Grilled Lobster

Grilled Lobster

Decadent, yes, but also so delicious. Why not treat yourself?

We will often pick up a live lobster when we’re away on holiday in Cornwall. We always get a lot of admiring looks as we grill our lobsters on our MiniMax while we are camping.

I prefer to buy my lobsters live, but there’s no reason why your shouldn’t buy them uncooked and frozen. Waitrose sell lobster tails on their fish counter most of the time and at £7.5o each they’re great value, especially on a Friday when it’s 20% off all fresh fish.

Many companies will ship you both live and frozen lobsters. We’ve used The Fish Society for frozen lobster tails (the ones in the photos). I’ve also been recommended the Berwick Shelfish Company for live lobster.

Method

1. Setup your Big Green Egg for a direct cook  at 200°C with just the stainless steel grid.
2. In a small pan, melt the butter and add the garlic. Give it a few minutes to infuse.
3. Now add the parsley.
4. Place your lobster halves onto the grid, meat side down for just 1.5 minutes.
5. Now turn them over, baste them with the butter and leave them to cook.
6. Baste them every 1.5 minutes.
7. Cook the lobster until the white flesh turns from translucent to opaque at 60-63°C.
8. Take it off the grill and serve with fresh vegetables or how about a nice juicy steak.

Lobster is cooked at 60-63°C. Don’t go beyond this as the meat will toughen and turn rubbery.

How to deal with a live lobster

If you do want to tackle a full live lobster, the most humane way of dispatching it, is to place it into the freezer for about 15 minutes. This will slow its metabolism right down and it will go to sleep. On the top of the lobsters head there is a natural dimple and cross. With a large chef’s knife pointing to the front of the head, push the knife through the shell and bring it down, cutting the head in half. Your lobster is now dead. Now continue to cut the whole lobster in half with your knife. You will probably experience nerve twitches, your lobster is dead though.

How much meat will you get?

In a whole lobster, only about 30% of the weight is meat that you can eat.

In lobster tails, about 90% of the weight is edible meat.