# How to prepare live lobsters.



## acc2020 (Jun 19, 2011)

What do i do to them prior to cooking in salted boiling water?

Once shelled is all the flesh edible including from the head?

I'm using them for lobster salad. 

thanks


----------



## Snip 13 (Jun 19, 2011)

Most people eat just the meat from the tail and claws. I eat the bits from the head but I also suck out the head when I eat prawns..lol! Unless you like that sort of thing and most people don't just go for the "white meat"


----------



## CharlieD (Jun 19, 2011)

Some people will just boil the lobster as is. Some more religious people would punkture a whole in the head of the lobster before cooking as it is prohibited to cook live animal.


----------



## BreezyCooking (Jun 19, 2011)

How fortuitous - I'm making lobster tonight as well, although we'll be enjoying them boiled & then served with melted lemon butter (& corn on the cob + a green salad).

I've been cooking live lobsters for over 35 years now, & it's simplicity itself. Just bring a pot large enough to hold the lobsters (or at least able to do one at a time) to a boil. No salt is necessary - the lobsters have enough salt on their own). Then just pop them in (they'll expire nearly immediately - no need to mourn) & depending on size, cook them for 15-20 minutes (which works for the normal-sized 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounders). Remove & allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes before splitting to eat hot; or to pick for salad or to pop into the fridge to pick out another day.

As far as what's edible - EVERYTHING!! Except for the gills, also known as "dead man's fingers", which are easy to spot as fibrous & fingerlike & nothing you'd want to eat anyway. They're not poisonous or anything, just not pleasant. But everything else in a lobster is edible - & DELICIOUS!!! We suck the meat out of the legs, & pick the meat out of the body, which, by the way is identical to lump crab meat in a well-filled lobster. (I really pity the folks that just toss the body out without realizing this.) The "green stuff" - aka "liver" or "tomalley" is also sweet & delicious, but some folks pass on it because as the liver, it will also contain any contaminants that may be present. And the "red/orange stuff", if present in a female, is the roe or eggs, & that's a true delicacy for many - myself included.

If you're still not interested in picking out the body (again - a real shame), you can pop it into the freezer & use it at a later time to make a wonderful lobster or seafood stock.


----------



## acc2020 (Jun 19, 2011)

Do you pierce the bowel area to drain off any urine prior to cooking ?

On male lobsters do they have visibe penises ? I'm not too keen on eating this.

Do you gut them like you would with a king prawn ? ie slitting along the back and removing the black stringy yucky stuff ?


----------



## CraigC (Jun 19, 2011)

CharlieD said:


> Some people will just boil the lobster as is. Some more religious people would punkture a whole in the head of the lobster before cooking as it is prohibited to cook live animal.


 
Where is it prohibited? Crabs are boiled/steamed live, crawfish are boiled live, clams and mussels are cooked live. Oysters are also cooked live sometimes. What religion prohibits this or are you saying there is a real law in effect?

Craig


----------



## PrincessFiona60 (Jun 19, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Where is it prohibited? Crabs are boiled/steamed live, crawfish are boiled live, clams and mussels are cooked live. Oysters are also cooked live sometimes. What religion prohibits this or are you saying there is a real law in effect?
> 
> Craig



Why not just Google the question?

Taboo food and drink - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## CraigC (Jun 19, 2011)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Why not just Google the question?
> 
> Taboo food and drink - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


 
Someone else put that statement forward. Why should I look it up, as I believe, unless it is some religious stigma, it is incorrect. Besides, I don't consider wikipedia a reliable source.

Craig


----------



## BreezyCooking (Jun 19, 2011)

acc2020 said:


> Do you pierce the bowel area to drain off any urine prior to cooking ?
> 
> On male lobsters do they have visibe penises ? I'm not too keen on eating this.
> 
> Do you gut them like you would with a king prawn ? ie slitting along the back and removing the black stringy yucky stuff ?


 
In answer to your 3 questions:

1) No.

2) No.

3) It's up to personal preference.  Frankly, I've yet to come across a lobster with a "black stringy yucky stuff" - aka intestinal string - that was visible enough to be worth removing.


----------



## FrankZ (Jun 19, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Someone else put that statement forward. Why should I look it up, as I believe, unless it is some religious stigma, it is incorrect. Besides, I don't consider wikipedia a reliable source.
> 
> Craig




Since Charlie mentioned "Some more religious people" I think it was indicative of a religious prohibition.


----------



## LPBeier (Jun 19, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Someone else put that statement forward. Why should I look it up, as I believe, unless it is some religious stigma, it is incorrect. Besides, I don't consider wikipedia a reliable source.
> 
> Craig



Craig, the Princess was suggesting a GOOGLE search and listed ONE option, which was Wikipedia.  You are within your rights to not accept either suggestion.


