No, once they’re frozen they stop moving.
I don’t know about soft-shell, but with Dungeness there’s no comparison. They’re not inedible but for my taste they’re not worth the money, either.
If you fry it and put it in a sandwich with a lot of tartar sauce or the like, it might not be so noticeable. But why not get something cheaper and fresh instead?
Definitely agree on this point
Honestly, I’ve only been tempted by the convenience of being able to pull one out and cook it at any time and the price wasn’t prohibitively high (out of season) when I checked some years back. But those aren’t strong enough reasons to roll the dice on what’s likely pretty mediocre product particularly if fresh is available.
Here’s from a review from that company:
Our order arrived quickly, nicely packed and very cold/frozen."
Frozen? So not alive.
No, not alive. Also not frozen. Why are you so obsessed with this?
Me? Not in the least. But curious. I also have a huge prejudice regarding Dungeness crabs. I won’t buy them unless they are freshly cooked on site, within a few hours.
One of our favorite venues for soft shell crabs is Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis, Maryland. Great stopover on our travels up and down the coast. www.boatyardbarandgrill.com
Plenty of other choices, too…
Let us not confuse the availability of live blue crab and the seasonality of soft-shell crab. Soft shells are crabs caught while they are in molting stage making them soft and easy to prepare in different ways. They are highly perishable and hard to ship long distances, so they become a regional treat primarily. Companys like Cameron’s Seafood might do it, but most are shipped frozen.
If you have not had the pleasure yet, soft shell crabs are a treat!
A fair point. My bad 
Shipping them live overnight is not so much hard as it is expensive. Good restaurants get them from the same kind of suppliers that sell real scampi.
I’ve never had one/them and want to. If it’s not ‘the season’ can you still get them? We’re thinking about a trip ‘back East’ in the fall.
If you want to learn why people care about soft-shell crab, don’t start with a dead one.
Not what I asked.
Sure. Frozen.
Thanks. With Dungeness you can get them live but not in your region, i.e., Norcal, Oregon, WA. Local is better of course.
Season usually ends in September on the East Coast. Later in Texas.
There will still be live hard-shell blue crabs, which are also great and different from Dungeness.
My local seafood place, Aquabest, sells live Dungeness crabs. We had one for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. I had the guys dispatch it before I took it home, 'cause he was a big feisty guy and I was a little afraid of him.
Honest confession may be good for the soul but horrific for internet cred. My only experience with soft shell crab was at a favorite Viet restaurant. I couldn’t handle it. Really put off by the crunch. Finally resorted to picking it at table, much to the hand-over-mouth mirth of the staff. I don’t do crunch. Like I abhor pomegranite seeds and the like. Glad to have given our lovely hosts a good laugh but will never order that again.
Soft Shells are now in restaurants and markets here in the metro New York area. Problem is markets are charging up to $10 a piece for them, from what I saw. Hoping prices come down soon…
