Crab with lemon on chopping board, and a sink waste disposal unit close-up
Food - Drink
What's The Difference Between Lump And Jumbo Lump Crab Meat?
By ALI FAGAN
If crab is something that you can fit into your budget, consider buying picked crab meat, which is more expensive than whole crabs, but saves you a ton of prep work. Picked crab meat is organized by grade, including "lump" and "jumbo lump"; you may assume that one is just a larger version of the other, but this isn't so.
Jumbo lump comes from two large muscles connected to the crabs' swimming legs, giving the meat a larger size and substantial texture that makes it the most expensive grade you can buy. Lump meat is a mixture of smaller pieces of body meat and jumbo lump meat, though it shares jumbo lump’s white color and delicious flavor.
To decide which crab meat to purchase, consider your recipe and how much you want to spend; jumbo lump is about $59/lb fresh, and works best in meals where crab is the star of the show. If you're making a recipe where the crab is mixed with other ingredients, such as crab cakes, lump crab meat at around $49/lb fresh is best.