----------



## jennyema (Jun 19, 2011)

Charlie is quite clearly talking about a religious prohibition about cooking live animals.  If you want more information, it's easy enough to look up.

Also people refrain fromcooking live animals for more than just religious reasons.


----------



## buckytom (Jun 19, 2011)

along the line of cooking animals, make sure that you have a large enough pot of rapidly boiling water so as to kill them quickly as they cook. 

the water has to be at it's most rolling boil because, much like deep frying chicken, the temp will drop drastically once you put in the lobsters. the water should remain at a boil for the most part, or at least come back to a boil quickly and the lobsters will go to lobster heaven in just a few seconds.

i once made the mistake of trying to boil too many large lobsters in a pot that wasn't large enough. the water stopped boiling for a good few minutes, during which time the lobsters died slowly in the heating water.


----------



## FrankZ (Jun 19, 2011)

I actually prefer to steam my lobsters.


----------



## CharlieD (Jun 19, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Where is it prohibited?...
> Craig


 Read your Bible with explanations.


----------



## GB (Jun 19, 2011)

I am with Frank on steaming. I can not tell a taste difference between boiled and steamed, but steamed takes much less water and also is less messy when eating because water does not come pouring out of the lobster as you crack it open.

Everything Breezy said is right on. There is so much good stuff to eat in a lobster. There is lots of meat people are just throwing away when they only eat the claws and tail.


----------



## buckytom (Jun 19, 2011)

i wonder if they die as quickly with steaming? no matter; i'll be eating the little buggers with melted butter dripping from my smilin' mug.

i also like to use a rolling pin or thick water glass (empty, of course ) to roll the meat out of each of the little leglets.


----------



## FrankZ (Jun 20, 2011)

I don't know how quickly they die either way, and not to sound cold, I don't really care.  I do know steam carries a high amount of thermal energy so maybe that helps.

I suppose if one is really worried about how long they take to die one can pith the lobster first.

I remember reading a recipe in one of the local type cookbooks for a crab dish.  The instructions tell you to take a whole live crab and quarter it.  I thought that might be a bit rude.


----------



## CWS4322 (Jun 20, 2011)

I went to graduate school in New Brunswick. We'd steam ours. And 2-3 per person <g>. The "peanut butter" (that is what we called the liver) was a favorite part of a lobster boil. You definitely needed a BIG pot. I used to travel to Boston a lot and I'd always stop at the fish market on my way to Logan to pick up lobsters...one year, I sent lobster dinner to my dad via same day delivery post--he loved it. One of my earliest memories is my uncle bringing live lobsters for dinner and being chased around the kitchen floor by them...I was so tempted by buy live lobster last week--but it was not in our budget, not in the quanity I like to eat them. A local casino used to have "all you can eat" lobster night...friends and I were banned after we each ate 6 whole lobsters (they should've known we were serious about taking the restauraunt up on the "all you can eat" advertisment--we brought our own crackers and picks). I love lobster...


----------



## LPBeier (Jun 20, 2011)

I've always steamed my crabs and lobsters.  I am the softest hearted person I know when it comes to hurting anything.  I even apologize to bugs before I squash them!  But I guess because it is how I was taught to deal with them, I have not really worried about the crustaceans.  I do believe that the steam is hot enough to kill them right off.


----------



## Aunt Bea (Jun 20, 2011)

This always cracks me up!  How times change.

 Along the northeastern coast of the U.S., the lobster was once so common in the 17th and 18th centuries that it was considered a "junk" food. When caught in great quantities or stranded on shore after severe storms, lobsters served as garden fertilizer and as a food staple given to widows, orphans, servants, and prisoners. It was so commonly used as a food for servants and prisoners that Massachusetts passed a law forbidding its use more than twice a week - - a daily lobster dinner was considered cruel and unusual punishment!


----------



## CWS4322 (Jun 20, 2011)

I seem to recall Maine passed a similar law because lobster was served so frequently to prisoners.


----------



## CraigC (Jun 20, 2011)

CharlieD said:


> Read your Bible with explanations.


 
No thanks don't have one, not my cup of tea.  So there isn't any real law.

Craig


----------



## dcSaute (Jun 20, 2011)

unless I missed something, the google reference talks about eating live animals, not cooking live animals . . .


----------



## jennyema (Jun 20, 2011)

Chix lobsters are 4.99 a pound here.  I might just have to boil up a few soon.


----------



## GB (Jun 20, 2011)

Bucky, unless I am mistaken, steam is hotter that boiling water so they should die at least as quickly I would think.


----------



## FrankZ (Jun 20, 2011)

Steam isn't hotter (pressure not withstanding) it just contains more thermal energy.  The phase change requires extra energy.

Of course I might be misremembering my college chemistry.


