What is the difference between a phalanx and a merus?

The merus is the first phalanx — the thickest leg section nearest the body, with the longest unbroken muscle fibre. Second and third phalanges are the shorter, thinner sections below it. All are phalanges; only the first is the merus.

Is whole king crab cheaper than legs?

Cheaper per kilogram as bought, not necessarily per kilogram of meat you plate — you are also buying shell and carapace. Whether it is genuinely cheaper depends on whether your kitchen has a use for body meat and shells.

What does 4L or 5L mean on a king crab order?

It is a size grade — higher numbers mean larger sections. Size alone does not determine quality: leg diameter and how completely the meat fills the shell matter more, and fill varies with where the crab sits in its moult cycle.

What is king crab merus?

The merus is the largest, thickest section of the king crab leg — the prime cut. It carries dense, uniform white meat and is the section most often served as a standalone hero piece.

What is the difference between clusters and legs?

A cluster is the legs still attached to the shoulder section, sold as one piece and graded by size (4L, 5L). Individual legs or sections are cut from it.

Which king crab cut is best value?

Second phalanx. It is the same meat as the merus in a less uniform, shorter format, at a lower price — excellent when the crab is an ingredient rather than the centrepiece.

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Buyer's Guide

King Crab Cuts Explained — Merus, Clusters, Claw

Most buyers overpay by ordering the wrong cut, not by paying the wrong price. Here is what each part of a red king crab actually is, and where it belongs on a plate.

Looking for the product itself? See Kamchatka Red King Crab — the deep, cold pacific in its most celebrated form — clusters, merus and claw, frozen at peak.

The cuts, from whole to claw

Whole crab. The entire animal, frozen. The centrepiece — carved at the table, maximum theatre, and the least practical for portion control.

Clusters. The legs and shoulder joined, graded 4L or 5L by size. The workhorse of a crab feast: roughly two to three servings per kilogram, sold in-shell.

First phalanx — merus. The thickest, meatiest leg section, typically 10–12cm. This is the prime cut: dense, sweet, uniform. Used for sashimi, grilling and butter-poaching. The most expensive per kilogram, and worth it when the crab is the hero.

Second phalanx. Shorter sections, 6–10cm. Excellent value: the same meat in a less uniform format. Ideal for salads, pasta and gratin.

Claw meat. The sweetest meat on the animal, shell-free. Cocktails, rolls, and anywhere you want flavour without the work.

Cut	What it is	Meat character	Best for	Relative price
Whole crab	The entire animal, cooked and frozen	Everything, including body meat	Carving centrepiece, theatre	Low per kg as bought
Cluster	Legs and claw joined at the shoulder	Mixed leg and shoulder meat	Sharing plates, a feast	Middle
Merus (first phalanx)	The thick upper leg section	Solid, sweet, unbroken fibre	Sashimi, fine plating	Highest
Second phalanx	The section below merus	Good fibre, slightly finer	Plated mains, salads	Middle
Claw meat	Meat from the claw	Denser, shorter fibre	Cocktails, rolls, bisque	Lower
Body / shoulder meat	Shredded meat from the carapace	Fine, loose flake	Tartare, filling, soup	Lowest

Relative price per kilogram of edible meat, not per kilogram as bought — shell weight is what separates the two.

Matching the cut to the dish

If the crab is the centrepiece and guests will work for it, buy clusters — the shell is part of the ritual.

If you are plating and want no waste or labour, buy merus or claw meat. You pay more per kilogram but you buy no shell, so the cost per serving is often closer than it looks.

The most common error is buying clusters for a dish that needs picked meat, then paying a kitchen to shell them.

How a king crab is actually broken down

Understanding the price list is easier once you know the sequence the animal goes through, because every cut on it is a stage in that sequence.

The crab is landed live and cooked whole, usually within hours. It is then split: the carapace and viscera come away, leaving two clusters — each a shoulder with three walking legs and one claw attached.

Each leg divides at the joints into phalanges. The first phalanx, closest to the body, is the merus: the thickest, straightest section with the longest unbroken muscle fibre. That single cut is the reason king crab commands what it does.

Below the merus, sections get shorter and thinner. The claw holds a denser, differently textured meat. The shoulder holds fine, loose meat that is excellent but will never plate as a whole piece.

So when a supplier quotes "king crab", the only useful next question is which stage of that breakdown they are quoting.

Yield — the number that decides whether you overpaid

Almost every buying mistake in king crab comes from comparing prices per kilogram as bought rather than per kilogram of meat on the plate.

Whole crab looks cheapest per kilogram and is: you are buying shell, carapace and water alongside the meat. Clusters carry less waste. Extracted merus carries none — you pay far more per kilogram and throw nothing away.

Which is genuinely cheaper depends entirely on your kitchen. A brigade with time and a use for shells and body meat will get more value from clusters. A kitchen plating twelve covers at speed with no stock pot running will lose money on them.

Do the arithmetic once for your own operation: take the delivered price, subtract what you actually plate, and compare cuts on that basis. It usually reverses the intuitive answer.

Grades, sizes and what the numbers mean

King crab is graded by size, most commonly expressed as legs or clusters per unit weight, or in the L-scale — 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L — with higher numbers meaning larger sections.

Size is not a proxy for quality on its own. The two things that actually matter are leg diameter and meat fill: how thick the section is, and how completely the muscle fills the shell. A large section that is poorly filled is a worse buy than a smaller one that is packed.

Fill varies with the moult cycle. A crab caught soon after moulting has not yet filled its new shell and will grade poorly however large it is. This is one of the real reasons season matters.

Ask for the grade and the fill, and ask what the last lot graded. A supplier working from whole animals can answer. One reselling boxes usually cannot.

When a cut is substituted

Substitution is normal in a wild, quota-managed fishery. What matters is that it is disclosed before delivery rather than discovered on the pass.

Agree in advance which substitutions are acceptable — second phalanx for merus at an adjusted price, say — and which are not. Put it in the supply arrangement, not in a WhatsApp message on the day.

If a quotation for merus arrives far below the market, the likeliest explanation is that it is not merus. Ask which phalanx, ask for a photograph of the actual lot, and ask what it graded.

Frequently asked

What is the difference between a phalanx and a merus?: The merus is the first phalanx — the thickest leg section nearest the body, with the longest unbroken muscle fibre. Second and third phalanges are the shorter, thinner sections below it. All are phalanges; only the first is the merus.
Is whole king crab cheaper than legs?: Cheaper per kilogram as bought, not necessarily per kilogram of meat you plate — you are also buying shell and carapace. Whether it is genuinely cheaper depends on whether your kitchen has a use for body meat and shells.
What does 4L or 5L mean on a king crab order?: It is a size grade — higher numbers mean larger sections. Size alone does not determine quality: leg diameter and how completely the meat fills the shell matter more, and fill varies with where the crab sits in its moult cycle.
What is king crab merus?: The merus is the largest, thickest section of the king crab leg — the prime cut. It carries dense, uniform white meat and is the section most often served as a standalone hero piece.
What is the difference between clusters and legs?: A cluster is the legs still attached to the shoulder section, sold as one piece and graded by size (4L, 5L). Individual legs or sections are cut from it.
Which king crab cut is best value?: Second phalanx. It is the same meat as the merus in a less uniform, shorter format, at a lower price — excellent when the crab is an ingredient rather than the centrepiece.

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