How To Boil Lobster & Eat Lobster

OK, so you have this steaming, big red shell presented to you on a large platter with a little hammer or pliers and a dish of drawn butter, now what do you do?  I’m talking lobster here. Warm, rich lobster meat.  But how to you eat lobster?  Better yet, how to boil lobster?  How do you crack lobster open?  So many questions for such a simple treat.  Read on!

I’m not sure who ever thought to eat lobster, but it’s probably the same crazy fisherman who decided to try oysters or snails.  But let’s thank that enterprising fisherman because what’s surprising and amazing is the succulent taste of lobster meat.  Once you know the techniques for how to boil lobster and then how to crack lobster open, you’ll be serving this treat more often.

In our family we make a big thing out of birthday dinners.  My husband Dave’s birthday is in November and we always have live lobster.  Well, most of us have lobster.  I usually make fish for myself.  So don’t think that you have to have 100% participation to serve lobster. 

Later I’ll show you great ideas for side dishes or other entrees to go with lobster.

Let’s start with how choose a live lobster and then how to boil lobster and go from there.

How To Boil Lobster

When choosing a live lobster, you’ll typically be buying a 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pound lobster that will serve one person for dinner.  Choose a guy that is active when pulled from the tank.  He’ll range in color from a dark blue to gray color.  Lobster’s turn red when cooked.

Fill your pot with water and bring to a boil.  Keep in mind the extra space you’ll need when placing the lobsters in the pot.

Once boiling, place each lobster, headfirst, into the boiling water and cook until they turn bright red.  For 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pound lobster it will take about 10 minutes.  Plan on 3 additional minutes for each pound over that.

Use heavy, strong tongs to remove the lobster from the water.  If using the meat for a recipe like lobster rolls then you want to put the lobster in an ice bath to stop the cooking.  A cooler is a great way to make the ice bath.  If cracking and eating the lobster right away, then you can skip the ice bath. 

How To Boil A Lobster Tip #2 – How Much Water To Use

I use my turkey fryer with a 30 qt pot, a typical size for turkey fryers.  Fill it half full of water and bring to a boil.  That is enough water to boil four 1 ½ pound lobsters at once. 

If you start adding the lobster and don’t feel you have enough water for all of them, then just boil lobster in 2 steps.  Boil as many lobster as can stay submerged under water.  Remove when cooked and then add the remaining lobster.

How To Boil Lobster Tip #3 – Why Add Acid To Water

It’s recommended by Thomas Keller of The French Laundry fame to add ½ cup white vinegar to every 8 quarts of water.  The reason is that acid will heighten the flavor.  Any acid will do.  A good substitution is an equal amount of white wine or fresh lemon juice.

How To Crack Lobster Open

When the lobster has cooled enough to hold with your hands, gloved hands are a good idea.  Or use hot pads that you don’t mind getting messy.  You can always toss the gloves or hot pads in the wash afterward.

Grab the tail with one hand and the body of the lobster with the other and twist until the tail separates.

Using scissors or a knife, cut the underside length of the tail shell to make it easier to remove the lobster tail meat.  If there are dark veins, discard them.

Grab the body of the lobster with one hand and the knuckle and claw with the other hand and twist to separate.

Crack the claws and knuckles with a small hammer, a crab mallet or good ole pliers.  Remove the meat from the claws and the knuckles.

The claw meat will have cartilage that looks like plastic, remove and discard.

Believe it or not there is valuable, juicy meat in the legs.  Place the legs on a cutting board and roll with a rolling pin, the meat will come right out.

You may see green, black or red substance.  The green is called tomalley, it’s the liver.  Some people think it’s delicious, others think it’s gross.  You choose if you want to taste it. 

If you have a female lobster then you may get black or red roe in the body. People consider this the caviar of the lobster.  If it’s black then the roe is uncooked and will need to be steamed until it turns red.

You’ll want to toss the gray spongy gills.

How To Eat Lobster

You can serve lobster in it’s shell and let your guests dig in.  Provide plenty of tools for cracking the shell.

Many diners will appreciate if the cracking was already done by the chef.  This way you can serve your guests the shell and tail and let them extract the meat themselves.  It’s tremendously less messy this way.  And for many diners more appealing.

Provide large platters to discard the lobster shells.

What Sides and Other Entrees Go With Lobster?

Well, when you boil lobster you need to provide melted butter.  Put the butter in small ramekins for each diner.

Steak, fish or shrimp are all good entrees to go with lobster.  When we serve lobster for Dave’s birthday dinner I always make fish for myself.  Often I’ll add some steak and/or shrimp to help fill up the boys.  Lobster may be delicious but there’s not a ton of meat if you are feeding hungry people.

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