What is the best way to cook a lobster;from start to finish?

My family and I prefer steamed lobster. But lobster is good….period.

KILLING:

Make sure the rubber bands around the claws stay on during this process, as you don’t want to be dodging the claws while cutting up the lobster.

You must first cut it in half down the center. This job is one that is best left to a 10 inch chefs’ knife, and one with a good deal of heft.

Step 1. With the lobster sitting where the tail curls towards the table, flatten it out and in one hand grasp the tail where it joins the body.

In the other hand, take the knife’s point and aim for the place an inch or an inch and a half from between the eyes towards the tail. The blade of the knife should be facing away from your hand that is holding the tail.
Step 2. Press the point of the knife into the head at that point until the point of the knife goes all the way through the lobster’s head to the cutting board, then bring the blade down between the eyes to finish the cut of the head.
This kills the lobster as quickly and painlessly as possible.

BOIL:
Boiling is one of the simplest ways to cook a lobster, and is probably best for the squeamish that don’t wish to cut up a live lobster with a knife. Some say that you can ‘hypnotize’ a lobster by rubbing the top of its head or its abdomen, thereby pacifying it before boiling. The theory is that the adrenaline produced by a frightened lobster adversely affects the texture and flavor of the meat. I have never seen or tasted any evidence of this, but if you want to cover all possible bases, go ahead and hypnotize your lobster. It is important to select a pot big enough to hold enough water to cover the lobsters completely. Bring the water to a rolling boil and add 1 tablespoon salt per quart of water. Put the lobsters in claws first and begin timing from the moment the water comes back to a boil.

To steam lobsters, cook them, covered, in a steamer basket above boiling water. They will need 1 to 2 minutes less, as the steam is hotter than boiling water.

For 1 pound: 5 minutes
1 1/8 pounds: 6 minutes
1 1/4 pounds: 8 minutes
1 1/2 to 2 pounds: 8 to 10 minutes
more than 2 pounds : 12 minutes

GRILL:

Turn the lobster the other way and cut the tail in the same fashion as killing the lobster.

Along the center of the lobster are three kinds of viscera, the dark green are the stomach and intestine that should be scraped out and discarded, and the yellow-green and coral are the liver, or tomalley, and the roe, which are both delicious and can be left in.

Remove the claws, and crack them with the back side (not the sharp side) of the knife. I prefer to do this inside a plastic bag to minimize the mess.

To grill the lobster
Place the claws still encased in the cracked shell on the hotter part of the grates.

Salt and pepper the inside open half of the lobster and grill it 2-3 minutes

turn over the body and the claws and grill for another 4 minutes.

If the flame flares up, move the lobster to a cooler part of the grill, or move it until the flame calms down.
To bake or broil a lobster
Prepare in the same manner as above and, for broiling, place the lobster at least eight inches from the flame in a shallow fry or saute pan and begin with the cut side down for 3-4 minutes.

When the shell has turned bright red, turn and reapply butter and finish for another 3 minutes.

Be sure to check for doneness, as broiler temperatures vary. Use the same method in the oven at 425 degrees.

STEAM:

Steaming is a great way to cook but not overcook a lobster’s delicate meat. In order to properly steam a lobster, you need a sturdy and close to airtight steamer. The best steamer setup is a steamer insert inside a lobster pot with a fitted, heavy lid. This setup will work well on a stove top, but if you’re feeding more than eight people, it would be a good idea to cook the lobsters in a large stockpot on a propane “crab boil” burner outside. If that’s not possible, just be sure not to crowd your pan too much and to keep the water in the bottom of the pan at a serious rolling boil. It’s better to cook the lobsters in several small batches and cook them correctly.

This ingredient list is a basic suggestion for what will only lightly flavor the lobster meat. If I chose the ingredients in order if importance, it would be: salt, herbs, onion, peppercorn, garlic, bay leaf, lemon, celery. One real necessity, however is salt. Some hard core lobster boiler and steamers only cook them using seawater. Another tactic is to use fresh seaweed mixed in with the seawater to add even more flavor. The premise of this is that boiling or steaming a lobster in water with a lower salinity than the lobster will leach tasty salt from the lobster through osmosis, thus the need for highly salted drawn butter. I think a good amount of salt is 1 tablespoon salt per 1 quart of water. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that much salt will significantly lower the boiling point of the water, because it takes a whole ounce of salt per quart of water to raise the boiling point just one degree.

Steamed Lobster Recipe

1 tablespoon salt per 1 quart water added
2-2 pound Maine lobsters
1 medium onion, rough chopped (approximately 3/4 inch square )
2 stalks celery, rough chopped
1 tsp cracked peppercorns
2 bay leaves
whole branches of fresh dill (if no dill, substitute tarragon or parsley)

Cover vegetables and seasonings with 1 1/2 inches of water.

If you want to kill the lobsters first, click here to learn how to kill a lobster.

Bring to a boil and add the steamer basket with the lobsters in it and cover tightly.

Cook for 15 minutes, making sure there’s still enough water in the bottom of the pot. If you do add more water, it is not necessary to add more salt, because only the water evaporates.

Check for doneness with one of the small legs. Then, remove from the pot and crack the lobster and enjoy!.

Our fave recipe:

LOBSTER BISQUE

6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
4 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 cups cooked lobster meat, shredded
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup light cream

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper and celery salt until well blended. Gradually stir in the milk so that no lumps form, and then stir in the chicken stock. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the soup begins to thicken. Add the onion and lobster; season with paprika. Cook and stir for 10 more minutes. Stir in the cream, heat through and serve.

Boiled

Ingredients

2 lobsters
Sea Salt, Kosher Salt or Regular Salt
Instructions

Fill a large kettle 3/4 full of water, allowing about 21/2 quarts of water for each lobster. Add 2 TBSP. of salt for each quart of water. When water boils, put in the live lobsters one at a time headfirst, completely submerging them. Let the water boil again. Lower the heat, cover and simmer.

15 minutes for 1 – 11/4 pound hard-shell lobsters
20 minutes for 11/2 – 2 pound hard-shell lobsters.
Reduce cooking time by 3 minutes for new-shell lobsters.
Lobsters are done when the outer shell is bright red or the antennae pull out easily. Take them out carefully, let them cool, then cut in half, loose the meat and then. Serve with melted butter

Sauces

Melted butter, with optional lemon, white wine, a dot of Tabasco. For a fancy sauce – mix melted butter with sea urchin roe and white wine.
Or cold with mayonnaise