Sought for its sweet, tender flavor, crab meat in a can mainly offers convenience and some degree of preservation. Basically there are two different kinds of canned crab; the ordinary shelf cans and refrigerated cans.
Canned Options
For non-refrigerated, shelf-stable cans:
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- Quality natural bright white Jumbo Lump crab goes from $9 to $14 in the 6.5 oz can sizes. Some of the cans may declare unbleached contents.
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- Lump white canned crab will cost $6 to $10 for a 6 oz size. Also available in 13 ounce cans. Certain ‘Fancy Lump’ brands may go above $13 each.
- Common 6 ounce cans of white crabmeat are between $3 and $4.50 depending on place of purchase. About the most inexpensive is pink crabmeat at around $2.00 to $2.50 per can.
The option of refrigerated cans which are pasteurized:
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- Colossal (or Mega Jumbo Lump) crabmeat of the blue crab are priced at a premium because there is simply little meat of its kind to be had. It can cost more than $35 to $40 per pound. But variations such as Super, or, Jumbo Lump could be another choice that is harvested from larger crabs that can be found down to $25 a pound.
- Other types such as Lump, Back fin (flakes) and Claw Crabmeat cost somewhat less but these are frequently used.
Tips
While canned crab really doesn’t offer that much of a price savings over fresh, by knowing what dish you plan to use the crab meat for, the most cost-effective cans can be purchased. For example, claw meat is among the cheapest and is heavy on flavor. Straight Lump crab is often preferred for crab cakes while Jumbo Lump crab is more standalone, to be planned for.