What’s in Your Lobster Tool Box?

This guide will not teach you how to eat lobster per se but will show you some tools and a few tricks to make your lobster experience a little easier. The truth is there is nothing graceful about cracking into and eating lobster. Do you have the right lobster tools?

Tools Needed to Eat Lobster

There is no need to be intimidated by breaking down a cooked lobster. This is especially true if you’re boiling up soft-shell summer lobsters. With soft shells lobster you can get by with just your bare hands and a big roll of paper towels. But for real good, rock-hard lobsters, you might need some help.

Most likely, you have seen the silly bibs and the shiny implements used to extract the meat. But before you rush out to Williams-Sonoma and buy the latest and greatest seafood gadgets, check your kitchen drawers. Most of the equipment you may already have! Here is a list of lobster tools you can use, along with instructions.

• Large Chefs Knife
• Seafood Fork (aka, lobster pic). A small cocktail fork will also work
• Kitchen Shears
• Nut Crackers or Fancy Lobster Crackers
• Large Pot
• Paper Towels, Dish Towels, or Fancy Napkins
• Cutting Board
• Cooking Pan
• Tongs
• Rolling Pin or Wine Bottle

1. Large Pot

Do you really need a lobster pot, the kind specifically made to cook lobster? The short answer is no. While a lobster pot makes a nice presentation, any soup, pasta, or stockpot will fit the bill–so save your clams. What size pot is needed? If you’re only cooking a couple of lobsters, you can get away with a 4-quart saucepan. If you’re boiling lobsters, you just want to make sure there is enough room in the pot to completely cover the lobsters. Although not necessary, some pots have a colander insert, which comes in handy for steaming or simply draining the lobster. A large 19-20 quart stockpot will cook about six to -eight 1 1/4 pound lobsters at one time. Lobsters cook in less than 1o minutes, so you can always cook them in small batches. Plus, you will need each batch of lobsters to cool before cracking and serving.

2. Tongs

Removing cooked lobster from the pot is not as easy as it seems. First, the lobsters will gain a little water weight, making them cumbersome to lift up. Second, the lobster will be steaming hot. Use tongs to carefully clasp the lobster at the center of the body or carapace and pull them out of the pot. Hold over the pot to drain off any excess water. With your other hand, place a kitchen towel under the lobster’s body and transport it to a large bowl or prep area.

3. Large Bowl

After you have removed your lobsters with the tongs, place them in a large bowl and allow time to cool before handling. To stop the cooking process, submerge lobsters in a bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes. Alternatively, you can put lobsters in a colander in the sink and rinse with cold water.

One of the biggest messes in eating lobster is removing the tail from the body. Twist off the tail and allow the water to leak out over the bowl or a clean sink.  You can use a cooking pan to collect the juices (see below). The bowl can double as a receptacle for the shells.

4. Cutting Board and Cooking Pan

To take apart your lobster, lay it on a cutting board. Lobsters have lots of salty water inside that drips and splatters everywhere. One trick is to sit your cutting board on top of a shallow pan to catch the juices.

5. Large Chefs Knife

Every kitchen has one, and they come in handy for not only quickly killing the lobster but also for cutting the tail and cracking open the claws.

To kill the lobster quickly, take the tip of the knife just behind the top of the head and drive the knife through. Alternatively, you can split the whole back side of the lobster, going right through the tail. If you’re squeamish, you can first numb the lobster by placing it in the freezer for a few minutes.

Place the tail on a cutting board with the membrane side down. Using a chef’s knife, cut the tail in half lengthwise. Now, you can easily pull out the meat or serve it in the shell.

Another handy use for the chef knife is for cracking the lobster’s claw and knuckle. You will find the claws are a little thicker and harder than the tail shell. This is why the claws take longer to cook. Taking the back dull part of the knife simply gives the claw a good whack on its edge. When the knife makes it into the claw, give it a 90-degree twist to crack the shell. To avoid flying shells and juices, cover the claw with a kitchen towel. Connected to the claw is the knuckle. Many believe the knuckle is the sweetest morsel of lobster meat. You can use your knife in the same manner.

6. Lobster Crackers

We bet you have some old-fashioned hinged nutcrackers in your kitchen—the kind your grampa used to crack walnuts. These will work fine for cracking open the lobster’s claws or even the tail. As mentioned above, a chef’s knife will do the job just as well. You will find newfangled lobster crackers on the market. There is not much difference in how they work than the traditional nutcrackers. And don’t forget your hands work pretty well cracking the lobster shell. Just be careful, as some of the shell pieces can be sharp.

7. Kitchen Shears

One of the most underrated kitchen tools is shears. Kitchen scissors are a good investment because they have a myriad of uses. First, you can use them to clip the bands off of lobsters.

Shears are best for accessing the meat in the lobster’s tail section. With your shears, cut under the membrane section of the tail shell and release the meat. (Again, you can simply use your hands to squeeze the sides of the shell and push the meat out.) The shears can also be used to extract the meat out of the knuckle part or even the legs. If you’re making a lobster roll, you can cut up the meat into good-sized chunks. For more ways to use shears, see our tips on how to cut lobster tails.

8. Seafood Forks

A seafood fork (a.k.a. lobster pic) is for picking and pulling the meat out of tough parts of the lobster, like the knuckle. Although it is not a big piece of meat, knuckle meat is worth every bit of effort. A cocktail fork will also work. Your fingers will work even better for pushing the meat out of the shell. A nifty trick is to use the back end of a fork or spoon to pop the meat out of the shell. Perhaps the best use of the seafood pick is for dipping the freshly cooked meat in a bowl of hot butter.

9. Rolling Pin

No, you will not be using the rolling pin for dough to make lobster pizza! Use it to simply roll out the meat from the lobster’s legs. If you don’t have a rolling pin, try a wine bottle. The leg meat can also be eaten by simply sucking out the meat like a straw.

10. Towels and Napkins

Since cracking lobsters is a messy job, be sure to have plenty of paper towels close by. Dish towels come in handy for moving a hot pot, lifting the lid, and cleaning up. As mentioned above, you can also use a towel to protect yourself from shell fragments and splashes when cracking, breaking, and cutting the shell.

Finally, a set of cotton napkins will be more useful than lobster bibs. In his book Lobster at Home, Boston seafood chef Jasper White points out that “bibs” do little more than funnel the lobster juices straight to your lap. A nice set of gingham napkins will not only decorate the table but also protect your clothes from the lobster juices.

Get Cracking at your Lobster Party

Most lobster events are informal gatherings among friends and family, so making a mess is part of the fun. If you’re throwing a lobster bash, you can place the lobster utensils in the center of the table for everyone to share.

Presentation is important at formal and celebratory events. Right after the lobster comes out of the pot, you can either pre-crack the lobsters or remove the meat altogether. This way, your guests can enjoy lobster with minimal work and a little less mess. Dress up your table with Chardonnay glasses and fancy gingham napkins, and save the plastic bibs for your Fourth of July lobster bake.