How to Buy Lobster

Lobster is sold live, cooked, frozen, and canned. Frozen lobster often includes only the tail, while canned lobster may contain either chunks of lobster meat or a spreadable paste. When buying lobster either live or cooked, you should inspect the lobster before purchasing.

When buying a live lobster, it is essential to ensure that the lobster is in fact still alive. Dead lobster decomposes rapidly and is not safe to eat even after cooking. If lobster is being sold to you from a tank, you may be able to pick the lobster or lobsters you want, and it’s never a bad idea to pick those that seem more lively. Even if you can’t pick the lobster from the tank, you can usually watch the salesperson remove the lobster from the tank. If the lobster seems listless, showing little movement, you should request another one.

If you can’t see the lobster being removed from the tank, you can test yourself whether the lobster is alive: using one hand, grasp it around the sides in the middle of its thorax behind where the lobster’s large claws join with its body. A live lobster should respond by abruptly tucking its tail under its body. A lobster’s large pincers are almost always restrained by an elastic band or a wooden peg, which makes lifting a lobster perfectly safe. If the pincers are not restrained, be very careful when lifting the lobster.

Lobster is priced and sold by weight. Lobsters may be simply bagged and weighed, or they may be categorized into weight classes: 1-pound lobsters, 1 1/4-pound, 1 1/2-pound, and so on. Generally speaking, a 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-pound lobster provides enough food for a single person.

Some connoisseurs argue that smaller lobsters have more tender and sweeter meat than larger lobsters. There is little actual evidence to support this. However, if you’re considering buying a larger lobster, make sure you have a receptacle large enough to cook it in.

Cooked lobster is often sold whole, though you may also be able to buy cooked lobster tail. Cooked lobster should have the following characteristics: