Title: Cooking & Eating a Lobster - Lobster Institute - University of Maine
Headings: Lobster Institute
Lobster Institute
Cooking and Eating Lobsters
Are lobsters nutritious?
How do you cook live lobster?
Boiling
Steaming
Grilling
What’s the difference between a hard shell and soft shell lobster?
Why do lobsters twitch as they cook?
How can you minimize the movement of a lobster when its placed in a cooking pot?
Why do lobsters turn red when you cook them?
What is the white “goop” you find in the lobsters and the water after you cook them?
What is the green stuff you find in the cooked lobsters? Can you eat it?
What is the red stuff you find inside along the tail of cooked lobster? Can you eat it?
Can you get live lobster all year?

Content: Using a sharp knife, slice the lobster down the middle (easiest to cut legs side up). Remove the black vein from the tail, the greenish tomalley from the body and the sand sac located near the head. Baste the lobster meat with some oil or melted butter. Grill the lobsters flesh side down for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the flesh is just beginning to look opaque. Turn the lobsters over, baste with more oil and continue to cook for 4 to 5 minutes longer, or until the lobsters are cooked through. What’s the difference between a hard shell and soft shell lobster? Lobster will periodically shed their shells as they grow. This can happen as many as 25 times before they are 6-7 years old; then males shed every year and mature females every two years. When lobsters become very large molting is less frequent.