It was a good day on the water

[Habanero Smoker]

Nice looking fish!

Manxman, Lobster is my favorite food and have only had them in restraunts.  I have never cooked them myself.  Got any instructions?  I have access to the small Florida Lobsters here in my area.  A little expensive but obtainable.  Plan to get up to Maine one of these summers and try to get fat on them.

Make sure you have one of the locals help you pick out the lobster, or you may wind up with a lobster full of water with little meat. Also as soon as you get across the state border buy a book on "How To Talk Yankee", so you can understand the locals. ;D By the way, Maine is one of my favorite states to visit.

[LilSmoker]

Nice looking fish!

Manxman, Lobster is my favorite food and have only had them in restraunts.  I have never cooked them myself.  Got any instructions?  I have access to the small Florida Lobsters here in my area.  A little expensive but obtainable.  Plan to get up to Maine one of these summers and try to get fat on them.

Hi Wildcat, seafood is and always has been my favourite food, with crab and lobster at the top of the list, i used to buy them live and prepare them myself, i still do when i get time, but i envy Manx in being able to actually catch them also, i've caught a few, but always too small for the pot ::)

Anyway here's how i do my lobsters:

First of all the method of killing the lobster is varied, and some ways are more humane than others?

I either put the lobster in the freezer for a couple of hours, this is said to be a very humane way of dispatching, as it supposedly slows down the metabolism, and doesn't cause any suffering?

Another way is to drown it in fresh water, i always used to do this with crabs, as i was told by a fishmonger that if you don't drown/kill a crab before boiling, the legs sometimes drop off, caused by shock?

Some just drop the live crab/lobster into boiling water, and swear by it for good results, but i either use the freezer, or drowning method.

Ok as for the cooking, you want a nice big saucepan or cooking pot, fill with enough water to completely cover the lobster, i add a fair amount of salt, then boil the water.

Drop in the lobster, and bring back to the boil, for a lobster up to about  1 1/2lb  boil/simmer for 15 minutes if the lobster is bigger than 1 1/2lb add 5 mins per lb extra.

Once the cooking is finished, pour the whole lot into a strainer and thoroughly rinse off.

Allow to cool, and then it's ready to eat   ;)

Hope this helps my friend, if i can help further, let me know, if i missed out anything hopefully Manx will correct me

This has got me all hungry now, ;D i'm off to find a fishmonger!

LilSmoker

[Wildcat]

Habs - Thanks for the tips.  Luckily I worked for 28 years for the Navy and 8 years active duty Army. Except for a few phrases I can generally interpret Yankee.  ;D  Are you serious about a lobster full of water?  Maine and Hawaii are the only two states in the US that I have not been to or thru.  I have seen enough photo's and write ups and talked with friends that were from Maine to know that I want to go there.  Could care less about Hawaii.  Costs to much to get there and even more to stay there.  Would have been nice in my younger days.

LilSmoker - That sounds pretty simple.  Thanks.  Any way to determine if they are done other than time?

Some of these local rednecks said to use crab boil.  I also love crabs but have not enjoyed the ones that were done with crab boil.  I think your method will be better.  Now if I can figure out how to do the melted butter like the restraunts do.  I love theirs.  Everything I have tried so far does not come out the same.  I also love that butter on grilled fish and shrimp.

[Habanero Smoker]

Yes, I'm serious. If you are buying off the boat, you have to be cautious. If you are ordering from a restaurant, or buying from a store, you are alright. If you know what you are doing, you can tell by squeezing them. I have a friend who grew up in Maine, and his father use to rent cottages on the ocean front. The way it was explained to me, when they grow a new shell, they may look large, but they may have not fully grown to fill the shell.

I used to go up there almost every August. When his parents pasted away he sold the property. Another thing I used to love, was walking along the shoreline digging for clams. You could find either the mahogany, or soft shell clams.

[LilSmoker]

Any way to determine if they are done other than time?

Yes there's a few ways, don't remove the lobster from the boiling water until the shell is bright red, another way to tell if it's done is to pull off one of the antennae or one of the small legs, they should come off very easily if it's done.

For absolute peace of mind, if you have a probe type thermometer, the internal temp of a properly cooked lobster should be 180f  ;)

Habs: I've also been told about the growing into the new shell thing, biggest lobster i've ever seen was about 10 years ago, i was working on one of the channel islands Guernsey. Well i used to work for around 2-3 weeks then return home for a few days, and each time i would bring back lots of shellfish from the fishmarket there. One day went to go and order some crab and lobster, the guy said hey i've got something to show you, he took me out the back, and pointed to a tray, in the tray was this huge lobster! really huge!

The guy told me that one of the local hotels had bought it, he also said it was the biggest he'd ever seen, and he went on to explain about the new shell etc.
Anyway he assured me that this lobster was a true heavyweight!

