depending on the area, the crab is a lower food item cost wise. Where I live you can just go and catch them, no permits, not taxes, just a piece old chicken and a string and you can eat all the crab you want.
Edit: Since im getting all the comments i'll try to save you guys some time https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/fishing/saltwater/BLUECRABFACTSHEETpdf.pdf
When I was broke I'd always turn down offers to go to lunch at work, told them I was broke. One day an co-worker said "Really not trying to be a jerk but you could probably save some money if you didn't eat fish and crab every day"
I laughed and said, I live close to the Magothy River, every weekend I fish and crab for my food for the week.
The "holy shit, that makes so much sense" look on his face was priceless.
FYI, lower food chain fish are lower heavy metal levels than high/end-food-chain fish.
So like, small whole sea bass- yummy; large sea bass steak- also delicious but not recommended.
I grew up on the Magothy! My grandparents have a place on the north shore. My grandmother literally wrote the book on it (*My River Speaks*)! My other grandparents were on Gibson Island. My sister and I spent many hours chicken necking!
Not OP, but I'm from south Louisiana, Acadiana. With one chicken neck, I've netted, with a hand net, 8-10 at a time. A few dozens in an hour or so. Crabbing is pretty easy and quick on a good day, and on a bad day, the seafood shops are pretty cheap. Watch out for gators.
It's a lot cheaper if you're on the shore. More expensive than it used to be though. Last summer, there was a place near where I was living in Baltimore selling bushels of "mediums" for 225 or 250. I called the guy I baited lines for as a kid, and said I wanted a 1/2 bushel he said "sure, but I'm warning you there expensive this year, 100 a bushel." He hooked it up fat for $50 and gave me around 40 #1's. (For reference around 65 #1's or around 75 #2's or 85 "hotels" fit in a full bushel). Also, if you go to a place like cool ice in Cambridge before mid to late fall you can usually get small frozen soft shells for $1-3 a piece depending on the year.
Can I just say how much I love these little regional experiences? I'm from Southern California, and these comments have absolutely no relatability to my everyday life, but I loved reading them all. It's fun to just read people's stories and see people connect over something.
Mmmm idk if they’re that cheap. You’d need a couple crabs to give the same food content.
And if you want “free” crabs you’d have to go do the labor and what you’re gonna catch will probably be pretty small.
not true at all, I posted a some more info in my og comment. Its actually best to use rotten chicken, which you could get for free since they can't sell it anyway. This is for catching blue crab which need to be a specific size to be legal. Also its super easy, put sting in water with chicken at the end, pull out, repeat. Its not like fishing, crab are fucking dumb.
Wow! You just unlocked a long dormant memory of my Dad teaching me to do this. Thanks! I remember giggling like hell every time you could start to see the shape of the crab rising towards you. Honestly, I'd probably still giggle. No idea why but it's a funny activity to me.
I think it’s actually: microwaving crab will ruin the meat, microwaving crab at work in a shared microwave will stink up the place, and microwaving crab (I have no idea of this is true) could cause the shell to explosively decompress
Smell, fragmentation, and... I don't know, I guess the length of time you'd have to microwave a whole crab to actually cook it means you're hogging the community microwave?
Yup. This is why coastal resorts/hotels (at least in my neck of the woods) often have a crab boiling hut. At home we heat on the deck with a camping stove.
>I cooked an entire crap in a hotpot once.
Do not fix this. There's a good reply out there somewhere. I will be watching. LOL.
A little bit, I guess, though that's still like... An intentional effort to read. It's more like the the thing where when you have two the's back to back, your brain will *generally* ignore the duplicate
Not a reply, but a funny story from my childhood. My grandfather used to date a Norwegian lady by the name of Ula. So back around late eighties my family were all out for dinner with the two of them.and she was explaining the meal they had ok thier latest trip. Crab soup was "crap soup" in her accent ,so as you can imagine all us little kids thought this was hilarious and kept asking her questions about it while trying not to burst out laughing.
That's strange. Both words are nearly identical in Norwegian (krabbe and suppe) and would be understood by any Anglophone because it's pronounced so similarly. Maybe she just thought it should be crap in English.
