To Boil a Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pot
Fill a large kettle with enough boiling water to cover the lobster.
Add ½ cup of coarse sea salt to the water.
Cook the lobster
When the water is boiling vigorously, place the lobster head‑first into the pot.
Use a poker to keep the lobster submerged for 1 minute until it calms down.
Boil the lobster for 15 to 20 minutes.
For best results, boil the lobster in seawater.
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; heat firms and whitens its flesh as it cooks.
The step that matters
Keeping the lobster submerged after it goes in. Adding a cold lobster drops the water's temperature and the shell may float. Holding it under keeps it fully covered so the water stays hot and the lobster cooks evenly.
“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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