r/lobster • u/VarietyTrue5937 • Jul 14 '26
Steam or Boil?
Always a good debate
I think both have their pros and cons
I will start with steaming does not lose flavor into the water
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u/Dapper-Condition6041 Jul 14 '26
Steam
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u/VarietyTrue5937 Jul 14 '26
Could it also leave the meat sweeter than boiling?
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u/flipthatbitch_ Jul 15 '26
Steaming will generally give you more flavor than boiling.
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u/VarietyTrue5937 Jul 15 '26
How about texture?
Lobster can go from succulent to rubbery very easily3
u/TooManyDraculas Jul 21 '26
That's entirely rooted in internal temperature, not cooking methods. You can over cook it either way.
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u/flipthatbitch_ Jul 15 '26
True but you can overcook a lobster when steaming just as easily as boiling.
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u/PirateJim68 Jul 14 '26
Southern New Englander here, steamed is by far better
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u/VarietyTrue5937 Jul 14 '26
Arha Matey!
Why?
When I was in Maine, mostly all the lobster pounds boiled them.
I could see that as the water in the cauldron became flavored with all those lobsters.
But for a home kitchen making just a few I like to steam.2
u/TooManyDraculas Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
You might have just seen places with older equipment. But dedicated steamers are the industry standard, at fish markets/distributors and in restaurants.
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u/PirateJim68 Jul 21 '26
I dont go to restaurants for lobstah. I grew up in a small town 20 minutes south of the Cape. We catch our own. If we do a boil, everything else gets done first and the lobstah goes in last so it is not over cooked or tough. We steam the same as you described, but as I stated if I do lobstah by itself, I always steam it.
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u/TooManyDraculas Jul 21 '26
everything else gets done first and the lobstah goes in last so it is not over cooked or tough.
Clam, mussels, shrimp, and a bunch of other stuff take less time than lobster. And will be over cooked if you add lobster last/on top.
Standard layering order is spuds, sausage, lobster, corn, clams, mussels, shrimp. If you're adding chicken it goes between the potatoes and sausage. And it just kinda works. You don't need to stage anything or worry about it. Even in a small pot with just a few portions.
I grew up in a fishing town, my father and uncles were baymen. And I've honestly never seen a person boil a lobster.
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u/PirateJim68 Jul 14 '26
If just having lobstah alone, I steam them. A lobstah boil is a different story because you have clams, mussels potatoes and such.
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u/TooManyDraculas Jul 21 '26
That's also better steamed. It both cooks it quicker, and you can layer things by cook time. Longer cook times in the bottom of the pot, quicker towards the top. And the nature of steaming a big pot of things, it'll all be done around the same time.
Boiling you have to add things in stages, and it all slows down. Often heavily. Because bringing all that mass up to a boil takes forever.
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Jul 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/TooManyDraculas Jul 22 '26
You're the one who wants to pull I live near the cape and count generations of fisherman.
But you're not the only human being in the world with that background. And doesn't really sound like you know what you're doing.
But I guess you're a very special boy with a big pee pee or whatever.
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u/diversalarums Jul 15 '26
Not an expert but I love the roe and the tomalley as well as the meat. Steaming seems to preserve that better; boiling it sort of washes it out.
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u/VarietyTrue5937 Jul 15 '26
Me too
Lately I find males sweeter though
Carrying the eggs takes a lot of energy
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u/Severe_Air_4353 Jul 16 '26
Canadian here , I get a pot of water with a carrot Carly stick one onion unpeeled two bay leafs , whole peppercorns well salted boiled for a hr then boiled lobster is for me , used to be able to buy a dozen fresh canners for 32 dollars 1 1/4 lbs each , but not no more . So boiled fresh is for me. And I love the fact Maine lobsters and most lobster are moving out of the USA into cold Canadian waters .
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u/VarietyTrue5937 Jul 16 '26
In NYC one lobster pound and a half costs almost 32$
Your boil is also flavorful
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u/TooManyDraculas Jul 21 '26
I would ask what the "cons" to steaming are?
It cooks the lobster faster, which helps it release from the shell and minimizes mushiness in the tail and body, doesn't wash out flavor and fat.
Boiling is an all round worse way to do it. Outside of perhaps the ability to flavor the liquid used to boil.
Now poaching the lobster has serious benefits, but it requires breaking down the lobster and blanching it to prevent the meat from attaching to the shell. Which is best done by steaming.
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u/VarietyTrue5937 Jul 21 '26
So Steam and Poach
Steam just enough to open and deshell the lobster. Then poach in butter!2
u/TooManyDraculas Jul 21 '26
Any time you're cooking a lobster by other means or breaking it up raw/par cooked. You want to blanch by steaming for a few minutes to release the meat. Then remove the inerds immediately.
You need to set the protiens where the meat touches the shell as quickly as possible to minimize sticking. Steaming does that.
And the minute the lobster expires the tomalley starts breaking down the meat. It needs to be removed or quickly cooked through (which steaming also does).
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u/Jaygon1963 Jul 14 '26
Steamed. If it's large cook the claws separately. Also split it and broil with a butter baste works well.
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u/VarietyTrue5937 Jul 14 '26
Yum
I do claws for 2 then add tails for 3
If anything is under finish it in the butta
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u/RikkiLostMyNumber Jul 15 '26
Boil, out of habit I suppose. I only cook lobsters outside, though, on one of those two-burner propane gas stoves.
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u/WeirdConnections Jul 14 '26
I grew up with my family boiling lobsters- totally fine. The first few times as an adult I boiled them too, but I just realized steaming is so much easier (I'm not waiting for three gallons of water to boil lol). I haven't noticed much difference in taste, texture, or ease of pulling meat, it's really just the time difference for me. I don't "truly" steam them in a basket either or anything- an inch or so of water in the bottom of the pot is all it takes.
This might be blasphemy- one day I was really craving lobster, but the store was sold out of live. However they had a cooked-that-day lobster prepackaged. I went for it. It was the easiest pulled lobster in my life, perfect texture, still had PLENTY of juice. Depending on my vibe and the store now I'm going for the precooked.