Can You Cook Live Lobsters Humanely?

What’s the most humane way to turn a live lobster into a succulent dinner? The debate has gone on for years with lobster eaters claiming the lobsters feel no pain when they’re tossed alive into boiling water, and lobster advocates demanding that better ways be found for killing and cooking live lobsters.

There has been a lot of scientific research done to try to determine the amount of pain a lobster actually feels. While not being totally conclusive the findings have been good news for people who love to eat fresh lobster.

A lobster cannot feel pain the way humans know it. Its nervous system is too undeveloped, and its tiny, simple brain is only a bunch of nerve endings. The brain of a lobster is about the size of a grasshopper’s brain and lacks complexity.

There’s no way a lobster can have a brain like that and have the ability to think or feel like we do. Researchers have concurred that the practice of cooking live lobsters by steaming and boiling and grilling are not inhumane.

The method used to steam a lobster starts with putting two inches of seawater or any salted water into the bottom of a four to five gallon pot. This is the ideal configuration for cooking six to eight pounds of lobster. Put a steaming rack into the cold water, and turn the heat on high until the water reaches a rolling boil. Add the lobsters one at a time, put the lid on the pot, and start your timer. It takes about 10 minutes to cook one pound of lobster. A pot of six to eight pounds of lobster will take about an hour to cook. During the cooking time, rearrange the lobsters once.

Using the four to five gallon pot, add three quarts of water for every 1 to 2 pounds of lobster you want to boil. Next add one-fourth cup of salt per gallon of water. After heating the salted water to a rolling boil, add the lobsters one at a time. One pound of lobster needs to be boiled about 8 minutes, while it will take 50 minutes to an hour for six to eight pounds. Time the process carefully and halfway through the cooking time give the lobsters a good stir.

To grill a lobster you must first par-boil it. You do this the same way you boil a lobster; however, you limit the boiling time to five minutes. Remove the lobsters from the pot and plunge them into cold water so that they won’t continue to cook. Drain the lobsters. To prepare them for grilling, place each lobster on its back on a cutting board. Split the lobster down the middle and remove the black tail vein and the sand sac near the head. Baste the lobster with butter. Grill with flesh side down for 5 to 6 minutes. Turn it over, baste it again, and cook another 4 to 5 minutes.

There are still people who shy away from lobsters that are cooked live, but most have come to accept the fact that the lobsters do not suffer. Cooking a live lobster is the way to experience the freshest lobster meat available. Not only can you purchase live lobsters at restaurants and supermarkets, there are also many wonderful online seafood shops that promise the very freshest lobster delivered to your door overnight.

This article helps you to understand seafood, however this is a huge topic and can’t be justified by one article. There is also live maine lobster delivery and those would take several more articles to cover adequately. You may also want to check out cheap live lobster.