Steamed Lobster

Choose Your Lobster

To cook a full lobster, you must first purchase one. The most common lobster sizes are between 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 pounds. On the lighter end, you can expect 3 to 4 ounces of meat. The heavier lobsters provide closer to 5 ounces. Wherever your lobsters land on the weight spectrum, one lobster per person is a reasonable serving size.

A Lively Lobster is a Fresh Lobster

A feisty lobster is best because it’s likely fresher and in better shape than a more lethargic lobster.

Curled Tail

A curled tail is the sign of a living lobster. While lobsters exposed to cold will become sluggish, they should still curl their tails under when lifted. A straight tail means the lobster is dead, and a straight tail in a cooked lobster means the lobster was dead for awhile before it went in the pot. To learn how to present the lobsters with straightened tails, check out Serving a Steamed Lobster, below.

All Parts Intact

Avoid lobsters with missing eyestalks, legs, or claws. They may have been mishandled during transport or they might have fought with other lobsters in the tank.

Secured Claws

Make sure rubber bands are completely containing the claws. While technically, their purpose is to protect lobsters from injuring each other, they work wonders preventing a cranky crustacean from hurting you, too!

When searching online for information on how to purchase lobsters, you will often encounter varying opinions about hard-shell versus soft-shell lobsters. For the most part, you won’t be able to choose at the seafood counter, because soft-shell lobsters are only available for the season after they’ve molted (summer through early fall), but here’s the rundown:

Hard-shell

These lobsters haven’t molted recently, contain more meat per pound, and are easier to ship because they’re sturdier. Hard-shell lobsters often appear darker and shells can have a bit of wear and tear, including scarring.

Soft-shell

These lobsters recently molted, contain less meat per pound, are easier to crack and pick, and often have sweeter meat. They are difficult to ship, so lobster purveyors rarely ship them in order to avoid waste.

Even the best seafood departments may not always have lobster in stock. Call your favorite fishmonger at least 2 days in advance to make sure they have lobster in stock. And don’t hesitate to ask your fishmonger for advice if you’re confused or concerned. They’re experts, and they’re usually happy to help!

Prepare Your Lobsters and Yourself

Cooking live seafood isn’t for the faint of heart. And the bigger the animal, the harder it can be to summon the courage to get the job done. The idea of cooking lobster can feel very overwhelming to home cooks. The good news? We’re here to tell you how to prepare a live lobster, and yourself, before cooking.

You: Prepare everything you need for cooking and serving before looking the lobsters in the eyestalks. Keep the rubber bands on the claws, wear thick, heatproof gloves and use long tongs if needed. When you pick them up, they should move and curl their tails underneath their bodies, so don’t be alarmed. In the pot, they may rattle around a bit. Put them in head-down, cover the pot, set your timer, and walk away. You will need to move them once for even cooking, but that’s it.

The Lobsters: Purchase the lobsters as close to time to cook as possible. Store them on damp paper towels or newspaper in the coldest part of your refrigerator, not the freezer. Do not put them in fresh water, as that will kill them. The cold will make them sluggish and slow-moving, so as they warm up, they move more. Again, keep the rubber bands on the claws for safety. You’ll remove them after the lobsters finish cooking.

Cooking Your Lobster

Now that you’ve shopped for your lobster, prepared your space, and taken some deep breaths, all you need to know is how to cook a live lobster. Let’s do it!

Prepare the Stockpot

It may seem counterintuitive, but a bigger stockpot makes the steaming process easier. A large pot makes it easier to arrange the lobsters in the pot and easier to turn them later. It’s also easier to remove them from the stockpot. Add salty water and a steamer insert to your large stockpot and bring to a boil.

Cook the Lobsters

Grasp the lobsters one at a time by their midsection, with a gloved hand or tongs, place head down in steamer basket, cover the pot, and set your timer for half of the cook time since you’ll turn them halfway through cooking. Since the lobsters go in the pot cold and will cause the temperature in the stockpot to drop, do not reduce the heat at all. Don’t lift the lid until it’s time to turn the lobsters.

Turn the Lobsters

Halfway through cooking, flip the lobsters for even cooking.

Check for Doneness

Be careful not to overcook the lobsters. Fully-cooked lobsters will have bright red shells and should reach a temperature of at least 145°F in center of tail.

Serving a Steamed Lobster

To serve your steamed lobsters, use tongs or heatproof gloves to transfer to a serving platter lined with sturdy greens like kale or leaf lettuce, if desired. Use scissors to remove rubber bands. Serve lobster with clarified salted butter (see our tip for instructions), lemon wedges, and bread.

To present the lobster with a straightened tail, use bamboo skewers. After cooking the lobster, starting from the tail end, gently insert two 6-inch bamboo skewers on each side of the tail, working them up toward the body of the lobster.

Want to make your lobster spread even more special? Garnish with fresh herbs like basil, chervil, chives, or dill. Or add classic pairings such as corn on the cob, green beans, or fingerling potatoes.

Need help figuring out how to get to the meat? Watch our video tutorial on how to remove lobster meat.

How to Store Leftover Lobster Meat

Leftover lobster meat can be stored, covered and refrigerated, up to one day. The cooked meat can be placed in a ziptop freezer bag and frozen for up to one month. Thaw in bag under cold running water or defrost in microwave. Frozen leftover cooked lobster should be cooked to steaming before using.

Need ideas for how to use up leftover lobster meat? Try out our recipes for Lobster Rolls and Apple- Fennel Lobster Salad.