Stone Crab claws: way overrated

Fish place in Grand Central had some flown in. I have always wanted to try them, so ordered a couple of pounds. Incredibly fresh, and cracked, so getting at the meat was a breeze. But it was disappointing, not much flavor, and frankly but for the magnificent mustard sauce they provide, we would have struggled to finish them. Glad I tried them, won’t bother again. Will find other ways to enjoy the mustard sauce, figure it will be great with Gravlax.

+1 I have to agree - not a big fan of Stone crab claws.

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disagree on the claws but agree on how great the mustard sauce is.
claws are sometimes watery and therefore seemingly diluted and almost mushy
the watery, lackluster claws at monty’s for example barely resemble the plump tasty ones found at joe’s down the block

obviously ymmv

Stone crab is better the closer you are to the boat it came off of, imo.

I love them but they need to be super fresh for me. I would never think of having them here. Also this year was the worst year ever for them because of the red tide. It definitely affected the quantity and pricing. I don’t know if it affected the quality. The ones I had last month in Bonita Springs were delicious.

agree Paul. Eat them local and this past season was terrible.

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I am a big fan of Stone Crabs.
Lots of places here to get them super fresh. I do agree that the mustard sauce helps make them so special.
At $55 a lb. for the colossal crabs you got to love them. Basically 2 crabs to a lb.

Never been impressed and the work:enjoyment ratio is high.

You find it hard to work stone crabs? Way less than blues or Dungeness in my experience (both of which are worth the effort)

Yeah, maybe lack of skillz, but I get crab mulch or wasted meat.

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Overrated? Yes, IMO.

Good? Yes.

I feel the same about lobster.

Give me blue, Dungeness, king, or even high quality shrimp over stone claws.

I am not a huge fan but my wife loves them. So, we’ll get some if they are fresh.

Love me some stone crab. I get’em off the boat so to speak in South Carolina (where there is no closed season) for the outrageous price of $12/lb

The larger the stone crab the less the work and the higher the price.
I buy the colossal so I don’t have to work that hard.
As I stated before 2 colossal is a lb.
They rarely have them at Joes. Jumbos are usually the largest Joes sells.
Joe’s prices
Medium (7) 44.95
Select (6) 54.95
Large (5) 69.95
Jumbo 99.95

My favorite fish market gets the colossal.

so is it true that all stone crab is frozen immediately on the boat?
i’ve heard this many times over the years

A typical he-man problem.

Try this:

https://standardmarket.com/howto/crack-stone-crab-claws/

Or this

No
Not true

maybe boiled immediately?

The ones I get are iced immediatedly then steamed

Yes
They are boiled immediately for about 8 minutes once they are brought to shore and then dipped in cold water to stop the cooking process.
I decided to look it up.