Smoked Blue Crab Recipe

I had some blue crab shipped all the way to Memphis – because they make an excellent side for any BBQ. Eating crabs is a social thing, so there is no better time to get some than when you are having a backyard BBQ – these Smoked Blue Crab give a whole, new meaning to surf and turf! There are actually several companies out there shipping crab all across the world. They catch these blue crabs, boil them – and ship them overnight in a cooler. I used Boilerplate Crab & Co. out of Virginia and I couldn’t be more impressed with the blue crabs they sent my way. When these blue crab showed up, they were fully cooked but ice cold. Of course there were directions on how to bring them back in a large steam pot – but I threw those away because I wanted to steam these blue crabs on the smoker.

By using my smoker I was able to warm the blue crabs fully, get some extra seasonings and butter on them – and even add an extra layer of smoke flavor. Smoked Blue Crab Recipe: First I started with about 2 dozen seasoned and steamed Blue Crabs from Boilerplate Crab & Co. There is not much prep you need to do, just get your grill setup for indirect smoking – and get a little wood rolling. For this cook I used pecan, but you can use any wood you like. I also placed a food service pan (I used a full size pan but you could easily use a half size as well depending on smoker size) filled ½ full with water in the smoker. I let it warm up while the smoker came up to temp. The goal here is to let the water pan add moisture to the smoker and work to steam these blue crabs. Once the smoker was up to temp at around 250 – 275, I put the smoked blue crabs directly on the grate, closed the lid and let the smoker do it’s job.

I mixed up a “mopping butter” for these smoked blue crabs that consisted of 1 stick of melted butter and 2 tablespoons of Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub. At the 15 minute mark, I opened the smoker and basted the top of each crab. I let the crabs continue to smoke for another 10 – 15 minutes – and then I took them off. No need to rest these smoked blue crabs – as soon as they come off the pit they are ready to eat. Just dive right on it!

I like to have a few accompaniments for these smoked blue crab… drawn butter of course… but I also like to have my version of a seafood vinegar sauce (recipe below) and BBQ Rub for dipping. A cold drink and a couple friends to help you eat and you are in business! You can see these smoked blue crabs didn’t stand a chance around my house…