Calm the Lobster Before Cooking by Placing It on Your Head
Whole lobster makes a delicious dish, but live lobster can be tricky to handle. This clever trick will help you avoid pinching.
As frustrating as it sounds, cooking the lobster alive is actually the safest way to do it. Their flesh contains harmful bacteria that can multiply quickly, so throwing live ones directly into the pot is the best way to avoid food poisoning. Even so, lobsters don’t really like being thrown into boiling water. They can be a little cumbersome to work with, and you certainly don’t want those claws anywhere near you, so Kenzie Wilbur of Food52 gives advice on how to get them to relax:
Gently flip the lobster over on your head, gently tucking your claws underneath it, where it would be if it had a chin. Then lower its tail … After about ten seconds – it needs your help to stabilize it during this time – the lobster should calm down significantly, usually enough to stand on its head on its own.
Wilbur likens this to a lobster doing a child yoga pose. Position causes the lobster to scatter and incapacitate. Alternatively, if you need more time to prepare, you can also put the lobster on ice until it boils.
You Learned This Lobster Cooking Trick In Yoga Lessons | Food52