To Boil Lobsters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pot
Bring 1 gallon of water to a fast boil.
Add 5 ounces of coarse sea salt to the boiling water.
Boil the lobster
For a moderate-sized lobster, boil for 15 to 20 minutes.
For a large lobster, boil for 30 to 40 minutes.
For a very large lobster, boil for 1 hour or more.
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
- Its protein firms and turns opaque as it cooks, so cooking time sets the final texture.
The step that matters
Matching the boiling time to the lobster's size. Heat slowly toughens lobster protein, so overboiling makes the meat rubbery, while underboiling leaves it translucent near the shell. Size determines how long the center takes to reach a safe, tender set.
“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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