I’ve never cooked any kind of lobster at home. I’d like to give it a try, and it seems like starting out with just tails rather than whole lobsters might be a way to ease into it. But I don’t even really know where to start with that. There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there.
What are your recommendations? Both for buying (where to go, what to look for) and preparing?
Sean,
I have not cooked them either, but I would imagine that because it is tails only, you might need to steam them, rather than boil, as boiling would be similar to poaching, with the flesh exposed to the water directly.
Sean, the lobster tails you see are . . .
You’re from Seattle. Have you ever cooked a live Dungeness crab? If so, lobster is within your power, so seize the power and let the force be with you. Get yourself a live “Maine” lobster - the kind with claws that comes from a tank (Uwajimaya in Bellevue is a good place, but most supermarkets have them these days) - and plunge it head first into a large pot of boiling, heavily-salted water. Remove it 20 minutes later. Drain it, twist off the claws and tail, split the body with a large knife, eat the green and orange stuff (ignore the gray), crack the claws to access their meat and remove the tail meat by stabbing it with a fork and removing it from the tail shell with a twisting motion. Dip the claw and tail meat in melted butter and get out the Oxyclean. Don’t forget to suck the meat from the legs.
If you must cook tails, they’re generally best brushed with seasoned butter and broiled.
I forgot about the ‘green and orange stuff’ - I remember eating that with ‘Shanghai crab’ while in China. ![[barf.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8943c0ebb2703c20afa757f7ca84a099bb9de70d.gif "barf")
Haha, you’re not exciting me.
I’ve never cooked a live crab either, though I’m somewhat ashamed to admit it. I should probably rectify that sometime soon.
The green is the tomalley, or liver. If you like foie gras you’ll love it. The orange is the roe.
Sorry. I gave you my best shot for enjoying real lobster the way they do it in New England - save a firepit and a bunch of seaweed. Don’t eat the green and the orange if you’re squeamish, just pig out on the tail and the claws.
All that said, I’d rather have a Dungeness. Ask the guys at Uwajimaya to remove the backs (kills them) and clean them. Then steam for 20 minutes. Heaven.
I often buy the 5oz tails, defrost if necessary, and cook them on my grill. Facedown for 2 minutes, shell down for another 3-5 depending on heat/size. They are done when the meat just pulls out.
Whole lobsters:
Bring 1-2" of wter to a boil over high heat ina large stock pot with a wire rack in the bottom. Add lobsters. Cover, return water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and steam until lobsters are done (see below). Serve immediately.
1lb: 10-11 minutes
1.25lb: 13-14 minutes
1.5lb: 15-16 minutes
1.75-2lb: 19 minutes
For soft shell, reduce by 2 minutes for any of the above.
Enjoy!
ohuh, if you do get a live one… remember to stab it in the head first and kill it before you throw it into the boiling water… or steamer… and letting it die a slow death.
or you can be like Zhi and rip off the Lobster’s claws while it’s still alive. PETA WHERE ARE YOU!? 
There’s always going to be a debate on this, but Julia Child has an excellent treatise in “From Julia Child’s Kitchen” wherein she details the results of her research with marine biologists on the subject. The conclusion was that head first into boiling water was the quickest and most humane method. It has the additional advantage of making the cook feel less like an executioner.
I think this is the first response from a true New Englander, so just throw out what everyone else said 
First, forget the frozen crap - get live, New England lobsters (preferably from Maine). Do not, ever, cook a dead lobster and eat it. If it ain’t moving, throw it out. Softshell lobsters will not have as much meat per pound of lobster (they just grew a new shell that they haven’t grown into yet), but it is easier to get the meat out -a sharp knife will cut through the shell. Hard shells may take a sledge hammer to crack open.
Next, get rid of those rubber bands on the claws - if they have old time, wooden pegs in the claws, it’s ok to leave those in but I haven’t seen those used in 15 years. Do be careful, lobsters can do some serious damage to fingers, but they’re usually pretty calm if they’ve been kept cool.
You can either boil or steam. I like steamed better, but they do take longer to cook and the only time I steam is if something else is going into the same pot like clams, corn, etc. Use a big pot, don’t crowd the lobsters or they may not cook evenly.
Forget about timing. Lobsters have a built in themometer that let’s you know when there done. When the shell is bright red, they’re done. If you’re going to just eat with butter, let them cook until bright red. If you’re going to do something else with the lobster (like baked stuffed, lobster pie or a pasta dish), just cook them until they start to turn red, then put them in cold water to stop the cooking. The meat will be firm enough to work with but not fully cooked so it won’t get rubbery when cooked a second time.
If lobster salad is your thing, cook until bright red, put in cold water, then remove the meat. Add just a touch of mayo and put in a grilled hot dog roll lined with Boston Bibb lettuce.
Andy
Split lobster tails (from Nicaragua IIRC) with a taragon, roasted garlic compound butter from our Anti-Recession dinner earlier in the year. They were split and then grilled over mesquite hardwood charcoal flesh side down and then flipped to be basted with the butter.
Whole live lobster steamed! New Englander #2 has spoken!
…but since you said you had lobster TAILS, I don’t know.
Wow, am I ever helpful this morning!
(andy - since you won poker last time - maybe steamed lobster meat and champagne for the next poker!!!)
I could do that, but I’m not sure everyone would be into it (especially Kyle).
I was thinking this summer we should do a real NE lobster bake (lobster, clams, corn, etc, in a pit with seaweed). Maybe instead of the BBQ.
maybe in ADDITION to the BBQ you meant?
I notice you’re in the Seattle area, try to go to a Chinese supermarket (there ought to be one around) and buy a live (and lively) one from the tanks. Try to find one with the antenna not chewed off. If you’re squeamish, you can ask the guy to kill it for you.
You can cook the tail and claws however you want (a poach can be the simplest), but you should take the opportunity to save the shells, head (cleaned) and leg meat to make a lobster bisque while you’re at it.
The only time ever that I cook lobster tails is when we make a lobster risotto. I will either grill or broil them with truffle butter and then cut them up for the risotto.
New Englander #3 says…
Lobster tails vs. a real, whole Maine lobster is like picking up meat at the local big box supermarket vs. Flannery. It just doesn’t compare, both on the product end and the cooking experience end.
I agree with Woody, if you are in Seattle you should be picking up fresh caught dungeness crab and cooking that up if you don’t want to order lobster from a proper northeastern fish company and have it flown in. Those frozen tail things just don’t do it for me. And while Tex gave you some good tips on how to do those, they really aren’t close to the real deal in terms of flavor.
Good luck, in any event!
Wait, wait. That’s not what I said. He can get perfectly good live lobsters from a huge tank next to the crabs at Uwajimaya without having them flown in and many supermarkets have them as well, though the tanks are smaller and the bugs may not be quite as lively.