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Love & Best Dishes: Blue Crab Boil with Blue Colla Crabba | How to Cook Blue Crabs at Home
Oct 13, 2025
Blue Crab Boil with Blue Colla Crabba | How to Cook Blue Crabs at Home - James shows Paula all of his tips and tricks on how to cook and eat blue crabs at home.
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0:00
- Y'all, if you saw the show before this one,
0:03
you know that we had so much fun crabbing
0:06
with the Blue Crab.
0:09
- Colla - Colla.
0:10
- Blue Colla Crabba.
0:11
- Blue. I can't read it upside down.
0:13
- [Both] Blue Colla Crabba.
0:15
(Lee laughing)
0:16
- And this is James Lee Hendley.
0:21
And he has about what, 30 traps?
0:24
- Yes ma'am. - And we didn't do but five.
0:27
We emptied out five of your traps.
0:29
- Yes ma'am.
0:30
- And we got a bushel and a half.
0:32
- Yeah.
0:32
- Now who's gonna pick 'em?
0:36
You see that- - That's my job.
0:37
- Uh-huh, you see that man?
0:39
He's a crab-picking nut!
0:42
He can do it.
0:44
And hopefully Michelle,
0:46
our child that's grown up right here,
0:49
hopefully she'll come help you pick
0:52
and I'll help you pick.
0:53
But you know I'll eat more than I pick.
0:56
- She'll help tomorrow. - Tomorrow? Great.
0:58
- [Michael] School starts tomorrow
1:00
so she's got her hands full.
1:01
- I know she does. - Mm-hmm.
1:03
- Alright, so Lee, tell us what you've done.
1:07
- All right, so what I've got here is I've got already a pot
1:11
with the water boiled and I haven't done anything to it,
1:13
but just got the water boiling here.
1:17
- Alright, now Lee has a special seasoning that he-
1:24
- I've kind of created. - He created it.
1:27
So that's our big secret.
1:28
He won't even tell me y'all so.
1:31
- I can't tell you what's in it,
1:34
but you know, Georgia is known for what?
1:38
Four things, right?
1:39
Southern hospitality. - Ah-huh.
1:41
- Peaches. - Ah-huh.
1:42
- SEC Saturday College Football.
1:45
- Ah-huh. - And what? Red clay.
1:47
And so the season, (Paula laughing)
1:49
the seasoning, it's got a really red tint to it.
1:52
And so I've kind of just called it
1:54
South Georgia Red Clay is what I'm gonna end up calling it.
1:57
- South Georgia Redneck Clay. - Red Clay. That's right.
2:02
- Don't you think?
2:03
Well, we had so much fun this morning.
2:07
And let me tell ya, this young man works hard.
2:10
It's hard work. - Mm-hmm.
2:13
- It's hard work, but it's so in his blood, honey,
2:16
he'd rather do that than eat.
2:19
- [Lee] That's right. That's right.
2:21
- That's right. That's right.
2:22
I'm gonna get these dogs some water.
2:24
Some more water.
2:26
Yes, I see it.
2:27
- So I've got about a bushel and a half.
2:30
I don't know exactly how much
2:32
I can fit in this strainer here.
2:34
So what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna dump one in at a time
2:38
and we'll cook 'em at a time.
2:39
You only cook crab for about seven minutes.
2:41
Let it sit for about 15 minutes after you cook 'em.
2:44
So we're gonna go one at a time.
2:47
- [Paula] And don't forget to tell 'em about this, Lee.
2:49
- I have so if you look,
2:51
I've put two things of Budweiser in it,
2:55
just to give it an extra kick.
2:57
- In the water? - In the water, yes, sir.
3:00
And just to kind of give it a little,
3:02
kind of a different, you know, a different flavor,
3:05
but it's a good flavor.
3:08
And then I'm gonna add my seasoning too,
3:09
on top of that once we get the crab.
3:11
- [Paula] Alright, here's the seasoning, y'all.
3:12
- And that's my season. - It is red.
3:18
It is red, y'all.
3:21
- Once it gets in that water, it'll look just like you,
3:24
it'll look just like you put a bunch of red clay
3:26
and water together and swished it around.
3:28
- Oh really? - That's what it'll look like.
3:31
So let's look at these things.
3:33
- [Paula] Oh my goodness.
3:35
Now how many ones do you think we got?
3:40
- I've got a good bit of them.
3:44
I probably got,
3:48
I don't know, probably 20 pounds of it.
3:51
- [Paula] Wow.
3:52
- [Lee] But that's some good crab, there.
3:54
- [Paula] How much meat will that render do you think?
3:57
Ooh, that's a fat boy!
3:59
- [Lee] Yeah.
4:01
- [Paula] Ooh, that fat boy. (indistinct) (laughing)
4:05
So you going put the ones in there first, right or?
4:09
- [Lee] Well, they're all mixed,
4:10
but I'm gonna put 'em all in here.
4:12
- Oh, okay. Okay. - Yep.
4:15
- [Paula] Can I help you hold on to something?
4:17
- Ah.
4:20
You can try.
