When a live lobster for delivery arrives at your door carefully unpack and make sure claws all have been banded before handling. Sometimes they may slip during transit. You do not want a loose claw to grab one of your fingers as it would snap it into like a twig. Only take the bands off claws when the lobster has died.
Defrosting frozen lobster meat or whole lobsters can destroy the flavors of them. Do not overcook when heating they should only be warm not hot to the touch. The meat will become a lot tougher if it gets to hot or is cooked to long.
For fresh live lobsters it only takes 10 to 14 minutes to boil per pound. Water needs to be boiling for the best flavor and tender meat when dropping in the lobster to the pot. Lobsters should be covered with water completely, therefore you will need a deep extra large pot.
Piercing the head with a hole allows the excess water from cooking to be drained once taken out of the cooking pot. This helps the meat inside stay tender and just ripe with flavor.
The water that you cook the lobsters in can be used as a base for seafood soups, pasta dishes and casseroles. It will only add to the flavor of these dishes. You can also freeze the broth until it is needed.
Be sure your live lobsters are healthy. When you touch or handle a lobster its tail should curl downward and then go back to normal when let go of. You should always take a sniff of your lobsters before cooking to make sure they all smell of freshness. If there is a strange unrecognizable scent to them then never cook them as they could make you and your family sick. They are best cooked as soon as you receive them.
Softer shelled lobsters are more tender and take much less time to cook. The harder shelled ones still taste great but are a little tougher and they take a longer amount of time when boiling.
You can also grill whole lobsters on a hot to medium hot setting. Whole lobsters are placed onto a pre-heated grill and then left on one side til it turns bright red then turned and left on opposite side until that is the same in color. Serve with delicious garlic butter and gumbo if you have it on hand.
You can split live lobsters for delivery and cook on the grill too if a whole one is too much for just one person to eat. Place split sides down first and cook three minutes then turn to shell side and cook about 6 minutes longer. The shell will be the shade of bright red as it is when boiling when done. Add some lemon juice squeezed on it and of course butter and your ready to eat.
