August 3, 2020

How to cook and clean lobsters for stuffed lobster

This is my method for cooking and cleaning lobsters to be used for stuffing. Make sure the lobsters are alive and have visible signs of activity before cooking. If the lobsters are not moving at all, discard them. If the lobsters are larger or smaller than 1.25#, increase or decrease the cooking time by a minute or two.

You will need:

2 lobsters, 1.25# each
Large stockpot
Large bowl, filled with ice water
Tongs
Knife

Get Started

Fill the stockpot with water and bring to a boil. There should be enough water in the pot to submerge both lobsters. If not, you can cook one lobster at a time. Leave the rubber bands on the lobsters while you are cooking them.

Using tongs, place the live lobsters into the pot of boiling water. Cover with a lid and cook over high heat for 5 minutes. Water will lose its boil for the first few minutes of the cooking time, that is OK.

Using tongs, remove the lobsters from the pot and place into and ice water batch to cool. allow the lobsters to cool in the ice water for 10 minutes

Once the lobsters are cooled, remove them from the ice bath. Grab one of the lobsters and remove the claws from the body. This can be done by firmly twisting the arm and claw away from the body. You can use a kitchen towel to hold on to the lobster if necessary.

Remove the smaller legs from the body as well. These can be discarded, used for stock or even harvested for the small amounts of meat they contain.

Separate the claws from the knuckles (“arms”) by twisting them apart.

To harvest the claw meat, start by firmly holding the claw in one hand while pulling the “pincer” to one side until it cracks.

Pull it towards the other side until it cracks again.

The “pincer” should now be loose from the rest of the claw and can be pulled off.

Use a pair of kitchen shears to carefully cut the shell of the claw to reveal the claw meat.

Pull out the claw meat and set aside. There will occasionally still be a piece of hard cartilage that runs through the center of claw meat. this can be removed now or when dicing the meat.

To clean the knuckles, use the shears to cut along one side of the knuckle shell.

Repeat this cut on the opposite side of the knuckle in order to separate the shell into two halves and expose the knuckle meat. Set aside the knuckle meat.

To clean the lobster bodies, place the lobster on the cutting board and CAREFULLY drive the knife through the center of the lobster until the tip of the knife is touching the cutting board. Make sure you are holding the lobster firmly with your other hand while you do this. Use a kitchen towel to hold the lobster if necessary to get a firm grip.

Crank the knife down towards the board, cutting the lobster head in half. Try to make this cut as even and clean as possible as you will be using the shell as your serving vessel.

Turn the lobster around and insert the tip of your knife into the same spot as before, making sure the tip of the knife is touching the cutting board.

Crank the knife down like before, this time cutting the tail in half.

The lobster should now be separated into 2 halves.

Pull the lobster tails from the shell. If there is a little bit of the digestive tract left in the tail, simply remove it.

Carefully rinse the shells under cold running water and use your fingers to wash away the head cavity. Try to make sure the shells don’t fall apart while cleaning.

Repeat this entire cleaning process with the second lobster. Choose the two nicest half-shells to use for stuffing and discard the other two (keep all four if making smaller appetizers).

When you are all done you should have:

4 pieces tail meat
4 claws
4 knuckles
2 half-shells (4 if you are serving smaller appetizers)

There you have it! The hard part is over and now you can get on with the fun part, stuffing and roasting the lobsters. Keep the lobster meat and half-shells in the fridge, covered, until you are ready to assemble the dish. The lobsters can be cooked and clean a day or two in advance if necessary.