The lobster exoskeleton comes with some difficulties when trying to extract the meat for eating or cooking. To access the inside of the animal's body and reach every corner and crevice, a specific digger and a nutcracker are very useful, but you can also use normal cutlery. Although the tail and claws are considered the tastiest parts, delights can also be found inside the abdomen.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Remove the Meat from the Tail and Pincers
Step 1. Cook or kill the crustacean
Many put it to boil still alive or immediately after killing it, without any preliminary preparation; transfer it to an ice bath immediately after cooking to continue with the recipe.
- If the recipe calls for a raw lobster, place it on the cutting board with the abdomen down and kill it lightly with a small sharp knife by severing the area where the head joins the rest of the body. Then clean the animal as described below, but do it over a bowl to catch the juices and rinse the meat before cooking.
- If you want to cook frozen lobsters, follow the instructions in this link.
Step 2. Clean the claws
Twist them to detach them from the rest of your body or fold them back until they break. If the carapace is particularly hard, break off the tips of the claws with a nutcracker, scissors, or the back of a heavy knife. Push the meat out of the claw through the hole you made at the "wrist" of the animal; if the shell is rather soft, just remove the meat with your fingers.
Step 3. Detach the portion between the claws and the body
This subtle element is packed with flavorful meat that is worth extracting; remove it from the claws themselves or break it with the nutcracker.
Step 4. Remove the tail
Unfold and flatten it. You can detach it by twisting it away from your head or by pulling it back towards your head until it breaks.
Step 5. Take the fanned portion of the tail
It is the tip of the tail made up of five fin-like segments (a central telson and four uropods); peel off such segments or cut them with a kitchen knife. Inside there are really delicate pieces of meat that you can extract with a digger or by breaking the shell.
Step 6. Push the meat out of the tail
Removing the fan end creates a small hole in the tip of the tail, where you can insert a digger or finger to expel the meat from the other opening where the tail was joined to the head.
Alternatively, rest the tail on the table with the abdominal side facing up. Make an incision along both sides with a pair of scissors or kitchen shears. remove the carapace and remove the meat
Step 7. Extract the intestines
The black vein that runs lengthwise along the entire tail is actually the intestine of the animal, cut or detach it to throw it away; remember that it may be partially hidden by a flap of meat.
Step 8. Collect the eggs
If the lobster is female, there may be eggs inside the tail carapace, which turn pink when cooked.
The raw lobster ones are black; before eating, steam them for a couple of minutes until they turn pink
Part 2 of 2: Taking the Meat from the Legs and the Body
Step 1. Access the lobster body
The tail and claws are the most fleshy parts, but the abdominal portion is also edible. Remove the shell by hand or break it open.
Step 2. Twist the eight legs
If you want to taste every little piece of meat, squeeze it from the legs using a rolling pin, starting with the tip. If the crustacean is cooked, you can simply put its paws in your mouth and scrape off the edible part with your teeth as you suck.
Step 3. Throw out the gills
They are light and pale colored portions on the sides of the animal's body; when removing them, be careful not to waste any meat in between.
Step 4. Eliminate the wrinkled blister located just behind the eyes
Step 5. Save or discard the greenish material
It is a thick, soft, green substance that performs the function of the liver and pancreas. Not everyone likes it, but some people spread it on bread or use it to make sauces. However, if the animal has fed on toxins, know that these accumulate in this material; if you want to be careful, make sure that an adult does not consume more than one organ of this type per day and do not offer it to children.
- If the area where the lobster was caught has been declared at risk of crippling shellfish poisoning, throw away the green substance. If the animal has eaten poisoned fish, poisons accumulate in that organ, but the meat is still edible.
- If you are extracting meat from a raw crustacean, the substance has a grayish color and spoils very quickly; store it on ice and cook it in a sauce within hours of the animal's death.
Step 6. Extract the meats from the abdominal cavity
Gather every little piece of pulp along the sides, but throw away the paper-like shell between them.
Step 7. Boil the leftovers to make a comic
Avoid simmering them for more than 45 minutes, otherwise it will ruin the flavor; do not use the gills or wrinkled vesicle to prepare the broth.
Advice
- Typically, a bib is worn when cleaning and eating lobster, as it is a messy process.
- Lobster is usually dipped in melted butter just before eating.
- If you don't plan to use the crustacean immediately after cooking, place it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. The meats last for two or three days inside the carapace or 3-5 days after being removed.
- In some cookbooks the term "carcass" indicates the body of the lobster without a tail or claws.
- How this animal feels pain or stress is still unclear. If you don't want to risk it, sever the nerve in the "neck" before boiling the crustacean or numb the sensitivity by keeping it under ice.
Warnings
- If you are pregnant or nursing, be aware that the greenish material that is sometimes found in the abdominal cavity of the lobster could be very rich in dioxin, a substance that is dangerous for the baby if you eat it.
- If you are trying to open the exoskeleton immediately after boiling the crustacean, be careful not to point the cut towards you or other people; there may be residual boiling water inside the abdomen which may splash on the skin causing burns.
- If the meat is not firm and pink after removal from the shell and cooking, it means that it is not edible; throw them away immediately.
