you have to grind and pick at to enjoy. For many of us, it is tempting to just get more crab legs but some people just do not give up that easy. In fact, this made me think about my family cracking crab claws around the seafood buffet table. Based on humorous recollection I broke down the different crab cracking  styles into these personas.

The Basic Crab Cracker

I think a lot of people who enjoy shellfish fall into this category. The basics of crab cracking is to apply stiff pressure and break the crab legs in half. Usually this is not enough to get every piece of crab meat. But it is effective enough and you get enough lobster or crab meat to dip in the butter and enjoy without too much work. Usually the basic crab crusher just won’t ask for a crab cracking tool. I don’t know if this is laziness or they just don’t care.

By The Book: Textbook Crab Cracker

I envy this type of crab cracker. They are one of the pros of the Outer Banks All You Can Seafood Buffets. They have the technique and experience to do it right. They begin with the all the bravado and energy of the basic crab cracker but they are more prepared than that.

Well Trained And Equipped Seafood Buffet Techniques

They have already asked for the necessary tools you need to do this task right. They have a cracking tool to avoid crab wrist strain. They have the picking tool to get any rogue pieces out of the legs and claws. But most important they have the melted butter ready to go. In many cases a second melted butter is in reserve as well.

Seafood Buffet Crab Plate

And then they carefully discard the shelled legs and parts onto a separate plate, not risking valuable energy by sorting through discarded shells to get to more meat.

The Determined Crab Cracker

This person could easily become the experienced cracker but they just don’t. They seem to have no ambition to ask the waitstaff if there is a tool to help them with the crabs. They just pull and poke away until they have managed to salvage enough meat. Hey, whatever floats your (crab)boat.

The Seafood Buffet Table Scavenger

The scavenger wastes nothing. They pick and claw and crunch their way through the preset stack of crab legs fighting for every morsel of meat. If they get lucky enough to get a solid piece of crab leg…great. But if they don’t they are going to scrap through the shreds of the snow crab legs. In fact I think part of the experience is this battle to get every piece of crabmeat. Hey waste not..want not.

The Paleo Crab Leg Consumer

This person is usually a basic or determined crab cracker but does not use sauce. No cocktail sauce, no tartar and no butter. I respect this persons love of the true crab taste. A traditionalist in every way. I couldn’t live that way, but I suspect this is a true blue OBX seafood lover.

The Lobster or Crab Claw Giver

This persona has a special place in my heart. They are the person who after getting that perfect crab meat crack, they offer it to someone else at the table. Wow.

And There Are So Many More..

There are more personas than this at the seafood buffet. These are just a sampling of the more obvious ones you might see. I just pulled these obvious categories. For those who would like more training on how to crack those crabs, the resources are there. From a general web search to the miracle of modern technology known as Youtube, your future as pro seafood buffet crab cracker is within reach.

Now It is time to apply that knowledge at Jimmy’s Buffet.

All this talk of crab legs, crabs, crab meat dipped in butter and the perfect piece of crabmeat have made me hungry. The solution…Jimmy’s Seafood Buffet in the Outer Banks with plenty of crab claws for you to perfect your own persona as a crab cracking machine.