How to Boil Lobster

How to Boil Lobster

Learn to boil lobster and feed the seafood lovers in your house. Impress your dinner guests with this scrumptious meal! It's easier than you think! Here is how to boil lobster for your seafood dinner:

Fill a big pot about one half to two thirds full with water. Add a wonderful broth by combining bay leaves and thyme into the water. Squeeze lemon juice into the broth, and put the empty rinds in, too.

Set the burner on high heat, and then bring your water to a rolling boil.

Clip the lobster's rubber bands from his claws.

Add your lobsters, head first, one by one into the pot, and make sure the water covers them.

Cover your pot snugly and bring the water back to a boil.

After your water has returned to a full boil, cook your lobsters ten minutes for the first pound of weight, and three minutes extra for each additional pound of lobster.

While you boil lobster, prepare your lemon butter. Heat your butter on low heat in a little pot. Warm it very gently so that the milk solids start to float to the bottom. Don't let them rest there, or they might burn. Strain your butter into a little cup, and squeeze in some lemon juice.

To check when lobsters are fully boiled, pull their antennae. If they come out easily, then your lobsters are done. You can also check by pulling off one of the smaller walking legs - they will come off easily too, if the lobster is done. In addition, when they're cooked, the shells of the lobsters will be bright red, and their tails will curl.

When they are done, your lobster meat will be firm, opaque and white. The tomalley will be yellow-green. The female's roe will be firm and red-orange when the lobster is done. If it's a darker blackish-green, and its consistency is oily, the lobster is not cooked yet. Internal lobster temperatures should be 180 degrees when they are done.

Serve your lobsters with lemon juice or melted butter.

Be sure to remember that the water needs to keep boiling the whole time you boil lobster, but make sure it doesn't boil over. The times suggested are for lobsters with hard shells. If you are cooking lobsters with soft shells, you should reduce their boiling time by three minutes. If you prefer, you can add a cup of wine to the water before you boil the water - it will add a wonderful flavor.

Approximate cooking times for boiling lobster:

One to one and one quarter pounds - boil for fifteen minutes

One and one quarter to two pounds - boil for twenty minutes

Two to three pounds - boil for twenty-five minutes

Three to six pounds - boil for twenty-eight minutes

Six to seven pounds - boil for thirty minutes

Eight pounds and up - boil for four minutes per pound

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