Best lobster cracker

Soft shells are easy enough, but hard shell lobsters particularly around two and a half pounds we end up pounding the claws with a soft hammer. For obvious reasons this is not ideal, any suggestions?

For the claw itself I usually take the approach of ripping off the smaller pincer and then using it to poke through the opening created thereby removing the meat from the larger end of the claw. For the rest of the claw, I borrow from the Korean approach and just use a nice pair of kitchen shears to go through the shell, I use a Shun one. Depending on the hardness of the shell, may require a bit of forearm strength, but I reckon no more than a claw cracker. Meat comes out super clean and with minimal waste

Makes more sense now that I read your post. When I read the thread title, I thought you were looking for a competitor to Chicken In a Biskit.

Following. I use the back of my chef’s knife

Heavy-duty kitchen shears work perfectly. They cut right through even hard shells, leaving the meat intact.

Quick, and no smash-fest mess.

Must be nice to afford lobster.

Hand power saw for the 15lbers.

Whack them against the furniture, like they used to do at the Palm.

Wrap in a dish towel and then use the back of a chefs knife or a mallet

While a rare treat, I find beastly kitchen shears work the best.