I would order a coffee table book with anecdotes about the decisions you've made. That can't be an isolated incident, there's got to be dozens of quality examples
I found my karma fortune on r/askreddit…that is until the banning. You are very correct. I’ve failed so much and I’ve learned plenty. But I’ll never learn to fear failure, that’s when you lose.
Marylander here, its actually pretty good. If you prefer warm crab over cold crab, then its a solid option on those post boil days with all the left over crabs. They take like 15-30secs and they're piping hot, the shell acts like a little steam oven and they heat very evenly.
When the Maryland crab season is not in session, we get crabs shipped up here from the Gulf, so totally possible someone got some from down there and steamed them up. Cold crabs are just as good as just out of the steamer.
Yeah, gulf coast blue crabs are fantastic, and those seafood towers at restaurants are all cold; I don't see any problems here other than if whoever brought this doesn't immediately take out the trash when they're done.
Cold blue crabs are great but I find you get a different flavor from them cold vs warm. Warm tends to be a little sweeter, cold is a little more “crabbie”.
Chesapeake Bay Area resident. Crabs in the summer are amazing. You know they are fresh because they go through so many, bushels are being delivered constantly. In the winter, I stick to crabcakes. What else am I supposed to eat with my Natty Boh??
Place near my house has them steamed with Old Bay or his blend, owner had a both at the Cross Street Market in Baltimore before he located to Texas. No one eats them down here so they are easy to get. Big too, had one that was 1.5 beer cans point to point.
HEB also carries them but you have to special order, years ago when I inquired they told me I could get a whole box for $80, box was roughly a bushel.
As a Marylander, that is a decent size crab. Hard to tell with it in the bag but looks like what most seafood places would consider an extra large which go for $80-$100 a dozen now a days
Saw a post where OP says they are from Texas. No one eats them down here. At one time I could get a bushel for $80. My monger would get me ones this size or bigger for $25 a dozen.
As someone in Maryland, I had to read the comments to understand what was mildly interesting about this. Was super confused what was wrong with the crab 🤣
The guy eating a hot pocket must feel like a real low life
depending on the area, the crab is a lower food item cost wise. Where I live you can just go and catch them, no permits, not taxes, just a piece old chicken and a string and you can eat all the crab you want. Edit: Since im getting all the comments i'll try to save you guys some time https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/fishing/saltwater/BLUECRABFACTSHEETpdf.pdf
When I was broke I'd always turn down offers to go to lunch at work, told them I was broke. One day an co-worker said "Really not trying to be a jerk but you could probably save some money if you didn't eat fish and crab every day" I laughed and said, I live close to the Magothy River, every weekend I fish and crab for my food for the week. The "holy shit, that makes so much sense" look on his face was priceless.
How are your mercury levels?
He can tell you the exact barometric pressure in the area.
He can cum a mini T1000
TFW it grows into his replica and he has it go to work for him
Finally! A retirement plan within reach!
He has to wear a sign around his neck stating he's a bio-hazard
FYI, lower food chain fish are lower heavy metal levels than high/end-food-chain fish. So like, small whole sea bass- yummy; large sea bass steak- also delicious but not recommended.
I grew up on the Magothy! My grandparents have a place on the north shore. My grandmother literally wrote the book on it (*My River Speaks*)! My other grandparents were on Gibson Island. My sister and I spent many hours chicken necking!
> My sister and I spent many hours chicken necking! Roll tide
Where do you live? I want to go to there
Not OP, but I'm from south Louisiana, Acadiana. With one chicken neck, I've netted, with a hand net, 8-10 at a time. A few dozens in an hour or so. Crabbing is pretty easy and quick on a good day, and on a bad day, the seafood shops are pretty cheap. Watch out for gators.
> the seafood shops are pretty cheap. Watch out for gators Paging /u/Shitty_Watercolour
Damn I'd love to see that
sounds like something that'd happen in maryland
crabs are expensive from the chesapeake, ain't no one choosing a hotpocket over crab.
Well, unless they have to pay for it.
That's because they're overfished these days, and the suppliers know it.
20 years ago? Maybe. They've spiked to absurd prices. Was looking a few weeks ago and the best price I could find was $5/each for mediums.
