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Broiled Lobster

A lobster split, seasoned, broiled, and served with melted butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Lobster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,609 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Broiled Lobster

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Split the live lobster down the middle with a hatchet, ensuring half the legs are on each side.

  2. Wash the lobster carefully and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.

Cook and serve

  1. Broil the lobster over a hot charcoal fire for about 15 minutes.

  2. Serve with melted butter.

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

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

  2. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Lobster + peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,247 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Forms the main protein, whose muscle proteins set and turn opaque as the flesh cooks.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor and a silky mouthfeel when served melted.

The step that matters

Broil over a hot charcoal fire for about 15 minutes. Lobster flesh turns firm and rubbery if overcooked, while undercooked meat stays translucent and soft. Heat must be high enough to cook the shell side and tail quickly, so timing and fire intensity both matter.

“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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