Methods To Prepare Live Lobster

Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 4:56 am

Once you have received your live lobster for delivery be sure and leave the bands on the claws as long as it is alive. These claws are very strong and with one quick snip can give you a broken finger if your not careful. The bands are to be removed as soon as the lobster is dead.

Defrosting frozen lobster meat or whole lobsters can destroy the flavors of them. Do not overcook when heating they should only be warm not hot to the touch. The meat will become a lot tougher if it gets to hot or is cooked to long.

For fresh live lobsters it only takes 10 to 14 minutes to boil per pound. All you need is a very large pot for boiling them with salt added and crab or seafood boil if you want them to turn out with more of a Louisiana flavor. Place lobster head first into pot and cook until the shells turn a bright shade of red. This means they are ready to be moved from the pot.

Lobsters heads hold much of the water they were boiled in so making a slight hole in them will drain out the cooking juices and seal the flavors in. This helps the meat inside stay tender and just ripe with flavor.

Casseroles and stews are even better when you add in the water the lobster was cooked within. It will only add to the flavor of these dishes. You can also freeze the broth until it is needed.

An important thing to remember is too be sure the lobsters you are cooking is in good health. Never cook a lobster whose tail is straight this means he died in transit or before cooking. You should always take a sniff of your lobsters before cooking to make sure they all smell of freshness. If there is a strange unrecognizable scent to them then never cook them as they could make you and your family sick. They are best cooked as soon as you receive them.

When preparing to cook your live lobster know that the hard shell takes longer to cook and the softer shelled ones take less time.

You can also grill whole lobsters on a hot to medium hot setting. Whole lobsters are placed onto a pre-heated grill and then left on one side til it turns bright red then turned and left on opposite side until that is the same in color. Serve with delicious garlic butter and gumbo if you have it on hand.

You can split live lobsters for delivery and cook on the grill too if a whole one is too much for just one person to eat. Start with the meat side down and turn once 3-4 minutes is up and when on the shell side cook about 6-8 minutes more until shell is bright red shade and meat is very tender. It is important to remember not to overcook.