----------



## GB (Jun 20, 2011)

From my undsertanding (which absolutely could be wrong) water will turn into steam at 212. Water will never get above 212 (not taking pressure into account), but steam can continue to get hotter.


----------



## FrankZ (Jun 20, 2011)

At 1 atmosphere of pressure water will phase change at its boiling point.  It requires extra energy to do so.  Under pressure it will achieve (much)  higher temperatures.

I know some don't like Wikipedia.. but this is pretty much how I remember it.

I suspect this is why steam cooks faster without having to be hotter.  In a pressure cooker it is hotter, but not nearly as hot as I expected.  On the 15 PSI setting it is only 252F or 122C.


----------



## dcSaute (Jun 20, 2011)

any Navy boiler technician can explain it - no Wikipedia required.

at the same pressure, water and steam exist at the same temperature.
if one continues to heat the steam, it's called superheated steam - ie heated above it's "normal" temperature at that pressure.

btw, the "clouds" one often associated with "steam" aren't really "steam" - it's steam that has condensed back into very fine water droplets/mist.  the so called "live steam" is not "visible"


----------



## GB (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks dcSaute. Interesting info!


----------



## BreezyCooking (Jun 20, 2011)

I've never much cared for whole lobsters steamed or broiled.  Perhaps it's because I've never had one properly done, but the meat always seems dryer than when boiled, & the claw & knuckle meat in particular ends up stuck to the shell interiors & nearly impossible to extract.

And scientific heat temp facts notwithstanding, I don't like seeing the lobsters moving around in the pot until the steam kills them.  When I pop them into a pot of water at a full rolling boil, that's it.


----------



## GB (Jun 20, 2011)

BreezyCooking said:


> I don't like seeing the lobsters moving around in the pot until the steam kills them.  When I pop them into a pot of water at a full rolling boil, that's it.


how can you see them moving around in the pot? Are your pots see through?


----------



## dcSaute (Jun 20, 2011)

Breezy -

I've dined at some "lobster famous" places and long ago stopped ordering lobsters in a restaurant.  I still eat them, but only bought live and cooked at home.  well, if I can find _big_ frozen tails, might buy them....

commercially I think the FDA or other food crazy Czar requires them to be cooked to 475'F internal - yeah, you're right - terrible stuff and not worth wasting the money.

>>When I pop them into a pot of water at a full rolling boil, that's it.
the water muffles the sound; same with crabs.  sorry (g)


----------



## Andy M. (Jun 20, 2011)

dcSaute said:


> ...commercially I think the FDA or other food crazy Czar requires them to be cooked to 475'F internal - yeah, you're right - terrible stuff and not worth wasting the money...



Not likely.  Boiling a lobster will not raise its internal temperature above 212º F no matter how long you boil them.  In actuality, the internal temperature doesn't even approach that number.


----------



## dcSaute (Jun 20, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> Not likely.  Boiling a lobster will not raise its internal temperature above 212º F no matter how long you boil them.  In actuality, the internal temperature doesn't even approach that number.



yeah, true.  but I've never had a lobster in a restaurant that I found properly prepared - pretty much always overcooked, you know - just to be on the safe side . . .


----------



## GB (Jun 20, 2011)

Where are these restaurants you are getting your lobster from? The best places to get lobster IMO is on the coast if the North East. The key is to go to the most run down ramshackle shack you can find. There is a reciprocal relationship between how good the lobster is and how run down the shack is. If the table is anything nicer than a 20 year old weathered picnic table then you are already on the loosing end. Silverware (aside from a possible cracker) you might ad well just leave without ordering. Building right on the water with a hole in the ceiling and a screen door entrance held together by duct tape with big rocks as tables and a roll of paper towels for napkins with seagulls outnumbering the people in the parking lot - jackpot.


----------



## pacanis (Jun 20, 2011)

You left out look for bits of shell on the ceiling, lol.


----------



## kadesma (Jun 20, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Someone else put that statement forward. Why should I look it up, as I believe, unless it is some religious stigma, it is incorrect. Besides, I don't consider wikipedia a reliable source.
> 
> Craig


We need to rely on sites like 
wikpidia and googlr. And being polite to other members will return politness to you as well.I cant' hurt.
kadesma
.


----------



## kadesma (Jun 20, 2011)

buckytom said:


> i wonder if they die as quickly with steaming? no matter; i'll be eating the little buggers with melted butter dripping from my smilin' mug.
> 
> i also like to use a rolling pin or thick water glass (empty, of course ) to roll the meat out of each of the little leglets.


BT I say eat the critter anyway you want. No one has the right to tell you you are wrong.
kades


----------



## buckytom (Jun 21, 2011)

thanks kads. 

lol, gb. i don't know about how dingy the places were, but the best lobster is truely from those little shacks along the new england coast. 

best lobster roll: the clam shack in kennebunkport. 

