How To Cook Creamed Lobster

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Photo and recipe credit: Laura Muise

Creamed lobster was created by Clara Harris, a local restaurant owner, several decades ago. It caught on quite quickly, and can now be enjoyed at many restaurants throughout Yarmouth & Acadian Shores. The dish is still relatively unknown outside of our region, and is a true local specialty.

Since its inception over fifty years ago, creamed lobster has evolved from being a restaurant treat to a dish that many cook and enjoy at home. As with any recipe, each family modifies it to suit their tastes

Hot Lobster Sandwich

Ingredients:

Two tbsp butter or margarine.
One cup of cubed lobster
2 tsp vinegar
10% blend (Heavy Cream) to cover sauteed lobster
4 pieces of buttered toast.

Directions

Heat butter to medium high before adding the lobster pieces.
Add vinegar to the sauteed lobster. Vinegar helps to thicken the milk and also takes away any fishy taste the lobster might have.
Reduce heat to medium-low and add blend to the lobster, so it will thicken and make a tasty lobster cream sauce

Plating the hot lobster sandwich.

Lay the toast butter up. Start by adding some lobster mixture, including the juice which is the best part, over the toast.Add the second slice of toast on top, then cover with the lobster mixture.Hot lobster goes well with mashed potatoes, carrots and peas. Fresh cut french fries work go very well with this dish.

How To Steam Lobster

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Steaming a lobster has many advantages over boiling a lobster because you don’t have gallons of boiling water to clean up after. Secondly, steaming cooks the lobster more slowly thus the meat is more tender, especially with larger lobsters. Steaming preserves the true flavor of the lobster because it does not penetrate the way water can. Steaming is also more forgiving when it comes to overcooking than boiling.

Ratio of lobsters to pot: A 4 to 5 gallon pot is ideal for steaming a total of 6 to 8 pounds of lobster. Do not overcrowd the pot, if you cannot see the bottom, use a second pot.

Fill the pot with 1 inch of salt water, either fresh salt water or water with salt added. Heat pot on high.

Prepare lobster by rinsing in cold water. If you feel brave enough, remove the rubber bands to prevent rubber taste.

Once the water boils, the lobster is ready to be cooked.

Plunge the lobster head first into the pot and close the lid.

The lobster does not feel pain and will be dead in 10 seconds. It may continue to move afterwords due to muscle spasms.

Lobster Cooking Times

For steaming a lobster

Lobster Weight Cooking Time
1 – 1 ¼ lb. 10 – 12 minutes
1 ¼ – 2 lb. 12 – 18 minutes
2-3 lb. 18 – 25 minutes
3-6 lb. 25 – 40 minutes
6-7 lb. 40 – 60 minutes
8 lb. and over 7 minutes per pound

How Do I Know When The Lobster Is Cooked?

Lobsters will turn their characteristic bright red color well before the meat is thoroughly cooked inside. Follow these easy tips to ensure that the lobster is cooked.

Tug on an antennae or pull off one of the small walking legs. They both will come off easily when the lobster is done.

The meat inside the lobster will be firm, white and opaque The tomalley, which fills much of the body cavity will be greenish-yellow.

The roe in female lobsters will be bright orange-red and firm. If it is a dark greenish-black, with an oily tar-like consistency, the lobster is under cooked.

The internal temperature should be 180 F (80 C)

How To Boil Lobster

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Are you intimidated by the idea of boiling lobster? Boiling is the most popular and a simple way of preparing lobster. Lobster used to be a poor man’s food in the early 19th century, before public opinion shifted and fishermen began hunting and selling the crustaceans more furiously. All around the world and especially in the American northeast, lobster is now a prized dish. Here is how to boil lobster.

Ingredients

  • Live lobsters
  • Water
  • Salt

 

1.  Fill a large pot with enough water. Four or five gallons of water will safely hold about 6 to 8 pounds of lobster. As a rule of thumb, it’s better to have too much water than to overcrowd the pot with too much lobster.

2.   Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water. For best results, use sea salt.

  • Optional: Add a sprig of thyme, two bay leaves, and the juice of one lemon to the water. This will make the water into more of a broth than brine.
  • Purists will probably want to stick to a simple brine. If you plan to eat your lobster with melted butter, you do not need to make a broth.

 

3.   Bring the water to a full rolling boil. A rolling boil is when the water does not stop boiling when you stir the water.

  • You want a rolling boil to ensure the water will boil even after the lobster is put into the pot, reducing the temperature of the water momentarily.

 

4.   Place the lobster into the boiling water. A couple things to consider as you put your lobster into the pot:

  • Leave the rubber bands on the pincers of the lobster until just before you submerge them in the pot. Their pincers are strong and can cause injury. Grab the lobster by the back of the carapace while doing this.
  • Place the lobster into the water head in first.
  • Try placing all the lobsters you are going to cook into the pot as quickly as possible. If you are cooking multiple lobsters, get them all into the water at the same time so you can remove them at the same time.

 

5.  Cover the pot and set the timer immediately.

 

 

6.  Boil 8 minutes for a one-pound lobster, following the boiling guide below for additional weights.

 

7.  After the allotted cooking time, check whether the lobster is cooked. To tell whether the lobster is fully cooked, try:

  • Testing for color. A fully cooked lobster is deep red. An uncooked lobster has a charcoal-type color.
  • Tugging on an antennae. It should come off easily when the lobster is fully cooked.
  • Testing the meat. A fully cooked lobster will have firm, white, opaque skin. Uncooked meat will still be loose and translucent.
  • Testing the roe (or eggs) in female lobster. The roe will be orange-reddish and firm in cooked lobster and dark green or black in uncooked lobster.