Did you know that almost 50% of Americans eat little to no seafood? Despite this fact, they’re willing to try it out!
Maybe you’ve been wanting to expand your palate and eat another protein other than chicken, pork, or beef. Lobster is a great delicacy to try out, but it’s fairly pricy. And because of that, you don’t want to make mistakes while cooking it.
Below are 6 common lobster cooking mistakes you should avoid!
1. Going for Bigger Lobsters
The bigger, the better, right? Wrong!
The bigger the lobster you buy, the older it’ll be. And the older a lobster is, the tougher the meat will be. The meat might not be as sweet as a younger lobster’s as well.
In general, you should go for a lobster that weighs about 1.25 pounds. That’s the sweet spot!
2. Buying Frozen Lobster
With many types of shellfish, they have an enzyme that starts breaking down as soon as they die. This gives the meat a bad/weird taste, even if you buy lobsters that are freshly frozen after killing.
There is one exception though: lobster tails. These can actually be removed from the shell before the enzymatic breakdown happens. So if you must buy frozen lobsters, tails are a good choice.
3. Overcooking and Undercooking
Just like with the different types of edible crab, it’s very possible to overcook and undercook lobster!
If you overcook your lobster, you’ll end up with tough rubbery meat. But if you undercook it, the meat is all gelatinous and unedible.
In general, it should only take you 7 to 12 minutes to cook a whole lobster. Considering the above points, it’s better to slightly overcook than undercook lobsters.
4. Overdoing Seasoning for Lobsters
Lobsters taste great on their own, with nothing else added to the meat. But many people don’t know this and go overboard with seasoning! They end up with a dish where you can barely even tell there’s lobster in it, which is a shame.
We’d suggest just eating lobster meat on its own or dipping it in some melted butter. If you do need to eat other food, just have it on the side rather than mix it with your delicious (and expensive!) lobster meat.
5. Not Salting the Water for Cooking
You’ve got your lobster cooking pot, so don’t mess it up! If you’re boiling the lobster, you need to heavily salt the water. This gives the meat so much more flavor!
If possible, you should use ocean water to cook your lobster. This will give you some amazing results!
6. Throwing Out the Guts
You might take a look inside the lobster shell and say “ew” to everything that’s not white and fleshy. But the biggest mistake you can make is throwing out the guts!
The green parts are the tomalley, which is basically the liver of the lobster. It has a creamy texture and sweet taste, which you can eat on the side or spread on crackers.
And if you’re lucky enough to get black parts in your lobster, that’s roe (or coral)! Again, you can eat it separately or you can cook it in some butter.
Don’t Make These Lobster Cooking Mistakes
Now that you know about the common lobster cooking mistakes newbies make, you can avoid these costly errors yourself. So serve your family some delicious lobster cooked to perfection. We’re sure they’ll appreciate it!
Want to learn more about cooking? Then browse our other blog articles!
