Q: Packaged crabmeat sounds like a crab-lover's dream: no shells, no picking, no mess, just the sweet delicious crabmeat, ready to be folded into a mousse, baked into a gratin, or scrambled into an omelet. But there is a tricky part: which one to buy?

A: Picked crabmeat is usually from Atlantic blue crabs; about 20 crabs are picked to make 1 pound of meat. Because raw crabmeat is difficult if not impossible to pick, all picked crabmeat has been steamed and the packages labeled fresh or frozen. Once frozen, the meat cannot be labeled as fresh. Crabmeat is pasteurized, which lengthens the refrigerated shelf life. Or it's thermally processed, which kills Listeria bacteria.

Crabmeat from the swimming, or back, legs is called "lump" or "jumbo lump". The meat from the back legs is large, solid and white, and has only a few shell pieces mixed into the meat. This style of crab is excellent in recipes where you want to see large pieces of crab.

"Backfin" crabmeat is from the body and legs of the crab. The pieces of meat are smaller than lump pieces, and there are usually more pieces of shell. Backfin crabmeat is good in recipes where the meat should be noticeable.

"Special" crabmeat, also known as regular, deluxe, flake or white, is small pieces of shredded crab from the body and legs. This meat can have lots of flexible shell and it must picked over carefully before using. This type of meat is great for any recipe where the meat will be pureed or price and taste is more important than appearance and presentation.

"Claw meat" is also available, as is "minced crabmeat"; both are small pieces of reddish-brown meat. "Cocktail crab claws" are sold with the shell still attached for easy handling at parties.

– Food Network Kitchens