To Boil Lobsters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Buy live lobsters that are heavy and active.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the salt.
Cook
Add the lobsters to the boiling water.
Boil quickly for 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size, skimming as needed.
Finish
Rub the shell with a little butter or sweet oil, then wipe off.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the boiling water so the lobster meat is lightly flavored as it cooks.
- Lobsters
- Provide the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as the heat sets its proteins.
The step that matters
Boil quickly for 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size. Keeping the water at a hard boil after the lobsters go in keeps cooking fast and even. Cooking too long toughens the meat as its proteins over-tighten and lose moisture, so timing should match the lobster's size.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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