Mad_Gecko

Just having a quick discussion about throwing the live creepy crawlies in the pot with my flatmate. Well, I would normally maintain stick 'em in the freezer for 5-10 mins. so they ain't so lively when the hot water hit's em (the date don't worry so much when they don't wriggle, ladies seem to be a bit squemish when they move around a bit).

However he says that you should kill 'em first 'cause it stops something happening.

Now we both have had hectic childhoods and neither one of us can figger out which is the best way. Please help, other wise I'm gonna be Pol Pot'n lobsters for the rest of my life .

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dimbulb

i've read that you should poke a knife into their brains to kill them. Freezing or chilling them should also work.

ME? i just dump them head first into the pot. It's basically a nervous reaction that makes them squirm. Its like how if you chop an arm off, the arm will still squirm.... but won't feel pain, since you need a brain to feel pain.

oh, and make sure the water is BOILING. i had a friend who wasn't such a good cook, put lobsters in lukewarm water, then boiled them alive. which may not be such a bad idea, kinda like the frog who gets boiled alive thing. kinda hard to control the degree of cooking though, and thats the KEY to good lobster.

stldickie

toss them into rapidly boiling water...and look away if you cant handle it

PayUp

kill them first.with the sharp edge of the knife facing the claw end, a little less than half way down the body press knife in straight down then pull knife down. kinda like your try to split the body in half. poach in some water, lemon juice, white wine, carrots, celery, onions and some fresh herbs. that poaching liquid is called court-bouillon.

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splck

I just toss them in boiling water and slam the lid, but you can kill them quickly by shoving a kitchen knife straight into the top of it's head. When you do this the lobster will wiggle and spap like crazy for ten minutes...It's lots of fun.
Well, to be honest, the thing won't wiggle and snap, it will die really fast. Then when you toss it in your boiling water it won't squirm.
Where did you get the little beauties?

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collide

Heh, it's amusing to me that people get squeamish over things that they have to kill themselves versus cooking something already prepackaged. At some point someone has to kill and pluck a chicken for you to buy at the supermarket, but as long as it's out of sight, it's out of mind; and no matter how you end up killing the little critter(s), there's really no humane way to do it, IMO. Something's got to suffer if I want my meat.

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Mad_Gecko

splk

Have to special order em from the fish market... Pretty rare to get 'em live here in blighty. Although in S. Florida we used to be able to spear 'em in about 30ft of water . (illegal, but easier than crawlin' under coral for 'em).

I personally try to cook 'em live. It's just my flatmate heard that it's better to cook 'em dead, although admittedly he might be talkin about crabs, he's not sure so I thought I'd ask.

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Totally Head

Thanks for the post! you have my vote

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Daval

I worked for years in Seafood restaurants so I consider myself a slight authority in the matter.

You should always cook a lobster alive. Drop it head first into rapidly boiling water and it will die within seconds.

If you kill it immediately you can, but make sure you clean out the innards, otherwise they will leach into the water and affect the taste.

For stuffed lobsters or broiled lobsters you put the lobster on its back, slice it from head to just before the tail, crack it open and run it under fast running water to clean out the innards, then place in your favourite stuffing and put it in the oven.

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meff

That's scary. Shyla said they just rattle around for a few minutes before they die, creepy

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Buzz

I just put them in the pot head first like everyone else.. Its just a big sea bug...

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Ripsaw

Big sea roach, you mean.

I love lobsters. I have been eating them for at least two decades, so I've put my share of them away. I've experimented with all manner of ways to prepare them. The best way I've found has been the salted, boiling water method. If you pierce behind the head carapace to get to the brain, you break the integrity of the shell, which can dilute the flavor of the lobster. They die quickly when plunged into the boiling water. Whatever spasms you see are reflexive, much like the chickens that run around when you chop off their heads.

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Cynthetiq

you could watch ONE CRAZY SUMMER for lobster killing ideas

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Hanxter

oh so you don't keep the "shorts"??? we know how ya like bugs - heheheh...

there's is a toxic membrane in the head portion of a lobster - if you miss in the piercing the toxins may be released into the rest - so do be careful...

as a purist, i steam mine - in a steamer with a basket insert bring 2 inches of water to a rapid boil and insert the basket with the sea spiders inside - after 12 - 15 minutes grab an antenna and hold it stright up so that the body is suspended - if the critter falls off it's done...

you can boil them but they will absorb the water, so you have to be careful you don't scald yourself in the picking...

also, you can cook them ahead and nuke them later at 2 minutes on screach - wait a minute then again at 1 minute on screach...

Buzz and i know a guy that just throws them in the nuke alive to watch them hop and skip - it's like watching a cat with a 220 plug up it's ass - sorry peta - i'm a meat eater...

Buzz

Yea But we know the guy that nukes Um is a sick bastard anyway ... Right Hank....

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Hanxter

sick sick sick

yabobo

I do not put them in boiling anything.........
It dilutes the natural sweetness of the lobster
I place them in a steam basket, I'm not worried that they flop
around dead is dead and your going to eat them anyway.
Steam allows their natural sweetness to concentrate.
You need all the help you can get for the florida lobster.
Worst tasting crustation in the oceans.

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perripken

Definately the best way, drop 'em in head first. There are all kinds of storie's about them thrashing around and squealing, etc.
I've cooked my share of lobster and have never seen one thrash around. They die instantly! The squealing you hear is steam releasing from under the shell.

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Binder

i just drop them head first into boiling water.
but the steaming idea sounds good, i may try that.

Metallica_Band

Hey there...I was just thinking...Why are lobsters boiled alive??? Isn't boiling ANY live animal considered cruel??? Do lobsters feel it???

I remember seeing some guy cooking lobster and he decided to rip off one of its legs and stab it in the back (he was mean to all animals...the kinda guy that hunts, burns ants with magnifying glasses, kicks dogs, etc)...but the lobster didn't act differently...it even continued eating the little amount of food that the guy left it cause the lobster wasn't gonna be cooked until a few/several hours later and he didn't want it to go dying on him...kinda retarded to do to a poor defenseless lobster...now if I had MY arms ripped off and was stabbed in the back I don't think I would want to be in the mood to eat anything...

How can this be explained??? Why can't you just kill the lobster in a nice quick way and THEN boil it??? Wouldn't that be the nicer thing to do??? If you are one of the ppl that boils poor lobsters alive then I hope one day the lobster you are about to cook will break free of its rubber bands and pinch your fingers off and eat them for a snack...poor lobster......THANX
C'YA ?:-D