4:21
- [Paula] Okay, I is. (crabs clanking)
4:24
Wow! Oh no! (laughing)
4:27
(crabs clanking)
4:31
They will make me dance, honey.
4:34
(laughing) They will make me dance.
4:35
- [Lee] There you go.
4:37
And so that's pretty,
4:38
that's a pretty sight right there.
4:39
Look at that one. That's nice.
4:41
- [Paula] Now how can you tell, ooh,
4:43
how can you tell when they're full of meat?
4:45
- Well, what you do is
4:48
you can tell when they've just molted,
4:49
maybe a little, not maybe just malted, but-
4:51
- [Paula] Look at that one. He's so ready to bite you.
4:54
- Nah, I know he is ready.
4:55
Old crabs, they just, they'll attack anything.
4:59
When they got white bellies
5:01
and you can squish it if you put your thumb on it
5:03
and squish down and the bellies are squishing down.
5:06
- [Paula] Uh-huh.
5:07
- They ain't got no meat in them.
5:08
- They don't? - And so, no.
5:09
So you gotta throw that back.
5:10
- [Paula] So you want that belly to be firm?
5:12
- You want that shell to be nice and firm on the bottom.
5:14
- Yeah. - Even though it's white,
5:15
that's, I mean, you don't want it white,
5:17
but if it's a little bit white,
5:19
as long as that belly's firm,
5:20
it's got some meat in it. - Okay.
5:23
- But what you're really looking for though-
5:25
- I would like this one. - Rusty!
5:26
- Is you want these rusty ones.
5:27
That's right. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
5:29
Yeah, I've seen them so orange almost-
5:32
- [Lee] I mean that one's a good one.
5:33
- [Paula] Just get away from there.
5:34
- [Lee] It's got a little bit of rust on its belly there.
5:36
You just hold it like that. - Okay.
5:40
- It ain't going to get you, it can't get you.
5:41
Oh no, I'd hold it right there.
5:42
Right there, pinch it right there.
5:44
There you go.
5:46
- Careful now. - Ooh, it's hard.
5:48
- [Lee] What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna dump these crab
5:51
in this water and I'm gonna turn the heat on.
5:55
- Uh-huh. - And we gonna let it boil.
5:58
I'm gonna put that season in
5:59
and we gonna let 'em boil for about seven minutes.
6:02
And then once about seven minutes pass,
6:05
we're gonna turn the heat off
6:06
and let 'em soak for about 15 minutes.
6:08
- [Paula] Okay.
6:09
- And we'll pull 'em out and it'll be time to-
6:10
- [Paula] Well Aunt Peggy is waiting for me
6:12
to bring her some crab, honey.
6:14
- All righty, well let's go.
6:16
- [Paula] This is the hardest part for me, seeing that.
6:22
But I know God put things like this on this earth
6:25
for us to sustain ourselves.
6:29
Do I hear a Amen? - Amen.
6:32
Lemme put some season in that. - Okay.
6:37
- [Lee] Now I can't tell you what's in this seasoning.
6:39
(Paula laughing)
6:40
This is just something we've done when I was a kid.
6:42
We just-
6:44
- [Paula] So is that your papa's recipe?
6:47
- [Lee] Well we kind of just-
6:48
- [Paula] I couldn't get the bag open, Lee.
6:52
It's one of those tricky ones where you have to press down.
6:55
- Oh is it? - Yeah.
6:59
Did that get it? No.
7:01
- [Lee] We'll get it like that, though.
7:03
(Paula laughing)
7:03
- [Paula] Now how much you gonna put in
7:05
for that kind of pot? - All of it.
7:07
- [Paula] (gasps) All of it? Holy Kamaole.
7:11
- [Lee] You can't get-
7:12
- [Michael] I thought you'd bought me some.
7:13
- You can't have enough seasoning.
7:16
- Some spice to it. - No.
7:19
You can't have enough seasoning
7:20
when it comes to these boils.
7:21
It's what we call, you gotta muddy this water up.
7:24
- [Paula] Yes.
7:26
- So this water's gotta get nice and (indistinct).
7:30
- [Paula] Smell. Smell that wonderful seasoning smell.
7:35
Oh. (crabs clanking)
7:39
- Let's turn that heat up!
7:44
(propane whirring)
7:49
Seven minutes!
7:51
- [Paula] Okie dokie!
7:52
- All right, guys. So I went ahead.
7:54
It was seven minutes. I went ahead and cut the heat.
7:57
Look at 'em bad boys.
8:00
That's some nice crab right there.
8:02
I'm just going give it one quick stir real quick.
8:08
(crabs clanking)
8:17
See some of these, I've heard all kind of different things
8:20
and the ways to cook these crab.
8:22
I know there's people that steam them.
8:27
That's just not what we do down here.
8:29
We don't steam crab, we boil 'em.
8:32
Well that's not how I was raised anyways.
8:37
We gonna let these crabs sit
8:43
for about 15 minutes
8:47
and it'd be time to eat.
8:49
- It's time, y'all.
8:51
Lee said these are just perfect.
