The Single Best Way to Cook a Live Lobster

So you’re shy about killing them? It’s time to get over it—now.

BY JERILYN COVERTJune 15, 2015

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Killing a living animal with your bare hands is, for many of us, downright horrifying.

And that’s exactly why you should do it.

I have no illusions about the origins of the protein on my plate. But the knowledge of where my food comes from is still somewhat buried in my consciousness. Like the realization of my own mortality or the memory of my wardrobe in sixth grade, it’s something I just don’t like to think about.

But why am I fearful of killing a lobster? Technically, I kill a tomato when I pluck it from its plant, and I have no qualms about that. So what’s the difference?

To start with, I don’t feel emotionally attached to vegetables the same way I do animals. That’s right—I'm not only a carnivore but also an animal person. Remember Sebastian from The Little Mermaid? Remember the scene when he's trying to escape from the chef? Yeah, I never rooted for the chef in that scene.

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Compassion isn’t a very appetite-inducing emotion. But because I have no intention of giving up meat, I have only one option: to face the truth.

Now, slaughtering a pig or a cow is way above my pay grade. But lobster? Cooking a live lobster would be a challenge, but an accessible one. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I could do this. I just needed a little courage.

So I enlisted the help of Chris Gould, chef and owner of Central Provisions, in Portland, Maine—a 2015 James Beard nominee for Best New Restaurant.

As it turns out, the technical aspect of cooking a live lobster is beginner’s-level easy. You boil water. You add salt. You add lobster. Several minutes later, you take the lobster out. Done.

Gould assured me that a lobster does not “scream” or make any sound while cooking, and he declared that I would not have to forcibly hold down the pot’s lid.

But how would I overcome my anxiety over the actual act of killing of it? Apparently, that’s not something Gould grapples with.

“I grew up in a family that had animals,” says Gould, “and I always knew where food came from. People eat meat, and in order to do that, animals have to give their lives. People should accept that and give thanks for that. I guess I just thank the lobster for being delicious.”

Maybe being an animal lover and a carnivore doesn’t have to be a contradiction after all.

So one Saturday, I decided to take the plunge.

Lobsters are best cooked within a few hours of purchase. On one hand I’m grateful that refrigeration makes them lethargic; on the other, it’s a bit hard to tell whether they’re still alive. A quick finger poke proves a sufficient test—still moving!

As dinnertime draws near, I refer to Gould’s directions:

For two 1 ¼-pound lobsters, fill a 3-gallon pot with 2 gallons of water. (For four lobsters, use a 5-gallon pot and 3 gallons of water.) Add about a tablespoon of salt per gallon of water. Salting the water seasons the meat just as salting a steak does, says Gould.

Bring the water to a boil. This will take a while. Cover the pot with a lid to speed things along.

Once the water boils, add the lobster (or follow Gould’s easy recipe for a New England–style lobster bake, below).

And with that, the moment I’ve been dreading has finally arrived.

I pick up the first lobster, holding it by its middle as the seafood-counter girl had done, and plunge it into the boiling water. Quickly, I repeat with the second and replace the lid.

Whether or not lobsters feel pain seems to be up for debate. I’m not a scientist, so I can’t know for sure. But I can say that the process seemed quick and painless.

They make no commotion at all. They slip quietly into the water, and that’s that. Considering all the buildup, this is pretty anticlimactic.

After boiling for about 8 minutes, the lobsters, now bright red, are done. The delicate lobster meat tastes delicious—just as if I’d ordered it at a fancy restaurant, but without the pricy bill. Just as the lobsters changed from brown to bright red, they also crossed the line between animal and meat. At this point, I’m simply eating lobster meat, and that’s not weird at all.

New England–Style Lobster Bake
Recipe courtesy Chris Gould, chef/owner of Central Provisions in Portland, Maine

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add a few small potatoes and boil for 5 minutes. Add your lobsters (1 ¼-pound each) and boil for another 4 minutes. Add a few ears of corn and boil for an additional 4 minutes. Remove all. Serve with coleslaw and a roll. And don’t forget the drawn butter.