How to Kill a Lobster Without Feeling Bad About It

For most people, food is dead, processed, and packaged by the time it reaches the grocery store or farmers market.  We know that our chicken breasts came from a chicken or that a piece of cod was once swimming around somewhere, but we don’t have to dispatch it ourselves.  Live lobsters are a unique food in that they must be cooked or processed quickly after being removed from cold seawater.  

When cooking your first live lobster you’re likely asking yourself the same question most people do “Is there a different or better way than plunging it into the pot?”  The answer is yes, the four ways to humanely dispatch a lobster including dispatching it head first, a quick blade between the eyes, stunning, and a 10 to 15 minute freeze.

There’s also some good news before you start.  You don’t have to feel bad about it as lobsters do not have a nervous system that feels pain like we do, and don’t read into the noise.  The “scream” you hear isn’t a scream, it is water vapor releasing from the shell.  Before we jump into the four methods, you’re likely wondering if the lobster feels pain or not.

Can a Lobster Feel It or s it a Natural Reaction?

This is answered first by nociception which is the nervous system’s detection of something harmful and the triggering of a response, like pulling away from heat. Pain goes further than this. In the animal-welfare sense, pain means an unpleasant felt experience and something the animal is consciously aware of.

An animal can have nociception without experiencing pain. It is a survival instinct. The question is whether lobsters cross that line.

Whether lobsters cross from nociception into felt pain depends on the scientific studies you read, and if you feel it was done accurately or not. If you want to dig into the evidence, the studies, the legal developments, and what researchers are still debating, we cover it in full here: Do Lobsters Feel Pain?

Dispatching Head First Into Boiling Water

Boiling water is the most common way to kill a lobster and can be done in a more humane way by being prepared before you begin.  Research shows that smaller lobsters can die after around 45 seconds while larger lobsters may take up to a couple minutes (the most well known study is here).

The most important thing is to make sure you have a pot that is large enough as plunging a cold lobster into a smaller pot will reduce the temperature of the water, and you want to keep it at a hard boil vs. letting it drop to a simmer.  Here are the steps.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a hard boil.
2. Pick up the lobster with the head and claws facing away from you by holding the middle of the carapace (the body shell) and plunge it into the boiling water head first and quickly.
   1. You do not need to remove the silicone bands, they’re cooking safe.
3. Quickly place the lid back on top of the pot to trap the head back in and keep the water at a hard boil.
4. Set the timer and remove the cooked lobster once it is ready.
   1. Here’s our guide to boiling live lobster.

Blade Between the Eyes

The next method for killing a live lobster humanely is to use a blade like a sharp chef’s knife right between the eyes and cut directly down through the tail.  

A rapid, full split through the head and down through the tail destroys the major nerve clusters which is why it is the preferred alternative to live boiling by professional chefs.  Because lobsters have decentralized ganglia rather than a single brain, a stab to the head alone won’t shut everything down.  

1. Place the lobster on a flat surface or cutting board and quickly plunge the tip of a sharp chef’s knife right below its eyes. You will see a cross (X).
   1. Use a ribbed sheet pan to catch any liquid that spills out. 
2. Cut through the head and continue cutting through the tail to split the entire lobster. Alternatively, you can simply remove the tail. Don’t worry if the legs keep moving for a little while afterward; this is an involuntary reflex.
3. Remove the small sac at the base of the head and the digestive tract running along the center of the tail.
   1. Clean out the dark coral or roe if you do not like it.
4. Clean out the tomalley (liver and pancreas), the light green, runny material present in the lobster head, and, in some cases, on the exposed flesh of the tail.

Now you’re ready to cook the lobster by grilling, baking, or whatever method you prefer.  Boiling is not recommended for split lobsters as the meat could split apart, become waterlogged, and lose some of its flavor.the claws to protect yourself is a good idea.

See our guide for more tips on handling and storing live lobsters.

Stun the Lobster

A modern approach to killing a lobster in a humane way is to stun it with a quick and powerful electrical charge.  British lawyer Simon Buckhaven invented a product called CrustaStun as a way to dispatch the lobster before cooking.  

This product and idea took off as it may be considered more humane, and it is less risky than the blade between the eyes method, so CrustaStun began appearing in restaurants.  This method also comes with a hefty price tag with the original retail price around $3,000.  

There are different models and used devices available for sale if you’d like to purchase one.  Go to your preferred search engine and type in “CrustaStun for sale” to find local retailers, wholesalers, and possibly marketplaces with active listings.  If you go with a generic brand, make sure the device is safe, tested, and delivers enough of a charge to dispatch the lobster.

A 10 to 15 Minute Freeze

Placing a lobster in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes likely will not kill it, but instead will make it more dormant and easy to manage.  It is not recommended to do it if you’re boiling it right after as this will cool down the water from a hard boil, but it does make the lobster easier to dispatch using the blade or stunning method.

Cannabis

There are no shortage of ways people are looking to make dispatching a live lobster easier, and a unique approach is a restaurant in NY and a restaurant in Maine are using cannabis to calm the lobster first.  Health journalist Scott Lafae has said in this article that Maine lobsters can absorb vaporized THC through their gills.  

You can read the full study here.  The findings showed that while absorption can happen, there is no way to tell if the lobster feels the effects like humans do, or if it is effective for calming before dispatching.

With that being said, THC is likely not a good way to dispatch or calm a lobster, it is not recommended, and there is no science backed evidence (as Scott mentions) to say THC has an impact on pain, if a lobster feels pain at all.  

For home cooks, a brief chilling can make the lobster easier and safer to handle, but it is not a proven form of anesthesia or a humane killing method on its own. Once ready, use a hard, rolling boil or a rapid full split through the midline with a large, sharp knife.  For the highest welfare standard, animal-welfare guidance increasingly favors electrical stunning before cooking, though that is not practical for most home kitchens due to the price point.

If you’re ready to cook your first or fiftieth live lobster, we ship live lobsters from the dock to your door.

Sources & Further Reading

The following sources informed the science and legal context discussed in this article.

• Fregin, T. & Bickmeyer, U. “Electrophysiological Investigation of Different Methods of Anesthesia in Lobster and Crayfish.” PLOS ONE, 2016. Measured neural activity in lobster and crayfish nervous systems during chilling, boiling, and electrical stunning.
• Gutierrez, A. et al. “Vapor Exposure to Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Slows Locomotion of the Maine Lobster.” Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 2021. UC San Diego study testing whether THC vapor affects Maine lobster behavior and heat response.
• Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. United Kingdom Parliament. Recognizes decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs as sentient beings under UK law.
• University of Maine Lobster Institute. Anatomy, biology, and educational resources on Homarus americanus.
• New Zealand Animal Welfare Regulations. Requires certain commercially killed crustaceans, including rock lobster and crayfish, to be made insensible before killing.