Thoughts on purchasing pre-steamed crabs?

[Hawkeye]

So for mothers day like an idiot I went to a store called WISO in Delaware City thinking I could get some live crabs.  The reason I picked the shop was because it wasn't far off the main road that I was driving to bring my kid back from college.  I am an idiot because I totally underestimated the numbers of buyers on mothers day - it was crazy.   There was barely any parking (6 spots or so in a gravel lot) and they were all filled.  I dodged the giant mud holes (no thanks to all that rain we had that weekend) and entered to find a line of folks with pre-orders.  Again stupid me.  

I asked for a half bushel of males and he said "clean or with spice"....I replied - live??
He said - nope.  they had "steamed them yesterday".

I walked out.  Did I make a mistake?  Do you think the crabs were really just cooked yesterday?    

[Mikie]

 I know an old crabber that had a crab business up in Carroll County. He worked on perfecting how to pre-steam them and then re-heat them for years. For about the last 5 years he had the business, all he sold were crabs he had steamed the day before. He was up front about it and told everyone what they were. No one ever complained and his place was always packed or sold out. He always swore you couldn't tell the difference. I don't know, I never had any of his reheated crabs. I would say if the process is perfected it would be tough to tell the difference.

[jack1747]

I grew up eating crabs that were steamed a day before.

[jp57]

I have never bought crabs from Wiso's because I have never heard anybody with a good story about that place. If you are in that area, a little further south on route 9 is Crab 73. They have live crabs, and I have never had a bad experience there.

[shtoong]

I second crab 73. Not the cheapest but I've always had good luck there.

[Hawkeye]

I grew up eating crabs that were steamed a day before.

Sorry for late reply - my daughter did something to my computer and now the mother board has to be replaced.  I just set up this old computer so that I could log in again and reply to messages on boards. 

I have no issues at all eating crabs steamed a day before, but my concern was that I had no idea if they were telling the truth (i.e. what if they were steaming crabs a week before?).  I live too far away from this place to complain and I didn't want to buy a half bushel to bring home and find out they weren't fresh. 

[Hawkeye]

I have never bought crabs from Wiso's because I have never heard anybody with a good story about that place. If you are in that area, a little further south on route 9 is Crab 73. They have live crabs, and I have never had a bad experience there.

Good to know.  I was driving from Washington DC and was going up route 301 due to traffic on 95.   While on route 31 we had pulled over for gas and the closest spot for crabs from that station was Wisos.  Next time we will try crab 73.  Thanks for the tip!

I second crab 73. Not the cheapest but I've always had good luck there.

you should have seen the prices at jesse taylor in washington dc.  The crazy thing was the lines of people there that either haven't a clue or just don't have access to a car.  Dunno.  I'm happy to pay a higher price if I know I'm getting fresh/live blue crabs.