# Canned Crabmeat is VILE! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439 "2005-01-18T22:12:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/1 "2005-01-18T22:12:15Z")
How do they sell this crap? I have bought several cans of what was called “crabmeat”, of various brands and prices…and the common denominator is BLEECCHH! The stuff is horrible! Most of it tastes metallic, or iodine like, orjust plain spoiled. And it is not cheap! The last can I tried was from Indonesia…and (true to form) is was every bit as badd as every other brand. I actually dumped it into the dog’s bowl…he sniffed it, turned his nose up, and walked away! So I urge you…don’t ever buy canned crabmeat-this stuff is not edible! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/2 "2005-01-18T22:29:26Z")
It’s one of those relics of yesteryear, before refrigeration became common and the only way you could get food like that if you didn’t live on the shore was if it were canned. I recommend you pretend it doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/3 "2005-01-18T22:37:16Z")
I have, I dunno, maybe six cans of canned crabmeat that I was motivated to purchase when it was on sale for some fabulously low price. Now I know why it was so cheap. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/4 "2005-01-18T22:45:26Z")
During crabbing season I can go out and get as much fresh dungeness crab as can be enticed into my trap. It’s the best-tasting crab I’ve ever had. I plan to get some in the summer, unless I sell my zodiac as part of my getting-rid-of-stuff programme. But if I don’t sell the boat, I’ll get another crab trap and have a feast. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/5 "2005-01-18T22:53:03Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > But if I don’t sell the boat, I’ll get another crab trap and have a feast. And we’re all invited, right? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/6 "2005-01-18T22:56:25Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > And we’re all invited, right? Wouldn’t it be more fun (for me) to cook it all, freeze the copious leftovers, and just post how good it is here? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/7 "2005-01-18T23:09:53Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Wouldn’t it be more fun (for me) to cook it all, freeze the copious leftovers, and just post how good it is here? Probably. However, good guests always bring nice gifts for their host. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/8 "2005-01-18T23:13:03Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Probably. However, good guests always bring nice gifts for their host. Hey, I’m getting _rid_ of stuff! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/9 "2005-01-18T23:43:14Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > During crabbing season I can go out and get as much fresh dungeness crab as can be enticed into my trap. It’s the best-tasting crab I’ve ever had. You catch it _yourself_!? Oh, man, I would go into paroxysms of food orgasm and drop dead right there. I was just noticing that it’s Dungeness season right about now, and almost time for the annual cioppino feed down at the VFW. I’m going to drool all evening now. But canned? Ugh! Tastes like can gone bad! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/10 "2005-01-18T23:52:12Z")
> [@Cowgirl Jules](#): > > You catch it _yourself_!? Oh, man, I would go into paroxysms of food orgasm and drop dead right there. How _you_ doin’? 😃 I think the commercial season is on right now. Come summer, Birch Bay will be full of boats. Last season I caught four ‘keepers’ in three trips. Got skunked the first time. Lots uf females and juveniles, but only four full-sized males. My summer-neighbours caught limit upon limit. That’s okay, though. I tried to eat the two I caught on my second trip, and it was way too much. Anyway… If I catch the elusive dungeness this year, and I have extras, anyone who wants to can come up and help me clean them and eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/11 "2005-01-19T01:24:42Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > freeze the copious leftovers Try canning it. I hear it’s good. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/12 "2005-01-19T02:27:57Z")
Ah, crabbing! I remember running a 1/4 mile long trot line, eel chunks every 15 feet or so, where the Patuxent meets the Chesapeake, and bringing home nearly 12 dozen crabs, back in the day. Yum! Mrs Mercotan still has the scar where a crab she was measuring bit her. She ate that one herself. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/13 "2005-01-19T02:39:13Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I plan to get some in the summer, unless I sell my zodiac as part of my getting-rid-of-stuff programme. But if I don’t sell the boat, I’ll get another crab trap and have a feast. I guess crabs are OK, but if it were up to me, I’d see what the zodiac would yield in late August. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/14 "2005-01-19T02:40:04Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Mrs Mercotan still has the scar where a crab she was measuring bit her. She ate that one herself. :eek: I’m picturing an enraged Mercotaness fanging to death a screaming crustacean. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/15 "2005-01-19T02:43:00Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > During crabbing season I can go out and get as much fresh dungeness crab as can be enticed into my trap. It’s the best-tasting crab I’ve ever had. _drooooooool…_ Dungeness crab. When I visited my aunt and uncle in Oregon a few years ago, we bought several dungeness crabs to eat for dinner one night. Half the reason I want to return to the Pacific Northwest Coast is to have fresh dungeness yet again. E. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/16 "2005-01-19T03:07:05Z")
> [@Elza B](#): > > Half the reason I want to return to the Pacific Northwest Coast is to have fresh dungeness yet again. Hell, that’s half the reason I **live** here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/17 "2005-01-19T03:18:39Z")
A bunch of us did a crab boil when I lived in SoFlo, more than a decade ago. The highlight of the night was betting quarters on which crab would let go of the vent hood first. Yeah, it was cruel, but I got a buck and a quarter out of the deal. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/18 "2005-01-19T03:56:42Z")
My wife and I made Gumbo on the 1st. We got live fresh Crab for 3.99lb, it was such a good deal we bought eight, over course then we had to buy another pot, but thems the breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/19 "2005-01-19T04:51:22Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Hell, that’s half the reason I **live** here. 🙂 Whereas I live here in spite of it. Seafood, blech. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439/20 "2005-01-19T07:13:25Z")
I like the imitation crab meat, myself. Mmmmm-yummy! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-crabmeat-is-vile/285439.md?page=2)