PM Update: Scattered showers and thunderstorms through the early evening. Much cooler on Monday. You may have to dodge some raindrops through about 8 tonight. A cold front moves through tomorrow morning and ushers in much more seasonable weather.
Only cook live crabs, because they deteriorate very quickly after they have expired. You can simply throw the crabs in a pot of boiling water to cook them. Depending on the size of the crabs, it will take between 6 and 10 minutes for them to cook thoroughly. If the crab is alive when you start, the amount of cooking time has very little to do with safety  it s more a question of whether the meat is underdone, overdone, or cooked just right.
The easiest way to prepare your crab for eating is to cook it first and then clean it. 1  Use about Â¼ cup of salt per gallon of fresh water and bring to a boil. 2  Immerse the whole crab and again bring the water to boiling. 3  Boil for about 18-20 minutes. Remove the crab from the pot and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process and cool the shell for handling. Remove the abdomen with your fingers (also called the apron, it is the flap of shell on the underside of the crab).