Lobster and most crabs taste best in summer, fresh out of the shell. When everyone is outdoors at a picnic table, the messiness of the feast only adds to the flavor and atmosphere. To be sure, eating them is not for the squeamish (nor is cooking them, for that matter). It takes a sense of adventure, as well as a machine-washable wardrobe. And though shellfish does contain cholesterol (on a par, more or less, with beef), the amount of saturated fat is trivial. Even better news: A quarter pound of lobster or crab-meat has only about 100 calories. That leaves lots of room for Summer Slaw and mugs of icy beer.

Cooking Lobsters

The cooked lobster pictured here is the cold-water Maine, or American, lobster, and it can be found live (and considerably greener) in lobster tanks in well-stocked super-markets. (The spiny variety of lobster doesn't have claws. You'll most often find its tail sold frozen.)

Slow It Down. A frisky lobster (which is how you want them) can make cooking a horrifying experience. There are two ways to slow it down. A few minutes in the freezer will stun it, or you can try to "hypnotize" it. Hold one by the base of the carapace (back), where it meets the tail. Stand the creature on its "nose" on the counter and stroke its back up and down. In a minute or two, the lobster will fold its claws over its head and curl its tail. It's out. Now toss it into the pot.

Cook It. Boil enough salted water to cover the lobsters. Drop the lobsters in one at a time. Cover. When the water returns to boiling, cook one-pound lobsters for 10 minutes, adding 3 minutes for every additional pound. A 1 1/2-pound lobster, for instance, will take about 11 1/2 minutes to cook. The antennae will pull out easily when it's done.

Cooking Crabs

Dungeness Crabs (from the Pacific Northwest) and Blue Crabs(from the East Coast) are best boiled or steamed. To steam, fill the bottom of a two-part steamer pot with half water and half cider vinegar. Heat to boiling. Put the crabs into the steamer top; cover. When the liquid boils again, cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the crab shells turn bright orange, with no dark red or reddish green patches. Pile onto a platter or newspaper-lined table and sprinkle with equal amounts of Old Bay seasoning and coarse salt (both available in the spice aisle of the supermarket).

Soft-Shell Crabs are merely blue crabs that have molted and whose new shells have not yet hardened. They require special handling. Rinse them (alive), remove the triangular apron from the underside, discard the gills, then cut the front of the crab about 1/4 inch behind the eyes and squeeze out the small sack you'll find there. Dredge each crab in salted, peppered flour and saute in hot butter about 3 minutes per side.

Stone Crabs (from Florida) and King Crab Legs (from Alaska) are, for the most part, sold cooked and frozen. They taste best served cold with lemon mayonnaise (stir about 1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest and a few drops of hot pepper sauce into 1 cup of mayonnaise).