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Punishment
06-29-2006, 10:47 PM
Well with miniseason just around the corner i was wondering if any of you guys do anything with the lobster heads or do you all just toss them like I do. Is there enough meat in the head which makes it worth keeping or should i continue tossing them like I always do? Also if the head is worth keeping how do you clean it and what part of the head do you keep? Thanks, Ronald

SeaWeed
06-30-2006, 06:52 AM
Boiled whole is nice for presentation. Hard core lobster eaters slurp up the green part inside the head. I think its called tomalley. I saw this recipe on tv and it looked really good It used the whole lobster.
Lobster Cioppino Stew (http://home.discovery.com/fansites/cookininbrooklyn/recipes/cioppino.html)

filet&release
06-30-2006, 08:27 PM
it's alot of work, for little reward. the only meat comes from the antenna and the base of the antenna and the body (like a snow crab cluster) split down the middle boil with potatoes red onions and celery throw in a chicken bullion. tastes great. serve it up with some ice cold beers... little bit of
rice.

LONERANGER
07-01-2006, 04:49 AM
Personally, I would not mess with trying to cook a head less than 4-5 pounds, to much work for too little reward in my book.

gogators27
07-01-2006, 09:20 PM
The bigger ones have a good amount of meat in them. You don't need but a few heads to make lobster bisque. A soup that is really rich and good, but takes a lot of work to put together. If you take a lot of time you can get almost as much meat out of the legs, antenna and body as the tail, but again it is a pain. The legs of the bigger ones are not to hard to snap open and eat as you would snow crab legs, just smaller.

Whether it is worth it is a personal question. If you have access to get lobster all the time it probrably will not be worth it.

If you do attempt it, I would suggest boiling lobster whole, take out and with a large sharp knife after it has cooled, cut everying in half(antenna, thigh nuckles, head, ect) you will see the meat and the other stuff, and it will be obvious what you want and don't want. Pick through it all, snapp the legs and pull the tubes of meat out, and you will be surprised after about an hour or so, you will have a pretty large pile of meat stacked up.

So you may end up with a pound of lobster, and it took you an hour to do this, is a pound of lobster worth an hour of your time? Again depends on how much you hate doing it, how much lobster you have available to you, and how you feel about "wasting" all that meat.

Here is a recipe for lobster bisque:
http://www.spearboard.com//showthread.php?t=23191&referrerid=4372

MauiFreeDiver
07-03-2006, 03:35 PM
The head has some decent meat inside, like someone said earlier if you are a hardcore lobster eater you will eat everything but the shell, I personally am not, we always boil the lobster whole (usually alive) and I will eat the meat in the head, and definately the legs, a lot of my friends and family will crack open the head and put a scoop of sticky white rice inside the head and mix it up with all the "miso" (brains, guts, etc.), and eat it like soup.

stevemc1
07-04-2006, 03:46 PM
With really big ones there is some meat worth taking, also the legs contain a good amount of meat on the big ones with finger thick size legs. The just legal ones are not really worth it.

Mako23
07-17-2006, 08:59 PM
If I lived south I'd crush-em for chum

Ironhed
07-21-2006, 08:44 AM
I had some lobster at my buddies house and I have to say it was the best ever, here is the way to hook it up.

grilled lobster

melt 1 stick of real butter in sauce pan unless you have a huge amount then you might need 2 sticks.
you need real garlic pressed about 3 or 4 cloves or more if you need to make alot
real lemon juice I like one lemon not to over power it
and DURKEE citrus grill you want to use a couple table spoons or so unless you need to make alot
mix all this into the sauce pan and on low let it simmer.

I dont think you can over do any of these items except the lemon so like emeril might say make it happy ;) the real garlic combined with the citrus grill is the key here and real butter and lemon too.

we took the lobster meat out of the shell and get the grill good and hot with the basket in the grill so it can get hot as well. lay your lobster and fish in the basket, do not use the top of the fish flipping basket and do not make the mistake of crushing the meat like the basket is capable of doing, you only want the basket to use it to flip your meats and then take off the top or bottom basically the basket thing is just used to flip the stuff so as to not have your fish fall apart. once you sear both sides of the meat about 2 min each side back the heat down to medium and after you sear one side you will use a brush to brush on your concoction of flavors you made. make sure to get lots of the good stuff on there, ther garlic and herbs. you will want to flip the meats and baste till you see the fish flake apart on its own then you know it is done. we cooked grouper mahi and lobster all side by side like this many times and it is simply the best I have ever had or made. the baskets we use are the ones you can buy at lowes I think they have a wooden handle and are 2 pieces it would seem like you should clamp the top to smush the meat but trust me do not do that it makes the fish get stuck to the basket and it will fall apart. these work the best after they have been used a few times and if they are treated just like your grill surface, so don't clean them just burn off the yuck before you use them. trust me this is awesome stuff. afterward thank gradyman he showed me the hookup.

snowstopsspears
07-21-2006, 08:54 AM
Grilling, broiling, and boiling are all fantastic, but if you really want to make friends, then you're confronted with but one culinary option: lobster nuggets. Seriously.

