I have boiled a lot of lobster and crab live. In my experience, they stop twitching in 5 seconds or so. I find this method faster more humane than chopping through their carapace and rooting around their head with a knife looking to scramble their brain while they struggle.
The latter is not a task I expect many home cooks to be good at.
They key is to have the water at a rolling boil and have enough volume that it doesn't cool when you add a 2 lb lobster head first.
I suspect a lot of the horror stories are from people who added lobster to a pot with too little water.
The latter is not a task I expect many home cooks to be good at.
They key is to have the water at a rolling boil and have enough volume that it doesn't cool when you add a 2 lb lobster head first.
I suspect a lot of the horror stories are from people who added lobster to a pot with too little water.