1.  Prepare your table. Eating crabs is messy. Lay down some newspaper or heavy kraft paper to protect the table, to absorb the juices, and to make clean up easier.

2.  Gather up a crab mallet, dull knife, and a claw cracker if desired.

3.  Blue crabs turn a deep red after steaming. Normally they are steamed with a layer of seasoning.

4.  Pull off all the legs and claws with a twisting motion. You can use a dull knife in the joint to make removal easier. Sometimes some meat will come out with the leg. Eat it.

5.  Toss the legs (fins) and save the claws. (We will get to them in a minute)

6.  Turn the crab over on its back and open the apron. (The apron looks like a tab.)

7.  Take the top half and the bottom half in each hand, like you're opening a PB&J sandwich, and pull off the top shell. Take care and do this somewhat slowly. Toss the top shell.

8.  You will find a lot of "junk" inside, clean it out. You should toss the gills, and guts. Some people eat the "mustard" but it is an aquired taste.

9.  Now you should have the bottom half of the crab with the middle of it cleaned out and the gills removed to show shell.

10.  Take this bottom half and break it in half.

11.  Now take one of the halves and with a knife (or your hands) cut it in half. If you are using your hands, press down to break the chambers and then pull apart.

12.  Now you should have the meat exposed. Use your fingers to pull the meat out and enjoy! Use your knife to get the meat out of the smaller chambers.

13.  Once you have picked away all the chunk meat in the body, start with the claws.

14.  Crack the claws with either the hinged cracker, hitting them with the crab mallet or using your knife. The first methods should be fairly self explaintory. To use the knife, put the sharp edge on the shell and with the heel of your hand or your crab mallet hit the knife until you break the claw shell.

15.  Then snap the shell open and eat the meat avoiding the cartilige.

16.  Grab another crab, and repeat