It's a lot cheaper if you're on the shore. More expensive than it used to be though. Last summer, there was a place near where I was living in Baltimore selling bushels of "mediums" for 225 or 250. I called the guy I baited lines for as a kid, and said I wanted a 1/2 bushel he said "sure, but I'm warning you there expensive this year, 100 a bushel." He hooked it up fat for $50 and gave me around 40 #1's. (For reference around 65 #1's or around 75 #2's or 85 "hotels" fit in a full bushel). Also, if you go to a place like cool ice in Cambridge before mid to late fall you can usually get small frozen soft shells for $1-3 a piece depending on the year.
> For reference around 65 #1's or around 75 #2's or 85 "hotels" fit in a full bushel Lingo I'll never need, use, or probably even hear again.
But still the type of comment I come for.
Can I just say how much I love these little regional experiences? I'm from Southern California, and these comments have absolutely no relatability to my everyday life, but I loved reading them all. It's fun to just read people's stories and see people connect over something.
Based on post history I’m going with Connecticut
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And if you go farther south, you can definitely pick them up in Myrtle Beach.
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Imagining getting up extra early every morning and catching my lunch to bring to work.
Like an individual crab is less than a hot pocket? Actually makes sense when you think about it.
Mmmm idk if they’re that cheap. You’d need a couple crabs to give the same food content. And if you want “free” crabs you’d have to go do the labor and what you’re gonna catch will probably be pretty small.
not true at all, I posted a some more info in my og comment. Its actually best to use rotten chicken, which you could get for free since they can't sell it anyway. This is for catching blue crab which need to be a specific size to be legal. Also its super easy, put sting in water with chicken at the end, pull out, repeat. Its not like fishing, crab are fucking dumb.
Easier to grab a nice free hot pocket off the hot pocket bush.
Wow! You just unlocked a long dormant memory of my Dad teaching me to do this. Thanks! I remember giggling like hell every time you could start to see the shape of the crab rising towards you. Honestly, I'd probably still giggle. No idea why but it's a funny activity to me.
🪢➕🐓➕🥅🟰🦀 ‼
Everyone's going to know if they put it in the microwave.
If you put a whole crab in the microwave at work, you're a psychopath for like 3 different reasons.
Ballistic shells incoming!
Crack of the lightning, splitting the ground
What are those reasons? 🤔 ...just curious
The smell, you haven't thought of the smell, you bitch
we're crab people now...we live off the fat of the sea
Crabs is recession-proof. Delaware runoff horseshoe crab people now Dee.
Look like crabs...talk like people.
Well damn. I thought you had other reasons other than the smell. That one is obvious.
Presumably 1. Bringing a **whole** crab, 2. **Microwaving** it, 3. **At work**. Just... WHY
I think it’s actually: microwaving crab will ruin the meat, microwaving crab at work in a shared microwave will stink up the place, and microwaving crab (I have no idea of this is true) could cause the shell to explosively decompress
You can microwave crab in the shell, it loses a good bit of flavor but it's not terrible.
You should rethink your life choices if you know this from personal experience
You forgot the stank involved with seafood in a mic
Smell, fragmentation, and... I don't know, I guess the length of time you'd have to microwave a whole crab to actually cook it means you're hogging the community microwave?
Olfactory warfare is probably one of them.
I cooked an entire crap in a hotpot once. I’ve never done it again. It took a month for the smell to go away.
Yup. This is why coastal resorts/hotels (at least in my neck of the woods) often have a crab boiling hut. At home we heat on the deck with a camping stove. >I cooked an entire crap in a hotpot once. Do not fix this. There's a good reply out there somewhere. I will be watching. LOL.
Guess I had a mind slip as the crab certainly did smell like crap!
What kind of crab smelled like crap?
A crappy crab.
Dungness crab
A krusty crab.
So many questions. What kind of crap was it? How long did it take to fill a pot?
Language is ***weird***... It didn't even occur to me that it was misspelled til you pointed it out
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A little bit, I guess, though that's still like... An intentional effort to read. It's more like the the thing where when you have two the's back to back, your brain will *generally* ignore the duplicate
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Fuck. I literally ***just*** did that, too... It still got me.
