How to cook a lobster

To cook a lobster, add several inches of water to a cooking pot. Place it over high heat and cover the pot until the water boils. Pick up the lobster by holding the upper side of the thorax between your thumb and middle finger. Hold the underside of its body away from you, because lobsters have a tendency to flip the jointed tail, thereby splattering water.

Hold it squarely over the center of the pot and let it go head-first into the liquid. Cover the pot, return to boiling point, then turn down just below boiling to cook the lobster.

The lobster is cooked when its outer shell is entirely red. This may take as little time as 10 minutes for a small lobster and 15 to 20 minutes for a larger one. Huge lobsters of course take longer. You can cook more than one lobster in a pot as long as there is enough room and enough water.

Should you open the body and find a red grainy substance, you have come upon the lobster roe. It is delicious.

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