Boiled Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pot
Fill a large kettle or pot with water and bring it to a rolling boil.
Add a handful of coarse sea salt to the boiling water.
Cook the lobster
Brush the lobster and tie its claws together with twine.
Carefully place the lobster in the boiling water.
Boil the lobster for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on its size.
Remove the lobster from the pot and let it drain on its claws.
Wipe the lobster dry before serving.
Prepare the meat
Split open the body and tail, and crack the claws to extract the meat.
Remove the sand pouch near the throat and any tough particles from the meat.
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
- Is the main protein, whose meat sets firm and turns opaque as it cooks.
- Sea salt
- Seasons the boiling water so the lobster meat takes on a light seasoning.
The step that matters
Carefully place the lobster in the boiling water. Lowering the lobster gently keeps the water at a rolling boil. Dropping it in too fast can drop the water temperature sharply and cause uneven cooking, and splashing risks burns.
“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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