I was on my friend’s boat cobia fishing and we were both singing the praises of soft shell crabs when he mentioned grilled soft shells. Somehow, I had gone my whole life without ever having soft crabs cooked this way. I’ve grilled hard crabs over a campfire before, and though they are a mess (the shells become super brittle) they were extremely tasty. Grilled soft shells sounded like they would be stellar.

I got home with some fresh soft shells and fired up the grill. I seasoned the crabs with salt and pepper, rubbed them with a little olive oil and minutes later I was experiencing yet another reason I love soft shells so much. The crabs were crispy with a bit of smoke and a little char. It was a nice change up from the fried crabs and was definitely worth revisiting as soon as possible.

I got another round of soft shells a week later, a consolation prize to myself for a tuna trip that got canceled. I mixed some butter with some Old Bay, slathered the crabs in it and put them on the grill. Rachel and I ate them over a bed of summer succotash: country ham, sweet corn, lima beans, sweet peppers and basil. It was one of the most summery meals we’ve had.

The method for grilling crabs is simple: high heat to get the shells crispy, seasoning & some fat. You can use any fat you want, but the butter added a bit of welcome richness, I highly recommend it. As for seasoning, salt and pepper if you want to keep it minimalist. Old Bay if you know what's up.

Grilled Soft Shell Crab Recipe

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Old Bay butter

4 tbsp butter, room temp

2 tsp Old Bay

For the Crabs

Soft shell crabs

Old Bay butter

Method

Combine butter and old bay and mix well. This makes enough for 4-6 soft shells.

Preheat the grill to high heat.

Prep crabs by removing face, gills and abdominal flap. Cut in half vertically.  Using a pastry brush, coat shell side with Old Bay butter. Place on grill, shell side down. Cover and cook for 3 minutes.

Brush butter on bottom side of crabs, flip, baste shell side again with remaining butter. Cover and cook for another 2 minutes.

Remove from the grill and serve immediately. Great with succotash.