Put the lobster in the freezer.

The freezer?

Steamed Lobster tl;dr

With that being said I needed to learn how to prepare the shellfish. First off you need to get your lobster fresh; as in it’s still kickin’ and clawin’ at the time of purchase. Then you got to keep that bad boy fresh till the time you cook it because no one, trust me, NO ONE wants to eat bad lobster.

F8T Tip Don’t buy dead lobster!

Nadia LOVES Steamed Lobster

It has also been brought to my attention that if you are curious at all how to humanely kill the shellfish as opposed to dropping them into the steamer, that you should place your lobster into the freezer for about 15 minutes followed up with a knife cut into the head.

Whether you believe they feel pain or not is up to debate, however I generally forgo this step because I forget.

Equipment

• Pot – to boil water in and steam lobster
• Rack – either a steaming rack that goes inside or on top of the pot which you can enclose, probably with a lid
• Tongs – so you don’t burn your hands
• *optional* Bowl – fill with water and ice and dip the lobster in for 5 minutes to stop cooking process

Ingredients

• 1- 1.25 – 1.5 lbs Lobster
• 0.5 gallon / 2 quarts of water
• 4 tablespoons of salt or sea salt  OR  7 tablespoons  kosher salt (just remember for kosher use more)
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• Half a lemon
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Now when it comes to cooking the little red shelled beast, I prefer to steam it. I find that it take a few minutes longer, it’s easier to clean up, maintains a fresher taste and it’s less likely for you to overcook it. If you look on the internet for directions, you’ll find a plethora of cooking times.

For simplicity sake, let’s say you get a lobster between 1.25 – 1.5 lbs. Depending on altitude, hard shell or soft shell, and a number of other factors, cooking time can range anywhere from 7 – 14 minutes. If you like it a little undercooked, like me, you’ll opt for a cooking time in the lower range.

Whatever time you cook it for, pulling off the antennae can help determine whether it’s cooked through. If the antennae come of really easily then it’s done and done. If the antennae doesn’t come out quickly then leave it in for a minute more. If the lobster grabs your fingers with it’s claw then you need to turn the heat up higher…

A lot higher.

How We Cook It – actual cooking time 10 minutes

1. Grab lobster
2. *optional* Freeze lobster for 15 minutes and a knife chop through the head to humanely kill it
3. Put about half a gallon of water in pot and cover with lid
4. Turn on heat to high
5. Let it come to a boil
6. Remove lid and pour in 4 tablespoons of table salt
7. Place steaming rack on top
8. Place lobster into steaming rack and cover with lid
9. Wait about 10 minutes and then give a quick pull of the antennae – if it comes off quick you’re done, if not then cook for another minute
10. Turn off flame and pull out the lobster with tongs and place into ice bath
11. While chilling, mix together 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, the lemon juice of half a lemon with a couple grinds of salt and pepper
12. Pull out lobster and remove the flesh from the shell over a pan to not make a wet mess all over the place
13. Once done, dip the lobster meat into the mayo and enjoy!

In the end, you are looking for the meat in the tail to go from translucent to some kind of white depending on how rare you like it, the more white, the more cooked it is. Afterwards you can eat it however which way you want it.

• I like to chill it and then dip with a mayonnaise based sauce.
• Or you could eat  it plain.
• Or go traditional with a little lemon and butter sauce.

Whatever way you enjoy eating your crustacean, enjoy!

How do you like it eat your lobster?