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 ↓
To Boil Lobsters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Choose a lively lobster, preferably of medium size.
In a pot, combine water and salt; bring to a boil.
Boil and finish
Add the lobster and boil briskly for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on size.
Remove scum from the surface and rub the shell with a little butter or oil.
Crack the claws carefully at the joints and cut the tail down the middle.
Serve the lobster whole with melted butter in a sauceboat.
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.
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks in boiling water.
- Sea salt
- Seasons the cooking water so the lobster meat is seasoned from the outside in.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a rounded flavour to the shell and the serving sauce.
The step that matters
Boil briskly for the right time. Overcooking toughens lobster meat, while undercooking leaves it translucent and unsafe. Timing should follow the lobster's size, since larger animals need longer to cook through.
“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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