Storing & Cooking Your Lobsters

Storing

Relax!  Lobsters travel well and ordering of lobsters via overnight shipping is common in the United States.  Live Lobsters store well in the bottom of your refrigerator, covered with a damp cloth.  Check them regularly, however, and if there is any doubt -- cook right away. Once cooked, treat them as any cooked food, storing for up to four days in the coldest part of your refrigerator.   To be safe, however, try to plan to cook your lobster upon arrival to be safe (CharlestonSeafood.com can only guarantee that your lobsters will arrive live, but cannot be responsible for their condition thereafter).

Cooking

Using your largest pot, fill it half way with fresh water, adding plenty of salt.  Bring to a vigorous boil. 

1.      Drop lobsters in the water and return to a boil.

2.      When the water resumes boiling, begin timing.  Boil for 15 minutes for lobsters up to 1 1/2lbs. -- add 5 minutes per pound over that.

3.      When the time is up, carefully pour the lobsters and water into your sink.  Wash off the lobsters with fresh water to remove any surplus protein.

4.      Allow time to cool then prepare as follows: 

Eating

Pull off the claws and crack them, and remove the white meat.  Next, choose one of the two following techniques:  

1.   Pull off the tail and peel like a shrimp, then cut the body lengthwise in half.  Remove the gray feathery gills. The top shell will have a little cream in it (like a crab), and the body (where the legs and claws were attached) contains more white meat.  Try using the handle of a teaspoon for extracting it.

or ...

2.   Using a large pointed chopping knife, locate the center of the cross conveniently located on the top of the shell, and push the point vertically through the shell and down through between the eyes. Turn the lobster around and with the knife reversed in the same hole, cut down through the tail. Separate the meat as above.