To Boil Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
Add a pinch of coarse sea salt to the water.
Carefully place the lobster in the boiling water.
Boil for 15 to 20 minutes until the lobster turns bright red.
Remove the lobster and set it aside to cool.
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; heat firms its flesh and turns the shell bright red.
The step that matters
Boil for 15 to 20 minutes until the lobster turns bright red. Overcooking toughens lobster meat as its proteins tighten and lose moisture, while undercooking leaves it unsafe and translucent near the body. Watching the colour change and timing from the water returning to a boil helps hit the window.
“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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