Ironhed
07-21-2006, 09:26 AM
explain lobster nuggets? any recipes are always appreciated. deep fried? or what? batter you like?

ObieWan2bWet
07-21-2006, 09:43 AM
Ya know, it never occured to me to fry Lobster nuggets... I'll have to try that... always been a hog, whole chunk in hand, half tail drippy sloppy with butter in as big a bite of delectable heaven as I could get in my big arse mouth :thumps:

FredT
07-21-2006, 09:53 AM
If boiling, boil in the water they came out of if at all possible. Carry a 5 gal bucket and bring some home. Matching salinity inside and outside the bug is the trick when boiling, and the easiest way to match is to bring water home. Of course adding a bit of spice to the water works well too. I've cooked spiney and shovelnose bugs in with LA mudbugs. Came out real well, as did a buddy's Maine Lobster when he did a low country boil of them up on cape cod.

BTW there is MORE meat in the head of a spiney than in the tail and it's "better" meat, it's just harder to get. The entire plastron comes apart like a crab ;)

FT

Gary H
07-21-2006, 09:57 AM
explain lobster nuggets? any recipes are always appreciated. deep fried? or what? batter you like?

Remove the tail meat and cut into nuggets, batter, and fry.

Back to the original question -
1) Turn the head upside down
2) Lift the legs on one side and insert a serrated knife between the tops of the legs and the carapace.
3) Cut the legs and body loose from the head on both sides. You'll be left with a ten legged spider looking thing.
4) Remove the gills
5) Unless you have a really huge pot, break the legs off and boil the legs and remaining carapace in seasoned water - I have the times written down at home, but remove the carapace much sooner than the legs or it will become like cotton candy
6) Pick it like a blue crab
7) Dip it in cocktail sauce or if you must melted butter (yuck!) and eat

Mako23
07-23-2006, 05:03 PM
Deep fry w/seasoned breadcrumbs, serve with cocktailsauce. :thumps:
Becarefull who you share it with. ;) They will beg for more :D

DiveGal
07-24-2006, 12:25 PM
Nuggets are GREAT especially when you only have a couple of lobster and a bunch of people. They make a delicious appetizer - and they don't last long.

About the heads, I personally think they are only worth the trouble if they are big. There is a nice medallion on meat at the base of the antenna and a strip that runs down both sides that attaches to the legs.

My favorite, wring off the head (use a knife first to loosen the meat from inside the carapas so you don't lose any), pull out the shoot, and split the tail. Get your grill good and hot. Brush melted butter on the meat side. Place the tail meat down on the hot grill to lock in the flavors (about 1 minute). Flip it shell to the fire and add more melted butter, garlic, and lemon juice. Let it cook in this wonderful mixture using the shell as the cooking pot for about 5 minutes. Larger tails take longer. Serve in shells with melted garlic butter on the side.

Oh man, this is making me HUNGRY!!!!!

Dive Safe! Dive Often!

eward4
07-24-2006, 09:02 PM
On the bigger lobster we take the legs and steam them just like crab legs. Damn good dipped in butter! For lobster nuggets we take the meat out of the shell by cutting the bottom of the shell out and then cut the meat into nuggets. I'll mix milk or half n half with Texas Pete until it is pinkish color and add a little salt/pepper. Dip the nuggets into the mixture and then i'll bread them in House of Autry seafood and chicken breader. I mix the seafood with the chicken breader about half and half. Then fry it up! Make a lot because they don't last long!

inletsurf
08-02-2006, 03:48 PM
Here's an easy one that made the paper.

Lobster Scampi with sun dried tomatos

1 ½ Stick – Unsalted Butter (Not Margarine)
¼ Cup – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 to 3 – lobster tails
4 - Large Garlic Cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp. – Fresh Parsley, chopped
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup sun dried tomatos
1 cup chopped mushrooms
3 Tbsp. – Fresh Basil
1 Tbsp. – Fresh Lemon Juice
1 pound – fresh Linguine, cooked

Remove the lobster meat from the shell and cut into generous “bite-sized” pieces. In a large skillet over medium heat warm the Butter and Olive Oil until the Butter has melted. Add Lobster and toss to coat.
Add the remaining ingredients and cook stirring gently until the Lobster is cooked, usually 5 to 7 minutes. Spoon the Lobster mixture over linguine and toss to combine.
Add salt, pepper, and fresh grated parmesan as desired.

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/LIFE03/607270304/1025

http://www.spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35454&stc=1
http://www.spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35763&stc=1