Boiled Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Choose a heavy, lively lobster.
Boil a kettle of water with salt.
Cook
Add the lobster to the boiling water and cook for about 30 minutes.
Remove the lobster, wipe it clean, and rub the shell with salad oil.
Divide and serve
Crack the claws without mashing them.
Split the body and tail lengthwise with a sharp knife.
Separate the head from the body, keeping the division nearly imperceptible.
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
- Lobster
- Forms the main body of the dish, with sweet, firm meat that sets as it cooks.
- Salad oil
- Coats the cooked shell, adding a little sheen and moisture to its surface.
The step that matters
Cooking the lobster in boiling water. Lobster meat turns firm and rubbery if overcooked, so timing in the boiling water matters. The record's 30 minutes is the guide, and the lobster should be added only once the water is boiling so the cooking starts evenly.
“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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