Live Lobster Cook Times

[AustinSTI]

Hi all. I'm planning on cooking 2 live lobsters tonight. I'm going to boil them at the same time. They are 3.06 lbs between the 2 and about 1.5 lbs each. My question is how long should I cook them? Cook times on the web don't say whether the times apply if cooking multiple lobsters in the same pot. Should I cook them for the sum (IE the time for 3lbs) or the time for 1.5lbs?

Thanks!

 

[BreezyCooking]

I boil 2 of this size all the time &, assuming you have the water at a rolling boil at the time you pop them in, I do mine for 20 minutes from time of insertion, or 15 minutes from the time the water comes back to a boil. They always come out terrific - cooked thru but still moist & flavorful. If one lobster is larger than the other, adding another 5 minutes to the time doesn't hurt the smaller one a bit.

This is why I like boiling over steaming, because if you need to add a few minutes to cook a slightly oversized lobster, the smaller ones end up overcooked with the meat sticking to the shells - something that, after over 30 years of cooking lobsters, I've NEVER had happen when boiling them

 

[elaine l]

I agree with Breezy. I use to do the same thing when cooking live lobster. My mother likes to put peppercorns and celery in the water. I have never done that. I haven't cooked one in a long while since all of a sudden it gives me the creeps to drop it in the water. However, I feel no guilt when eating one prepared by someone else.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Yeah Elaine - I agree. I used to add stuff to the cooking water & never saw a difference, so no longer bother.

 

[college_cook]

If you want some really killer lobster, I've read that a great way to do it is to pour boiling water over your live lobsters in a large pot, just enough to cover the lobsters, and let them sit for 2-3 minutes. Then working quickly, crack those boys open and get out all of the meat (some of it will be hot) and poach the lobster meat in butter.

Cooking the lobsters in the water for only a few minutes cooks just the meat that is next to the shell, and cause the meat to separate from the inner walls of the shell, making it easy for you to pull out all of that (mostly) uncooked meat and cook it in something that offers a little more flavor than water.

 

[ChefJune]

If you want some really killer lobster, I've read that a great way to do it is to pour boiling water over your live lobsters in a large pot, just enough to cover the lobsters, and let them sit for 2-3 minutes. Then working quickly, crack those boys open and get out all of the meat (some of it will be hot) and poach the lobster meat in butter.

Cooking the lobsters in the water for only a few minutes cooks just the meat that is next to the shell, and cause the meat to separate from the inner walls of the shell, making it easy for you to pull out all of that (mostly) uncooked meat and cook it in something that offers a little more flavor than water.

that''s the way top restaurants do them...

 

[AustinSTI]

Thanks to all - the Lobster turned out PERFECTLY...

 

[kitchenelf]

Thanks to all - the Lobster turned out PERFECTLY...

Good! I can't imagine lobster being too bad anyway

 

[BreezyCooking]

You're right Kitchenelf - hard to kill lobster. Actually, the only really unpleasant lobster experiences I've had have been when they've been overcooked via broiling or grilling (methods I don't use), & one REALLY unpleasant time when I made the mistake of not only dining at "Red Lobster", but ordering a lobster during one of their "LobsterFests".

The poor thing must have been sitting under the heat lamps for Lord knows how long - to the point where we had to send the claws back because neither husband nor I could crack them. (I'm thinking they took them out back & drove a truck over them in the parking lot.) It's the one & only time in my life that I got sick from eating a lobster - literally wanted to die later on that night. Have to wonder how long that one had been sitting around. Haven't been back to Red Lobster since.

 

[college_cook]

You're right Kitchenelf - hard to kill lobster.

I think that's intersting, because personally, I have never had a lobster that I have liked even a little bit, except for some claw meat from lobters that Chef cooked for a wine tasting dinner last fall. I asked him about it and he said I've probably never had a properly cooked lobster. He said it's very easy to overcook one if you don't know what you're doing, and that makes sense to me; it seems that all shellfish get very tough and rather unpleasant to eat when overcooked. All of the lobsters I've eaten have been like a wet dish towel in texture, and tasted like water; probably because they were being "held" in a steam table for hours on end.

I can't seem to work up the courage to buy a lobster to cook it myself; I seem to have some sort of phobia about spending that kind of money on something that I might very well not be able to eat 3 bites of.

 

[GB]

PLEASE give it a shot college cook. Lobster, when cooked right, is one of the tastiest foods on earth. Steam it or boil it (you can't tell the difference in taste) and serve with drawn or regular melted butter (I prefer regular melted). That is really all you need. Take a trip to Maine or MA and go to a lobster shack. Stay away from places like Red Lobster. You will not be sorry.

 

[GRESCH]

I can't bring myself to eat lobster, to me it looks like the ocean version of a cockroach....


(nice post for my first one huh? :P )

 

[buckytom]

wlecome gresch. lol, can you imagine who was the first guy to say, "hmm, that giant sea bug looks tasty"...

i'd echo gb's post. stay away from (everything over salted and over cooked) red lobster and either take a trip up nawth, or do it yourself at home. the difference is amazing.

btw, for 1.5 pounders and under, i boil mine for 10 to 15 minutes, tops, depending if they're hard or softshell. 3 to 5 minutes more for each half pound over that. no more or it'll get tough and stringy.

and they must be eaten right away, so have your melted, preferrably clarified butter and side dishes ready as you toss the little beasts into their boiling pot of doom.

college cook and chefjune, the par boiling then poaching in butter sounds great. gonna have to try that! thanks.

 

[mitmondol]

I seem to have some sort of phobia about spending that kind of money on something that I might very well not be able to eat 3 bites of.

And that brings me to the question, why is lobster so expensive?

 

[BreezyCooking]

Lobster Prices

Re: lobster expense - while there are a number of reasons, including supply & demand, time it takes for lobsters to reach marketable size, habitat destruction & water pollution, etc. - one of the biggest reasons (& one that pertains to hard-shell blue-claw crabs as well), is that unlike shrimp & finfish, lobsters must be marketed LIVE. Not to mention the claws have to be pegged &/or banded; egg-laden females have to be tossed back, along with undersized specimens. All in all - a lot of hands-on fishing.

And this means a lot of extra care between the time they're hauled onto the boat & the time they're dumped into the tank of your local market. A dead lobster is a no sale, whether it dies during transport or in the market's tank. One-clawed specimens (or culls) are either tossed or priced down.

Any commodity that has to be sold live (lobsters, crabs, clams, shell-on oysters, etc.) is always going to be pricey.