Maryland Backfin Lump Crab Meat

Backfin Lump: The Crab Meat Maryland Cooks Grew Up On

Ask around Maryland about what belongs in a proper crab cake and plenty of cooks will answer backfin without a pause. This is the grade whole generations learned on: flaky, tender white meat from blue crabs, sweet and delicate in flavor but with enough body to bind a cake and survive the flip.

Choose Fresh or Pasteurized

We sell backfin two ways, and the difference is all about timing. Fresh meat ships straight from our Maryland site for cooking in the days ahead. The pasteurized version arrives in a sealed can with a much longer shelf life, which makes it the smart pick when the cooking date is still a moving target. Same crab either way; only the calendar changes.

A Crab Cake Method Worth Stealing

The recipe we point customers to builds its seasoned base first (butter, eggs, sour cream, parsley, lemon juice, Worcestershire, paprika, salt and cayenne) before the crab and bread crumbs are stirred in gently. Half-cup portions get shaped into cakes about three-quarters of 1 in thick, set on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, sprinkled with more cornmeal and chilled under plastic wrap before they ever meet the heat. That rest is the difference between cakes that hold and cakes that crumble. A shake of Old Bay over the finished plate never hurt anybody, either.

Where Backfin Sits in the Lineup

Backfin buyers have kept it at a five-star average across a dozen reviews, praising the delivery and packaging as often as the meat itself; one shopper pledged loyalty for good after we made a carrier's mistake right. Above backfin in the case sits Maryland jumbo lump, the grade reserved for whole-piece presentations, and our article on what the different crab meat types are for compares every grade side by side. Backfin ships frozen, packed with dry ice, and thaws into whatever you're making next.