by Pat Fox

Created on: May 02, 2008

Lobster is incredibly sweet, rich and delicious. Many people prefer to have it served out of the shell with all of the work done behind the scenes. But if you want the full New England experience, start with live lobsters and cook them yourself. The taste of fresh lobster meat right out of the shell,direct from the pot is hard to beat.

Your first consideration in cooking live lobsters is selecting the size. Lobsters weighting 1 or 1 pounds are the perfect size for an individual meal. If you are serving someone with a large appetite you might go as high as 2 pounds, but that will be too much for most people. Many fish markets will have much larger lobsters as well. These can be a good choice if you are planning to share one lobster among several people or if you are planning to serve the meat out of the shell or just make lobster salad. If you select one of the larger lobsters, be sure you have a big enough pot. If you don't have a large

lobster pot, you might want to stick with the smaller size.

The fish market will put the lobsters in a bag for you to take home. Keep the bag in the refrigerator to keep the lobsters alive until you are ready to cook.

To start, fill a large pot with 3 5 inches of water. You do not need any more water than this. The lobsters do not need to be fully submerged for cooking. The steam from the water will cook them just as well and there will be less water trapped in the shell of the lobsters when they are done. Bring the water to a boil.

While the water is coming to a boil, take the lobsters out of the bag. Hold them from the back by the main part of the shell and cut off the rubber band. If you put the lobsters down they will move slowly, but they won't go very far. Place the lobsters in the pot of boiling water with the big claws first. Cover and return to a boil. Cook for approximately 20 minutes or until the shell turns red.

When done, take the lobsters out of the pot and place on a plate for serving. If your diners are experienced lobster eaters, they may need nothing more than a shell/nut cracker, a pick, a bib, and a little melted butter for dipping. They'll know how to get every morsel of lobster meat out of the shell without any help. On the other hand, if your diners would like some assistance and don't want to get as much lobster juice on their hands, you can help
them out by cutting the underside of the tail and cutting the shell of the large claws with a clever or meat scissors. There is very sweet meat in the small claws too, but the best way to get it is to simply suck it out of the shell.

Traditional sides to serve with fresh lobster are baked potatoes, corn on the cob, steamed clams, and a tossed green salad. Whatever you serve, don't forget the napkins! Eating lobster by hand adds to the experience, but there is no doubt that it will be messy! Roll up your sleeves and enjoy!

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