8:54
Look at, I can feel, feel the weight of that one.
8:57
- Oh, you got some weight here.
8:59
- Yes. Yes.
9:00
So we're going ahead and picking,
9:01
'cause my Aunt Peggy is waiting on her dinner
9:05
and I called her and I said,
9:07
"Do you want to pick your own crab?"
9:09
She said, "No!" (chuckles)
9:13
So look, I love this mustard.
9:15
- That's some good stuff. That is good stuff.
9:17
- Hmm. Hmm.
9:18
- My brother used to eat all this.
9:19
- Oh wow. Hey. - No.
9:21
- That's some good. No, I don't eat that
9:23
or what they call the dead man.
9:25
You don't eat that either.
9:26
- No, they say that'll make you sick.
9:28
- Yeah. (Paula slurps)
9:30
- But uh. - Hmm.
9:32
- [Michael] That's why they call it dead man.
9:33
- [Lee] Yeah.
9:36
- Oh, great granny's, it's delicious.
9:39
- See right there?
9:40
That's some meat right there. - Ah, yeah!
9:42
- You want that? (laughing)
9:45
- Sorry, Aunt Peggy. - Poor Peggy.
9:46
(Paula and Lee laughing)
9:48
- Look at that.
9:49
Look at that clump. - Whoa.
9:51
I just have to make sure it's good enough for her.
9:55
- (indistinct) That's what I do mostly.
9:57
- It's stinking incredible.
10:00
- That right there. - Oh gosh.
10:03
- [Bystander] How do you like the spice or the-
10:04
- [Paula] It's delicious.
10:05
- [Bystander] Yeah.
10:06
- [Lee] There's some more meat right there for you.
10:07
- [Paula] Thank ya.
10:11
- There's some more for you. - Oh yeah.
10:17
- Oops. - Check that out.
10:18
That's some good meat. - Wow.
10:20
- These are fat crabs. - They sure are.
10:26
Look at that.
10:27
- [Bystander] So Lee, do you have, tell us about, you have,
10:30
are you going to sell your crab spice?
10:35
- So I hadn't- - You have a site and all?
10:37
- I do have a website.
10:38
So my website is BlueCollaCrabba.com.
10:41
It's that name, just .com. - Yeah.
10:44
- And I hadn't patented, I haven't-
10:49
- Uh-oh.
10:50
- Patented the spice or anything yet.
10:52
But I would like to one day sell the spice
10:55
out to the public. - Yes, yes, you want to.
10:58
Absolutely.
10:59
- Y'all tell me, is the spice good?
11:00
- It's out of this world.
11:03
Now this is the way we do our low country balls too, Lee.
11:06
- Is it? - Yeah.
11:07
We just jump 'em out up here.
11:12
- Let some of that water.
11:12
- Look at those crab claws.
11:14
Love them.
11:19
Love them.
11:22
- [Michael] It's just a couple crabs (indistinct)
11:25
almost enough for Aunt Peggy right there.
11:27
- I know it. - Alright, will do.
11:30
- [Paula] I baked a potato to go with it.
11:32
(crabs thudding) (Lee groaning)
11:35
- Holy Moly, I wish y'all were here!
11:40
I wish y'all were here.
11:42
Guys, I want to toast y'all.
11:46
To...
11:49
Blue Colla Crabba! - Blue Colla.
11:51
- (laughing) Thank you, Lee.
11:53
It's been won-
11:54
Oh, I was gonna toast you.
11:56
But see I love these little crabs.
11:58
Now you can go into a restaurant
11:59
and order these fried and they-
12:02
No! (Lee laughing)
12:06
You about made me lose my chunk of meat. (laughing)
12:10
If y'all ever get the opportunity, do you do,
12:13
when people come to Savannah,
12:15
do you ever take people out grabbing?
12:18
- So.
12:19
- Yeah, people would love that.
12:20
- So we have thought about that.
12:22
- You need to think about it.
12:24
- We haven't done it yet, but we have thought about it
12:26
and if there's enough interest in it,
12:29
just gimme a call on my website.
12:31
www.BlueCollaCrabba.com.
12:34
And the number's 650-9012.
12:40
And just give us a call
12:41
and if that's what you want us to do,
12:42
we can set up a time and date.
12:44
- Listen, if you live in Montana
12:46
or the middle of the country somewhere
12:48
and you wanna crabbing experience, give him a call.
12:53
You will love it.
12:55
- Yes. All those BRBOs. - Yes.
12:57
- You wanna have your own? - Yes, yes, yes.
13:00
- Little crab bake. - Yes, it would be wonderful.
13:03
- That's right. That's right.
13:05
- So y'all give this young man a call 'cause he is great.
13:09
He'll put you on some crabs real quick like.
13:12
- Let me know. Let us know.
13:15
- Love & Best Dishes, y'all.
13:17
Look, it's-
13:20
I thought it was maybe a trick. (laughing)
13:25
Hey, y'all, it's Paula Deen.
13:27
Now, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to like it
13:31
and click the subscribe button as well as the notification
13:35
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13:38
Love and Best Dishes Y'all.
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