RV Cooking Show Crew Discovers Stone Crab Floaters

I’m not a cheapskate and on occasion I’m not even frugal (as evidenced by the $50 FitFlop flip flops I bought not too long ago. They are supposed to firm and shape my thighs and butt so I listed it in the “workout expense” column. How’s that for rationalization, ladies!). Like most of us, however, I do want my dollar to go as far as possible. That’s why I was tickled to learn about stone crab floaters - and you might be, too.

The RV Cooking Show was doing some research and development in Old Homosassa, FL and discovered a little fish market right on the water. Showcased were some big and beautiful stone crab claws along with big and beautiful prices. Lucky for me I’m the curious kind and that really paid off when I saw 'floaters' listed on the board in the stone crab section at only $4.50/pound. Turns out floaters are a hit with the locals, go figure. Stone crab floaters are claws that have molted and the meat has not yet fully filled out in the shell. They are called floaters because they float to the top of the boil basket when cooked.

Turns out the floaters I enjoyed were a nice size, very meaty, sweet and delicious. It’s simply untrue, as I’ve read on the web, that they are void of meat. Nope. In fact, they were so good I went back and got more. This photo from the RV Cooking Show kitchen is a full pound of stone crab claw floaters…prior to supper!

No wonder they are a locals favorite! You can enjoy stone crabs warm or cold and lots of folks dip the meat in melted butter, mustard sauce or apply a squirt of fresh lemon juice. The RV Cooking Show crew loves them cold and as they are – no sauce or anything (but plenty of napkins – the boiling water gets inside and can be very messy)…delish!

Unfortunately for us, we saw this tip too late – a website suggested the best way to crack the claws – as opposed to a cracker or mallet/hammer – is to hold the tips of the claws in your fingers and smack them against one another. Supposedly this cracks one of the claws perfectly. If you try it let me know how this technique works.

And a few closing stone crab facts:

Stone crab season in Florida runs October 15th to May 15th. By the way, stone crab is renewable seafood – they take just one claw and toss the critter back to regenerate. This is akin to a lizard tail and if you’ve ever tried to catch one by clapping down on the tail you know what I mean. It takes a stone crab somewhere between 12 and 24 months to regenerate a legal-to-harvest size claw. Claws are graded according to size: medium = 5 to 8 claws per pound; large = 3 to 5 claws per pound; jumbo = 3 claws per pound; and colossal = 1 to 2 claws per pound.

While it may appear that the moral of the story is if you save a bundle by eating stone crab floaters you can buy more shoes…but really, it’s live it up every day, try local foods, and savor all an RV destination has to offer. Not sure? Ask a local – they know all the best deals!

Bringing you local flavor direct from my RV kitchen,

Evanne
http://www.rvcookingshow.com/