How do you eat a lobster?

Step 1: Start by breaking off the lobster’s legs. Holding the lobster firmly, pull of the lobster’s legs by delicately twisting them. The legs are not waste, within them is the sweetest meat. 

Step 2: Remove the claws. Twist them at their first joint (the joint that connects the claws to the body). The crusher claw is usually bigger than the tearing claw making it a little harder to twist off.

Step 3: Remove the loose part of the claw, pulling it all the way open.


Step 4: Using a lobster cracker, clamp and crack the tip of the claw, which contains a large piece of meat.

Step 5: Using your forefinger, push the meat from the tip out of the bottom (bigger opening of the claw). 


Step 6: Grasp the tail of the lobster and the back of the lobster with separate hands while twisting the tail off of the body.


Step 7: Insert your fingers into the “tail” end of the lobster pushing the meat out (intact) of the bigger opening.


Step 8: Peel off the top of the tail to find the digestive tract which should be removed before eating.

What are the best types of lobsters to eat?

There are many different kinds of lobsters in the ocean. However, only two main types are commonly eaten, and taste the best. They both have different tastes and some people prefer on over the other.

Clawed Lobster: Usually divided into two groups, the American Lobster, and the European Lobster. People who live in North America usually consume the clawed lobster, otherwise known as the American lobster. They are caught of the coast of Maine and other New England states such as New Hampshire and Massachusetts. They are also caught in Canada’s provinces such as Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. European lobsters, are found in the eastern Atlantic waters from Norway to Morocco. American and European lobsters (clawed lobsters) live in cold and shallow waters. While American lobsters are brown in color European lobsters are blue, but are both bright red once cooked. 

Spiny Lobster: The spiny lobster is most commonly found in warm waters off the coast of California, near Florida, in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Sea, as well as near Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the coast of South Africa. The spiny lobster looks different than the clawed lobster, as it has very long antennae to sense movement nearby, is covered with pointy spines to protect itself from predators, and do not have big front claws, but five identical pairs of legs- most meat is found in the tail.  

What is the history of a lobster?

Many centuries ago in North America, there were so many lobsters that Native Americans used them as bait to catch fish as well as to fertilize their fields. 

In colonial days, lobster was known as food for the poor and were fed to prisoners, indentured servants, and children. Up until the early 1800’s, lobsters were caught by hand along the shoreline. However, catching lobsters in traps started in Maine around the time of 1850. Maine currently produces the most amount of lobster in the country. 

When lobster demand grew, they began being canned in 1836. Burnham and Morrill Company was one of the biggest canneries in the country, located in Maine. Burnham and Morrill sent canned lobster to all different parts of the world. When people figured out they could send ship live lobsters the value of the canned lobster went down. 

In the times of World War II, lobster became known as a delicacy. People felt that lobster meat had a lot protein. People could afford to buy lobster because of the “boom” or war-time economy. 

Is lobster healthy to consume?

Yes, lobster is very healthy for consumption. People usually only eat in on special occasions, or when they go out to dinner, but it should be eaten more often for all of its benefits. Lobster has a lot of protein, it has 20 grams in each 3 ounce serving. Lobster is one of the most lean meats as it is not high in saturated fat. Lobster contains a  lot of vitamins. In a 3 ounce serving, lobster has 6% of the Vitamin E needed in a human’s daily diet. Vitamin E helps reduce the risk of heart disease. Additionally, lobster has vitamin B-12 which is needed in the help of producing red blood cells, the formation of DNA, and healthy nerve cells. There are as well a lot of minerals in lobster, such as calcium, iron, selenium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. Finally, lobster helps in disease prevention. It is low fat while having a lot of nutrients. The consumption of lobster when eaten regularly can reduce risk of heart disease, protect against Alzheimer’s disease and some types of cancer.