The Clam Shack - On The Bridge, Kennebunkport Maine

i have a great cookbook exactly on this topic:


----------



## CharlieD (Jun 22, 2011)

CraigC said:


> No thanks don't have one, not my cup of tea.  So there isn't any real law.
> 
> Craig


 
How much more real does law have to be? All common laws are based on laws or comandments from Torah and/or Bible.


----------



## ella/TO (Jun 22, 2011)

Someone mentioned doing frozen tails.....can you tell just how to do them....I can get beautiful ones at Costco


----------



## pacanis (Jun 22, 2011)

ella/TO said:


> Someone mentioned doing frozen tails.....can you tell just how to do them....I can get beautiful ones at Costco


 
The last 4-5 times I've cooked lobster tails I've used this method.

YouTube - ‪Grilling Lobster Tails‬‏


----------



## jennyema (Jun 22, 2011)

The best lobster on the deck at Barnacle Billy's in Perkins Cove, Ogunquit

Iget to eat there next week!


----------



## pacanis (Jun 22, 2011)

What a neat picture. I love that footbridge coming off the floating dock.


----------



## kronlyn (Jun 22, 2011)

i have an extra little tip take all the legs and use a rolling pin on them and sqweeze the mneat out that way very easy and it adds up to a lot of extra meat you may normally miss


----------



## GB (Jun 22, 2011)

jennyema said:


> The best lobster on the deck at Barnacle Billy's in Perkins Cove, Ogunquit
> 
> Iget to eat there next week!


Barnacle Billy's is one of my favorites too Jenny!!! I love walking down the Marginal Way to get there. 

Here is one of my favorite shots I took in Perkins Cove.


----------



## Andy M. (Jun 22, 2011)

We went to Ogunquit, ME last summer and took a walk along the Marginal Way, a scenic path along the ocean.  Being very thirsty and hungry when we got to the end, we stopped at the first restaurant off the Way.  Turns out it was Jackie's Too.  I had a very good lobster roll there.  I guess we'll try Billy's on our next visit later this summer.

The first photo is of the Marginal Way and the second is the view from the restaurant.


----------



## jennyema (Jun 22, 2011)

That is such a beautiful place!  We take a work outing there every summer.


----------



## Andy M. (Jun 22, 2011)

jennyema said:


> That is such a beautiful place!  We take a work outing there every summer.




Lucky you!   Have a great time!


----------



## ella/TO (Jun 22, 2011)

Thank you pacanis....and ohhhh, how we loved Ogonquit when we were there years ago....and yes, eating right at a lobster shack right on the water is wonderful!!!!!!


----------



## dcSaute (Jun 22, 2011)

>>Someone mentioned doing frozen tails.....

very interesting video on the grilling.  I am personally much more of a purist when it comes to seafood., especially the high dollar stuff like lobster and conch - if one needs that much dressing up ,,,,,

for frozen tails, I do them broiled - and perhaps a bit off the wall from convention.

first - thaw them thoroughly.  gettting larger tail cooked thru evenly is sufficiently tricky without having to deal with half frozen stuff.

next, I use kitchen shears to completely remove the belly of the tail - snip down each side, then across the tail end, remove the undershell.

gentle pry the whole tail out of the shell.
salt/pepper/lemon or lime juice/soak in clam juice/butter/etc/ect - ie season as you like - there's a few zillions ways.....

crank up the broiler - put the tail back in the shell - meat side up - I use a cooling rack - insert the tail 'fins' into a slot to pin the tail flat.

the 'no undershell' makes for really easy eating, especially as the tail meat has be "pre-extracted" - so nothing going flying across the room when the 'stuck' part breaks free....


----------



## ella/TO (Jun 22, 2011)

thanks dc....


----------



## pacanis (Jun 22, 2011)

dcSaute said:


> very interesting video on the grilling. I am personally much more of a purist when it comes to seafood., especially the high dollar stuff like lobster and conch - if one needs that much dressing up ,,,,,


 
If you need that much "dressing up" what? You might as well be taking the meat out of the shell using kitchen shears and using "salt/pepper/lemon or lime juice/soak in clam juice/butter/etc/ect - ie season as you like - there's a few zillions ways....." to cook it?


----------



## dcSaute (Jun 22, 2011)

pacanis said:


> If you need that much "dressing up" what? You might as well be taking the meat out of the shell using kitchen shears and using "salt/pepper/lemon or lime juice/soak in clam juice/butter/etc/ect - ie season as you like - there's a few zillions ways....." to cook it?


I'm sure you know what you mean, but I'm completely lost on the above.


----------



## pacanis (Jun 22, 2011)

That's OK, dc. You lost me on how your way was the purist's way. Unless you meant you were opposed to using a grill in any way.


----------

