Softies on the BGE 🦀

cmac610

Looking for a treat this Memorial Day Weekend (or anytime during season)? Grab yourself a handful of “Softies” and fire up the grill! Soft shell crab season is from March - September and if you’ve never had these beauties, it’s time. 

Soft shell crabs are Blue Crabs that have just molted, leaving their shells soft for a few short hours. They can be consumed whole and they’re super tasty! A lot of people dust and fry these guys, but I love to get some seasoning on them and throw them on the grill. Some OLD BAY Seasoning and then hit with garlic butter while cooking on the Big Green Egg, these took about 3-4 minutes on each side to cook. 

Put ‘em on a sandwich roll with some Rémoulade sauce or just eat ‘em fresh off the grill…and then thank me later!

JohnInCarolina

Oh man.  These are awesome.  First time seeing them here on the forum, for me at least.  Looks like you did them right.

HeavyG

Nice!

Went out for lunch with a girlfriend  many decades ago. We ordered soft shell sandwiches. Was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing. She did not expect to see what she saw on the bun. She was not thrilled to say the least. I was able to talk her down tho and she did eventually enjoy the sandwich.

Botch

Something I'd yet to experience; hmmm.  

Ozzie_Isaac

Sign me up!

bluebird66

That looks fantastic!

Buckwoody Egger

Thanks for this timely post!!  We usually do them like we do shrimp. Cornstarch, salt and pepper dusting then pan fried with olive oil.  We did some like that tonight (a leg less body of one is on the plate).  

Had never even thought to grill them (hate to admit!).  Ours were pre cleaned, carapace top shell removed and frozen from a previous trip but thawed and cooked great.  Sandwich for one then parted out the body for a tossed salad.  Ate the legs like french fries with more of a “king of the food chain” vibe.  Black bean salad for a side. 

lkapigian

Looks awesome, had the one time at Nathan’s Hot Dogs on Coney Island… I want that again 

Dyal_SC

Love it!  Never had them grilled before, only fried.

cmac610

Buckwoody Egger said:

Thanks for this timely post!!  We usually do them like we do shrimp. Cornstarch, salt and pepper dusting then pan fried with olive oil.  We did some like that tonight (a leg less body of one is on the plate).  

Had never even thought to grill them (hate to admit!).  Ours were pre cleaned, carapace top shell removed and frozen from a previous trip but thawed and cooked great.  Sandwich for one then parted out the body for a tossed salad.  Ate the legs like french fries with more of a “king of the food chain” vibe.  Black bean salad for a side. 

Nice! Those look great. 

fishlessman

ive only seen these once here and it was along time ago. a cajun chef poster, chefwil won an anything goes at a bbq contest with them. crab cake stuffing packed on the soft shell crab with a bacon wrap. too bad the pic is gone but here was his recipe.  i kinda think simpler might be better and yours look tremendous, someday i need to head towards that shop you get the seafood from because ive never seen them around here

chef wils recipe

just recieved my hole-e-smokes silicon grilling mats today. Man oh Man, these mats are nice. Pictured are soft shell crabs, stuffed with crab cakes, wrapped in bacon. Cooked indirect on the silicon mat at 375 degrees for 19 minutes using 1 chunk of guava wood for added flavor. Reason for the mat? Did wanna put any cornmeal on the baking stone, didn't want a gritty crab. Cooked on the mat, removed from egg, and plated. This is not an endorsement for hole-e-smokes or the BBQ Guru people, this is just my preferred way of cooking the crabs. Now I can't wait to make chicken jalapeno sausage without having to use casings.
Heres the recipe:
6 large soft shell crabs........ cleaned
Crabcake mix:
24 saltine crackers, 2 large whole eggs, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 teaspoons of old bay seasonoing. Blend until smooth. Add to 1 pound of jumbo lump crabmeat.[p]Divide crabmeat mixture into 6 portions and top off each crab with the appropriate amount of crab cake, fold in the legs and claws, wrap each crab using a slice of thin bacon tucking ends underneath the crab. Season lightly and cook on the BGE.