LilSmoker

[Wildcat]

Thanks guys!  I would have been a sucker on the water thing. I understand now LS about when they are done.  Just like with crab and boiled shrimp, when the color has changed it is time for dinner.  ;D

Any ideas on the butter thing?  I have tried store bought drawn butter (yuk).  I have also drawn my own (yuk again).  I tried salted and unsalted butter melted with and without lemon juice added.  Just can't seem to figure it out.

[manxman]

Manxman, Lobster is my favorite food and have only had them in restraunts.  I have never cooked them myself.  Got any instructions?

Some good advice already given but heres what I do.

Because lobster are significantly thinner shelled than crab I think they do not need cooking nearly as much as most internet sites and cook books recommend, I think these tend to err on the side of caution because of "Elf and Safety"!

I put the lobster in the freezer for 60 - 90 minutes to slow its metabolism and "stun" it then plunge it into vigorously boiling salty water. Once the water returns to the boil which only takes a few seconds I cook it for around 9 minutes for a standard size 1lb to 1.5 lb one. If it is a bit bigger then I would add 3 or 4 minutes.

After it has been done I plunge it into icy cold water to stop the cooking process and leave it in for 5 - 10 minutes with perhaps one change of water.

After that I stand it on a plate to let the water drain out of it, giving it a bit of a shake occasionally.

Then I either freeze it or eat it. Cooking it this way also allows for warming it up on the grill gently at a later date or whatever without ending up with  lobster meat that is like rubber.

Because crabs have thicker shells I generally boils the sh*te out of them for about 15 minutes!! I worked in a shellfish processing factory as a teenager and any crabs that came out of the cooking vats that had lost claws were considered fair game and we feasted on the shed claws regularly! That was where I learnt to plunge the lobster/crab in icy cold water, we used to hose the mounds of them down with icy cold seawater.  ;) :D

When buying looks for lobster that havent got eggs underneath the tails or have a soft shell, both are illegal to sell here in the UK but notwithstanding that they are not in peak condition in any case and should be avoided. If buying live look for ones that are lively rather than those that look like they are on their last legs, I would NEVER cook one that is already dead no matter what some internet sites of sellers may say. "It has only just died" is not good enough, shellfish go off so quickly when dead.

There is a lot of advice given about lobster welfare and there is a "Lobster Liberation Army" here in the Uk that has been sabotaging lobstermens pots and stock boxes and vandalising the boats....... sad or what!  :o

[Wildcat]

Thanks Manxman.  Between you and LS I have received a valuable education (to me).  ;D  I did not realize it was so easy.  Any recommendation for the salt to water ratio?  I think I may pick up some lobster the next time I go to buy some more butts and briskets.  ;D

[Kummok]

....
Rather jealous, pulled my lobster/crab pots today and took the boat out of the water   :'( :'( :'( as the season is nigh on coming to a close over here. Been a cr*p summer weatherwise as far as using the boat is concerned, roll on next season!  ;)
....

Bring it up here, Manx....the feeder King season is just getting started!! ;)

[manxman]

Bring it up here, Manx....the feeder King season is just getting started!!

Now that is a good idea Kummock..... wonder what the freight will be!!??  ;) :D :D

Any recommendation for the salt to water ratio?

Only roughly, I have a stock pot that I use for cooking the lobster. Guess I put around 8 - 10 pints of water in it and a couple of tablespoons of salt.

Only ever cook one lobster at a time.....

hope this helps.

[Wildcat]

I appreciate the help.  Will be trying it real soon.

[manxman]

Will be trying it real soon.

Let us know how you get on, any particular lobster recipes you like?  :)

[Wildcat]

Can't really think of any.  I love lobster and do not get it often (primarily because it costs so much in the restraunts), and I like it in pure form with melted butter.  I have tried it in dip form, but it seems to be lacking in that department.  Now crab or clam dip is great!   I have also had grilled lobster, but grilled shrimp is better.  Thanks for the offer though.

[LilSmoker]

Any ideas on the butter thing?  I have tried store bought drawn butter (yuk).  I have also drawn my own (yuk again).  I tried salted and unsalted butter melted with and without lemon juice added.  Just can't seem to figure it out.

Hi Wildcat, i'm not too sure on the drawn butter thing, i believe "Drawn butter" is clarified butter with the fat and solids removed?, i think it also has flour and other ingredients added, it's also known as "ghee" in Asia i think?

Whenever i do garlic king prawns/crevettes etc, i make a type of garlic butter that i suppose would be classed as drawn?

Here's what i do, i melt some butter in a saucepan, once the butter clarifies, the fat will come to the top, and the solids/sediment will sink to the bottom, ladle the clarified/drawn butter into a dish.
Next i finely chop some garlic and parsley, pour the required ammount of butter into a pan, add the garlic, heat enough to dissolve the garlic, add required ammount of salt and pepper, add the chopped parsley, then take off the heat, add some fresh lime juice, stir well then serve.

You can add other stuff to experiment, lemon, chopped coriander etc, i always try and keep it fairly simple, i suppose flour could be added to it also.

Hope this helps some  ;)

LilSmoker

[manxman]

I like it in pure form with melted butter.

I tend to agree although LS's garlic butter above looks excellent!