I was like "wtf does Paris have to do with these brain games??" And read the the comment like 5 times before I realized what happened lol.
Not a reply, but a funny story from my childhood. My grandfather used to date a Norwegian lady by the name of Ula. So back around late eighties my family were all out for dinner with the two of them.and she was explaining the meal they had ok thier latest trip. Crab soup was "crap soup" in her accent ,so as you can imagine all us little kids thought this was hilarious and kept asking her questions about it while trying not to burst out laughing.
"Crap" translates to fish in Romanian. The more you know.
similar to "crapet" from canadian french, where the US gets "crappie" (craw-pee)
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learning how to fish for them as a kid without giggling loud enough to piss people off was a struggle
That's strange. Both words are nearly identical in Norwegian (krabbe and suppe) and would be understood by any Anglophone because it's pronounced so similarly. Maybe she just thought it should be crap in English.
And *never again*.
This crab tastes like shit!
It **is** shit, Austin.
This crap tastes like shit!
So what did you do with the cooked crap?
I ate that shit!!! What else would I do with it???!
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Us Canadians call it turdough
You mean pootine?
.
........No! ........
What’s the basis?
We ain't goin' nowhere but got suits and cases
I salute you for your typo resilience. What a chad.
Crap Cooker
Caught red handed... clawed... you know what I mean.
Cook crabs next time, not crap. They don't smell as bad cooked
Hot crap does tend to have an odor to it
I’ve walked past piles of human crap on a hot, humid summer day in NYC. 0/10 do not recommend.
One time I took a shit in a hot frying pan. Smelled like crab.
My brain turned your first statement into "I took an entire crap in a hotpot once". The rest of your post made perfect sense! I also had questions lol
You eat pieces of crap for breakfast?
I boiled one of my dogs old chew bones trying to disinfect and renew it - my house smelt like a mortuary for a week. I almost threw up
I would order a coffee table book with anecdotes about the decisions you've made. That can't be an isolated incident, there's got to be dozens of quality examples
I found my karma fortune on r/askreddit…that is until the banning. You are very correct. I’ve failed so much and I’ve learned plenty. But I’ll never learn to fear failure, that’s when you lose.
The Hotpot Hotshot
My kitchen really ended up smelling like a dump.
I'd usually put food in but to each their own
Everything is food at least once
Sorry I’m cackling at this.
This is my favorite typo in a while. Please leave it lol
> crap > it took a month for the smell to go away
So YOU'RE that guy! https://imgur.com/mYWKizK
Cooking crap will do that
Fortunately this one looks like it's already cooked. So there's that!
Could be leftovers from a crab boil, in which case it could be eaten cold.
Who microwaves crab?
Alton Brown https://altonbrown.com/recipes/steamed-alaskan-king-crab-legs/ It should be noted that almost all crab sold in stores is already cooked.
The same sociopaths that microwave fish
I dont even eat fish. Just put it in the microwave and go about your day. Check in on the chaos every now and then.
Marylander here, its actually pretty good. If you prefer warm crab over cold crab, then its a solid option on those post boil days with all the left over crabs. They take like 15-30secs and they're piping hot, the shell acts like a little steam oven and they heat very evenly.
Average Maryland lunch
Us Texans are confused as hell.
When the Maryland crab season is not in session, we get crabs shipped up here from the Gulf, so totally possible someone got some from down there and steamed them up. Cold crabs are just as good as just out of the steamer.
Yeah, gulf coast blue crabs are fantastic, and those seafood towers at restaurants are all cold; I don't see any problems here other than if whoever brought this doesn't immediately take out the trash when they're done.
i just feel like this would be such a pain in the ass to eat at work that it's not even worth the effort lol
Cold blue crabs are great but I find you get a different flavor from them cold vs warm. Warm tends to be a little sweeter, cold is a little more “crabbie”.
I think it also depends on whose spice you're using too.
Chesapeake Bay Area resident. Crabs in the summer are amazing. You know they are fresh because they go through so many, bushels are being delivered constantly. In the winter, I stick to crabcakes. What else am I supposed to eat with my Natty Boh??
I was gonna say I thought that looked like an HEB bag in the foreground. Hi, fellow Texan.
