Estimate cost per serving of shrimp, crab and shellfish.
Shellfish is priced by gross weight, and the shell is a large part of that weight. Yields vary enormously: head-on shrimp give around fifty percent edible meat, headless shell-on around seventy-five, whole crab twenty-five to thirty, and live mussels or clams as little as twenty-five to thirty-five once shells and any dead specimens are discarded. That means a twelve dollar pound of whole crab is really buying meat at over forty dollars a pound, while shrimp at the same shelf price works out under twenty. Comparing seafood on cost per edible pound rather than shelf price reverses many apparent bargains, and it is the only fair way to weigh whole crab against picked meat.
Edible yield and cost per serving
Edible weight = weight bought x yield percent / 100; edible ounces = edible weight x 16; servings = floor(edible ounces / serving ounces); cost per edible pound = total cost / edible weight
Cost estimates only. Shellfish carries allergy and foodborne-illness risk: discard bivalves that do not close before cooking or open after it, cook shellfish thoroughly, and observe local advisories on harvesting and biotoxins.
About 50% for head-on shell-on, 75% for headless shell-on, and 90-95% for peeled and deveined. Peeled shrimp often wins on cost per edible pound despite the higher shelf price.
Because only a quarter to a third of a crab is edible. At 28% yield, meat costs three and a half times the shelf price — which is why picked crab meat, though it looks dear, is frequently the cheaper option.
Yes. Shells dominate the weight, and you must also discard any that fail to close before cooking or open after it. Budget on roughly a third by weight as edible.
Check for glazing. Frozen seafood is often coated in ice weighing 10-20% of the package, so subtract that from the yield or you will overpay per edible pound.