Posted by Eric Frasco on August 09, 2002 at 15:36:46:
In Reply to: What's the most "humane" way to dispatch a lobster? posted by ChrisM on August 09, 2002 at 14:53:51:
Treat them properly after you have caught them. I put mine in a cooler with kelp and the frozen "blue ice" product and maybe some salt water. This keeps them cool and moist, and I've had them stay healthy for 24+ hours this way. Keep them out of fresh water, this makes the flesh mushy and probably "burns" the lobster the same way chemicals of the wrong pH would "burn" your skin.
I would think that one of three ways, depending on your school of thought, would be the best way to dispatch them:
The first sounds pretty gruesome, and that would be immersing them head first in a large pot of boiling water. They would probably go in to shock right away and die pretty fast (but they always seem to twitch a couple of times). A small pot does not have enough thermal mass to kill them quickly, so that would be bad. Also, as the lobster heats up, escaping steam makes a lot of noise so that it sounds like the lobster is "screaming." So that may be problematic.
In my opinion, probably the best way to dispatch a lobster is to put him in the freezer and just let him "go to sleep." Later on, you can seperate the body from the tail, or leave him intact, and then protect what you have by completely immersing in water and freezing a protective layer over the entire thing.
Be careful though. I put a lobster in the freezer and did not put the protective ice layer on top of it. Two months later, I picked the lobster up and it was as light as a feather - the "frost free" freezer had essentially freeze-dried the bug and it was no longer edible. Encasing in water is the key to long term storage.
And finally, cutting them in half lengthwise is pretty immediate as well. Getting the knife through the carapice is a litte tough and not for the squimish. I cut them from tip to tail into two equal halves, then drizzle butter and crushed garlic on each half and then wrap each half in tin foil. Cook shell side down on the BBQ for an excellent meal.
Fresh is better - take only what you need for immediate use and let the rest stay out there, reproducing and staying in the gene pool.
I think the worst way is to tear the tail off. I've seen carapices moving around hours later after this procedure, and the blood spills all over the place then turns into a gelatenous mass that stains surfaces a light purple.
If you absolutely have to tear the tail off to store it in the freezer, perhaps you should immediately boil the carapice after removing the tail so the lobster will die right away. You could then get the meat remaining in the knuckles and the inside of the carapice out after boiling it, and make lobster tacos. And you won't have to face the gruesome crawling carapice several hours later.
And most importantly, don't do this until September 28th, 2002. You should not be in possesion of live lobster until then (unless it is a Maine lobster you bought at the store!).
-Eric-