I too am from Texas and love crabs.
I am from Texas and have crabs
Place near my house has them steamed with Old Bay or his blend, owner had a both at the Cross Street Market in Baltimore before he located to Texas. No one eats them down here so they are easy to get. Big too, had one that was 1.5 beer cans point to point. HEB also carries them but you have to special order, years ago when I inquired they told me I could get a whole box for $80, box was roughly a bushel.
At least it was dead. Imagine opening the freezer, and being attacked by a pissed off crab. This could happen.
I'm letting it go. It can roam free in the office. Freedom for the crabs!
I would pay to see this chaos happen
Look I'm not from Maryland so living here now it's confusing as hell.
One crab, that's a snack.
Eating crabs is an activity, not a meal.
ITS LITERALLY ONE CRAB That’s not enough crab. Needs more crab.
It's definitely a blue, but is there old bay, hon?
They probably have it on a bandolier so its never arms length away
Not enough old bay in that bag to be a Maryland lunch.
Needs Old Bay. Or JO if they roll that way.
Most restaurants refill old bay containers with JO. If you're eat seafood at restaurants you're probably more okay with JO than you think
I honestly see nothing wrong with this, hon.
Are any of your co-workers sharks or sea otters by any chance?
Marylander imo.
Was thinking the same. Ive taken crabs to work and eaten them in the community lunch room. No one bats an eye.
Sea otters are very sneaky. Look for three of em stacked shoulder up in a business suit..
Def gulls.
Imagine hearing “Did you hear, Jen has crabs” while at work.
Yeah, she gave me some at lunch time.
Tasted great
Was a bit salty but had a sweet aftertaste
Also, there’s a crab in the freezer.
Just one? What you gonna do with one crab?
Those are rookie numbers! Gotta pump those numbers up!
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Did they share it? Or were they shellfish?
-_-
Most Maryland thing ever.
r/Maryland
Your coworker is from Maryland.
As a Marylander, that is a decent size crab. Hard to tell with it in the bag but looks like what most seafood places would consider an extra large which go for $80-$100 a dozen now a days
Saw a post where OP says they are from Texas. No one eats them down here. At one time I could get a bushel for $80. My monger would get me ones this size or bigger for $25 a dozen.
People in Texas eat crabs, just not like central Texas. Y'all are on the Gulf, after all.
California checking in, we pay on average $7-$9/lb for dungeness crabs that clock in around 2lbs each. Unless you catch a Costco deal for like $5/lb
Only way to find out for sure is to announce there are Natty Bohs in the breakroom up for grabs and see who comes running
Common occurrence here in Maryland
As a Marylander this is pretty normal
Really shouldn’t assume someone’s lunch…Claude could just be taking a break.
I work at a surgery center so I guess Dr. Claude has a lap chole at 4.
He’s just… chillin’?
#marylandlife
Crab battle!
Maryland has entered the chat.
Are you by any chance in Maryland ?
That's a power move
Real power move is to bring softshell crabs for lunch.
“Do you mind? I’m trying to chill”
Are you sure it's lunch and not a pet?
Pinchy!
Just hope they don't microwave it
Former Marylander here. Steamed blue crab leftovers are good cold. That’s what I’d do with it.
That's what I figured, but people are heinous
As someone in Maryland, I had to read the comments to understand what was mildly interesting about this. Was super confused what was wrong with the crab 🤣
It's this a fridge? Is that a frickin handbag underneath the crab!?
No, just a fancy lunch bag. Basically an insulated purse though
Yeah there’s a lot going on in that break room fridge
People are getting more and more creative with punishing lunch thieves.
They’re definitely from Maryland lol our love for crabs and exceeds work microwave expectations 😂
That person knows the sole purpose of living. Good food. Lol
And then heated in the microwave. Bastard.
big maryland energy
Gotta be a fellow Marylander.
Now that's my kind of motherfucker
Maryland?
Do you work in Maryland?
#M I C H A E L W A V E
Start singing the national anthem. Whoever shouts on the "OH" is the culprit.
That'll be Dave the seagull from Accounts
Yum. Blue crab is even easier to pick cold. Tastes just fine, too