Cooking a Live Lobster: Boiling

Cooking a live lobster is easier than you would think. Here is everything you need to know about boiling and eating a live lobster.

My mom grew up in Maine, and every summer we would make the two-day trip up to the Maine coast to spend a few weeks with her family. There were so many traditions on these annual trips, but one of the most memorable was lobster dinner.

There is absolutely nothing like fresh, Maine, hard-shelled lobster. But, living in Wisconsin, it is a bit trickier for us to get lobster these days.

You can imagine how overjoyed I was when our local Fox Brothers Piggly Wiggly had a one-day lobster sale where they flew in fresh Maine lobster first thing in the morning.

We placed our order and eagerly awaited the day.

Now, Tim had never eaten more than lobster tail, and had no idea what to expect as we headed to the store to pick up our little guys. As our lobsters were loaded (protesting quite violently) into a brown paper bag, Tim looked a bit skeptical at what we were about to do.

While we think of lobster as the food of high class steak and seafood restaurants, if you can believe it, prior to the 19th century they were considered the food of the poorer classes, servants, and prisoners.

But, I guess if you’re living on the coast, it was all about what was easily accessible.

Types of Lobster

As lobsters grow, they start to fill their shell. The shells don’t grow as the lobster grows, instead, they harden and a new, soft shell forms under the old. Once the shell is too small for the lobster, it will shed it’s shell and the inner shell will begin the hardening process.

The stage of shell production and shell quality plays a huge roll in the quality of the lobster and the amount of lobster meat you will get out of your meal.

–Soft-shell lobsters have a paper-thin shell with very sweet meat. However, the meat to shell ratio is fairly low. These lobsters are fairly inexpensive to purchase, but you can only get them locally, as they are so fragile that transportation typically kills them.

–Hard-shell lobsters are further along in their development, so the shells are more filled with meat. The meat is less sweet, but they can survive shipping in the US, so the cost is typically higher because of the demand.

–Old-shell lobsters have not shed last season’s shell, and therefore have a very hard shell that can withstand shipping anywhere around the world. These are quite expensive lobster, even though the flavor and texture are significantly lower in quality than either of the other two options.

How to cook a live lobster

Lobster can be cooked by boiling, steaming, grilling, or broiling. Boiling is the quickest method for cooking a whole lobster and the resulting meat is incredibly easy to remove from the shell. Steaming is gentler and therefore results in slightly more tender and flavorful meat. Grilling and broiling both require par-boiling to kill the lobster and make it easier to cut the lobster in half for further, dry cooking.

Boiling a live lobster

Lobsters should be boiled in salt water to keep that ‘ocean flavor.’ Mix 1/4 c of salt per gallon of water and bring it to a rolling boil.

Once your water comes to a boil, grab your lobster by the tail-end of the body cavity and plunge it, head first, into the bubbling water. (This will kill the lobster instantly, but be prepared for the lobster to flop around a bit in the pot from nerve spasms.)

Cover the pot and, once the water comes to a full boil again, cook the lobster for 6-8 minutes per pound. (Poundage is per lobster, not total lobster poundage in the pot.) The lobster is done when the shell color has changed from dark brown to bright red. (A trick to tell if your lobster is done is to pull on one of the antenna. If it pops off easily, you’re good to go!)

Remove the lobster from the water and serve with melted butter.

How to eat a whole lobster

Being from Maine, my mother can de-shell a lobster (legs and all) in probably under 5 minutes. She’s just that good. But, if you’ve never had the chance to see it done, getting the meat out of the hot and hard, bright red shell might seem a bit intimidating.

Don’t worry, there’s a process. So, grab your nut-cracker (and a pick of some sort if you have one). Let’s dig in!

First, you will want to break off the claw arms to make it easier to deal with the body and tail. Some of the most tender meat can be found in the claws, but you will need that nut cracker to break into them.

Next, you can pop off all of the legs. These do have meat in them too. But, even with a pick, it can be a bit tedious to extract. However, the MOST tender meat of the lobster is found right where the legs connect to the body, in the small cavities of the rib cage. So, you’ll want to get into the body next.

To break into the body, you will want to grab the back of the head with the palm of one hand. With the other hand, grab the top of the tail. There is a natural separation in the shell right here between the body and tail. Bend the lobster at this separation by lifting upwards from the back of the body shell, so that the shell peels away from the meat and you are left with the head and body shell in one hand and the tail and body meat in the other.

Once the body shell has been removed, you will probably see a green substance, and you may see an orange and pinkish substance. Both are edible, if you desire. The green substance is called the “tomalley.” This is the lobster’s digestive system. The orange and pinkish substance is called the “coral” and is the female lobster’s eggs, or roe.

Much like eating caviar, these are considered a delicacy, and some people love them. However, many people find them a bit unsettling. If that’s your view, just scrape them away into the bucket you’re using for all of the discarded shells. No harm done.

There you have it.

It is a slow meal that you have to work for, but the flavor and feeling of being on the Maine coast are so worth the effort!

Have you ever eaten lobster? If so, what’s your favorite way to eat it?

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Cooking a Live Lobster: Boiling

Cooking a live lobster is easier than you would think. Here is everything you need to know about boiling and eating a live lobster.

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time16 minutes mins

Total Time56 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Servings: 2 people

Author: Sarah | Curious Cuisiniere

Ingredients

• 3 gallons water
• 3/4 c salt
• 2 Live Lobster (1.5-2 lbs each)
• Salted butter, melted, for serving, (optional)

Instructions

• In a large soup or canning pot, bring the water to a boil. (Ours took nearly 40 minutes to boil) Mix in the salt.
• Once your salt water is boiling, grab the lobster by the tail-end of the body cavity and plunge it, head first, into the bubbling water. (This will kill the lobster instantly, but be prepared for the lobster to flop around a bit in the pot from nerve spasms.)
• Cover the pot and once the water comes to a full boil again cook the lobster for 6-8 minutes per pound. (Poundage is per lobster, not total lobster poundage in the pot.) The lobster is done when the shell color has changed from dark brown to bright red. (A trick to tell if your lobster is done is to pull on one of the antenna. If it pops off easily, you're good to go!)
• Remove the lobster from the water and serve with melted butter, if desired. Cole slaw, roasted potatoes, and boiled corn also make a nice addition to the meal.

Sarah - Curious Cuisiniere

Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.

www.curiouscuisiniere.com/about/