{"id":63295,"date":"2022-07-05T11:39:07","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T15:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/?p=63295"},"modified":"2022-07-06T13:10:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T17:10:00","slug":"how-to-kill-a-lobster-like-a-mainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/how-to-kill-a-lobster-like-a-mainer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Kill a Lobster Like a Mainer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Despite what one might think, there is more than one way to kill a lobster. The classic beach lobster bake, which involves digging a hole, putting rocks and coals and seaweed down, setting the lobster in, and covering it with more seaweed and possibly a burlap tarp, is the party version, not unlike a goat roast in New Mexico. Then there are people who meddle with the lobster ahead of cooking it: \u201cThe most inhumane thing I\u2019ve ever heard of was a chef who would use a butter baster to inject the lobster with hot butter before placing it in an oven to bake,\u201d says Lucas Myers of SoPo Seafood. Other people go so far as to blow marijuana into a lobster\u2019s face to make it more comfortable before going into the steamer. \u201cI\u2019m kind of skeptical on that one,\u201d says Myers. People will argue that killing a lobster before steaming it is the most humane way to go about it. \u201cIn commercial cookeries, there\u2019s an electrolysis machine that will electrocute the lobster and stun it ahead of going into the steamer,\u201d explains Myers. And then there\u2019s the at-home cook who will, Julia Child\u2013style, point a chef\u2019s knife between the lobster\u2019s eyes and push down to sever the brain. \u201cBut the thing is,\u201d says Myers, \u201cthat lobster is still moving when it\u2019s going into the water, and I can\u2019t imagine that is a painless way to die.\u201d So, what does Myers suggest? \u201cI think the very simple way is the Mainer way,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd by keeping it simple, it is done well.\u201d Get yourself a large pot, fill it with two inches of water and half a cup of salt. Myers likes to cook his lobsters outside to avoid stinking up the house\u2014and to circumvent boiling water getting all over the stove. \u201cGet yourself a tripod connected to a propane tank and get 40,000 BTUs going underneath it, so it gets to a very hot boiling steam really quickly,\u201d Myers says. \u201cI want to get my pot to a point where it\u2019s going to boil over.\u201d Take the rubber bands off the claws (otherwise they will impart a rubbery flavor to the water). Take the lobster by the back and place it headfirst into the steaming pot. Follow it with several of its friends. Put the lid on top. \u201cThose lobsters are going to be dead within a minute,\u201d says Myers. Soon the lobsters will rise to the surface and the water will boil over. With a beer in one hand and a potholder in the other, take the lid off. Let the percolation settle back down, and then put the lid back on. \u201cIt\u2019s going to percolate up and pour over again,\u201d Myers says. Finally, after 10 minutes of this, turn off the heat and put the lid back on. \u201cYour lobsters can sit like that while you\u2019re waiting for everybody to sit down and get plated.\u201d Then, get cracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t

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