Boiled Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Add a little coarse sea salt.
Cook
Carefully place the lobster in the boiling water.
Boil until the lobster is cooked through and the shell turns red.
Finish
Wipe the shell and rub it with sweet oil to brighten the color.
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
- The main protein; its muscle firms and turns opaque as it cooks through.
- Sweet oil
- Adds a light coat of fat that gives the cooked shell a glossy, brighter appearance.
The step that matters
Boil until the lobster is cooked through and the shell turns red. Lobster proteins tighten as they heat, so overcooking makes the meat rubbery. The shell turning red signals doneness, so watch for that colour change rather than relying on a fixed time.
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.