To Boil a Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
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.
Brush the lobster and tie its claws together with twine.
Boil and drain
Carefully place the lobster in the boiling water.
Boil the lobster for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on its size.
Remove the lobster from the pot and let it drain on its claws.
Split and serve
Wipe the lobster dry and split the body and tail open.
Remove the claws and arrange the large claws next to the body and the small ones outside.
Garnish with parsley.
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 dish; its shell and flesh are cooked through by boiling in water.
The step that matters
Carefully place the lobster in the boiling water. Lowering the lobster into a rolling boil keeps the water at a steady high temperature so it cooks evenly and quickly. Adding it gently avoids splashing and keeps the water from dropping sharply in temperature.
“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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