Lobster tails are surprisingly easy to cook, whether they’re Maine or Australian lobster they will need roughly the same treatment. All you’re going to do is cut them out of their shells properly, do a little seasoning, and then cook them, that’s it. It’s neither complicated nor difficult; recipes vary somewhat and I’ve got several good ones here for you. Also, as an added bonus, I’m going to show you how to grill them as well. First, a few tips.
Basics of lobster tail cooking
- Thaw them in the container they came in (if they came in one, if not just put them in a bowl) in the refrigerator overnight. If you must have them thawed that same day, use a bowl of cold water (never use hot, it’ll cause the meat to get tough).
- A little tip if you haven’t bought them yet: you want to get your lobster tails from lobsters that were pulled from cold waters such as
the ones around Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa (areas with warm bodies of water where lobsters are found include Central and South America and Florida). Here’s why: according to several world-class seafood chefs around one fifth of the lobster tails from warm water are considered to be of “poor” quality, whereas lobster tails from cold water that fall into that dismal category are far more rare. In other words, cold-water lobster tails are far more likely to be at least “good” quality (my personal experience and that of people whom I’ve talked to generally agrees with this: stay away from warm-water lobster).
- If you don’t exactly have top shelf quality lobster, or if you just think this is really cool like me and want to try it, something else you can do is what’s known in Maine as a “lobster roll” where you boil the tails, chop them up, mix in some mayonnaise, and put the mixture in a hot dog bun (sort of a tuna fish sandwich…except with lobster meat…in a hot dog bun 😀 ).
How to cook a lobster tail (or 2…or 10)
You’ll notice how simple this is, plus his tip on defrosting (I told you so), and you’ve got the option to either bake or broil them:
How to grill lobster tails
Everything I said above about cooking lobster applies, except this time things are a bit more difficult because you’re not going to have an exact amount of time or a precise temperature to cook them at so you’ll have to be very observant (notice that you’re not leaving them on the grill for long, just a couple of minutes).
Additional Resources and Further Reading
If you’re a serious lobster connoisseur I highly recommend you check out Lobster at Home
LobsterHelp.com is a great resource for everything lobster, check it out.
Real-Restaurant-Recipes.com has got a whole section that’s really good about cooking lobster tails that includes detailed info on how to bake, broil, grill, steam, and boil lobster tails.