Tips For Fine Lobster Cooking

Enjoying fresh, moist lobster is a fine delicacy, and thankfully preparing a live lobster is rather easy! One warning any chef will share is that it is important to cook it immediately and to avoid over-cooking, and therefore drying out the delicate meat. A fresh and thoroughly cooked piece of lobster will be white in color, firm, and juicy. To prepare a lobster and keep it’s fresh from-the-sea flavor Fine Lobster recommends several traditional cooking techniques.
The easiest, most delicious way to cook a live lobster is by boiling as takes least amount of time. Start with a big pot and fill it with seawater (easy for those close to the ocean) or with water heavily salted, roughly about two gallons of water per three pounds of lobster. Thankfully, being crustaceans, they are similar to other arthropods (such as insects) and have a very primitive nervous system that lacks a cerebral cortex, or the part of the brain in humans that detects pain. Therefore, the best process is to place the live lobster head first into boiling water. An easy rule of thumb is to boil the lobster for about eight minutes per pound, and it will be cooked thoroughly but not over done.
Another Fine Lobster recommendation is to steam your live lobster, as it is harder to over cook them and equally delicious as boiling. Select a pot large enough to hold all of the lobster without crowding them, place a steaming rack and about two inches of seawater (or heavily salted water) in the bottom. Over high heat, bring it to a boil, and add the live lobsters one at a time and cover. Steaming takes about ten minutes per pound, but halfway through ensure they are cooking evenly by shifting them around being careful of the hot steam.
Finally, one cooking technique that is often used is parboiling, or partially cooking the meat to later finish it. Parboiling is a great technique for when one wants refrigerate or freeze a whole lobster to finish cooking it later when needed. This also works well to later include the meat in a stir-fry, or even finish it on a grill and avoid drying it out. Before placing the parboiled meat on a hot grill, be certain to brush it with olive oil to avoid it sticking or drying out.
Parboiling follows the same rules as boiling, however only cook the lobster for about two minutes per pound instead of eight. Be sure when done to immediately rinse it in cold water to stop the cooking process. Unless leaving the meat in the whole shell to freeze or refrigerate and finish boiling later, it is advised you remove the meat as this is when it will be easiest. If planning on finishing the meat on the grill, serving a lobster tail on the shell creates a beautiful presentation (it is also easier to handle while grilling!) Simply snip the tail shell lengthwise and pull the meat out and rest it on top of the shell, leaving it connected nearest the tail flipper.
No matter how you prepare it, there is nothing like a fine, fresh Maine lobster to compliment any special occasion. We recommend pairing it with clarified butter or sauce and a fine white wine will bring out the best flavor of the lobster.