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To Boil Lobsters

A method for boiling a live lobster, then serving the meat with melted butter sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Lobster and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

To Boil Lobsters

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the lobster

  1. Choose a live lobster and place it head first in boiling water.

  2. Boil briskly for 30 minutes.

  3. Remove the lobster and drain it.

  4. Wipe it dry and rub it with sweet oil or butter.

Prepare and serve

  1. Break off the claws and remove the meat from the shells.

  2. Place the meat on a small platter.

  3. Serve with melted butter sauce.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor across the lobster's surface.
Sweet oil
Adds a thin fat layer that carries flavor and helps the shell look glossy.
Melted butter sauce
Adds fat and richness that complements the mild, sweet flavor of the meat.

The step that matters

Boil briskly for 30 minutes. Lobster proteins tighten as they cook, and overcooking makes the meat firm and rubbery. Keep the water boiling hard so it returns to a boil quickly after the lobster goes in, and time the cooking carefully.

“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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