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To Boil a Lobster

This recipe boils lobsters in salted water for 30 minutes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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To Boil a Lobster

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Fill a kettle with enough water to cover the lobsters.

  2. Before the water gets very hot, add the lobsters to the kettle.

  3. Add 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt.

Boil

  1. Cover the kettle and boil for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Lobsters
The main protein; its meat firms and turns opaque as it cooks, giving a firm, tender texture.

The step that matters

Cover the kettle and boil for 30 minutes. Lobster meat turns firm and rubbery when overcooked, so keeping to the set time matters. Proteins tighten with prolonged heat, which squeezes out moisture and toughens the texture.

“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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