Method for manufacturing formed lumps of shellfish meat

1. A method for making a formed lump of shellfish meat comprising the steps of:

placing cooked shellfish meat into a mold;

separately placing only raw shellfish meat into the mold;

compressing the cooked shellfish meat and raw shellfish meat in the mold; and

cooking the compressed shellfish meat to make a formed lump of shellfish meat.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shellfish meat is selected from the group consisting of crab, scallops, shrimp, and lobster.

3. The formed lump of shellfish meat of claim 1 , wherein the formed lump of shellfish meat is 100% crab meat by weight or volume.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compressed shellfish meat comprises up to about 40% raw crab meat by weight or volume.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compressed shellfish meat comprises about 25% raw crab meat and about 75% cooked crab meat by weight or volume.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compressed shellfish meat comprises about 16% raw crab meat and about 84% cooked crab meat by weight or volume.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cooked shellfish meat is crab meat and has a texture and wherein placing the cooked crab meat into the mold further comprises aligning the texture of the cooked crab meat in the mold.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cooked shellfish meat is crab meat and the cooked crab meat comprises pieces selected from the group consisting of broken jumbo crab meat, special crab meat, back fin crab meat, claw, and combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the raw shellfish meat is crab meat and the raw crab meat comprises pieces selected from the group consisting of white crab meat, claw, claw knuckle, and combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising cooling the formed lump of shellfish meat.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising trimming the formed lump of crab meat after cooling.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the formed lump weighs from about 6 grams to about 12 grams.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the formed lump weighs from about 3 grams to about 13 grams.

14. A formed lump of shellfish meat made according to a method comprising the steps of:

placing cooked shellfish meat in the form of flakes onto a surface of a mold;

separately placing only raw shellfish meat in the form of a paste onto the cooked shellfish meat;

compressing the cooked shellfish meat and raw shellfish meat in the mold;

cooking the compressed shellfish meat to make a formed lump of shellfish meat; and

removing the formed lump of shellfish meat from the mold.

15. The formed lump of shellfish meat of claim 14 , wherein the shellfish meat is selected from the group consisting of crab, scallops, shrimp, and lobster.

16. The formed lump of shellfish meat of claim 14 , wherein the formed lump weighs about 6 grams to about 10 grams.

17. The formed lump of shellfish meat of claim 14 , wherein the formed lump weighs about 3 grams to about 13 grams.

18. The formed lump of shellfish meat of claim 14 , wherein the cooked shellfish meat is crab meat and the cooked crab meat comprises pieces selected from the group consisting of broken jumbo crab meat, special crab meat, back fin crab meat, claw, and combinations thereof

19. The formed lump of shellfish meat of claim 15 , wherein the raw shellfish meat is crab meat and the raw crab meat comprises pieces selected from the group consisting of white crab meat, claw, claw knuckle, and combinations thereof

20. The formed lump of shellfish meat of claim 15 , wherein the formed lump of shellfish meat is 100% crab meat by weight or volume.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein placing cooked shellfish into a mold occurs before placing raw shellfish meat into the mold.