Lobster by microwave

Hi,

I had lunch today with a friend I rarely see. He told me of a new method for cooking lobster he has been using for at least 2 years: Microwave at 1000 watts for 5 minutes 30 seconds. To keep it warm while cooking the second lobster, he wraps a towel then some newspapers to retain the heat. He said it is just like any other perfectly steamed lobster, even the shell turns red. Another friend quickly advised me to cook it and let her know. I agree, it is really hard to believe and such an expensive ingredient to experiment with.

He has read of Chef's using the same technique who will use microwaveable plastic bags. Before inserting the lobster into the bag, they take lemon quarter and place it on the sharp horns just over the eyes. Why? To keep those horns from piercing the bag.

Anyone else ever tried this?

Is the lobster alive?

Hi,

Yes, we are talking about a live lobster. When the process is finished, they are not alive. (I'm not being sarcastic, I am offering a complete answer.)

I thought the lobster would begin thrashing about. I was told if the lobster went in with a curled tail, it came out with a curled tail. Microwaves cook from the center out, so maybe they don't quite realize what is happening to them?

Long ago, I read in the Tribune of a technition servicing the microwave antennas on the Hancock Tower made a critical error. The microwave antennas were not disengaged during his repair and he died effectively cooked. If anyone suggested this was urban myth, I would likely agree that's possible because it seems so unbelieveable, though I distinctly remember reading this article.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Long ago, I read in the Tribune of a technition servicing the microwave antennas on the Hancock Tower made a critical error. The microwave antennas were not disengaged during his repair and he died effectively cooked. If anyone suggested this was urban myth, I would likely agree that's possible because it seems so unbelieveable, though I distinctly remember reading this article.

No luck finding the article in the tribune archives on lexis nexis, and snopes does seem to think it's a urban legend (although not with the Hancock tower variant).

Regarding microwaves, they don't really cook from the inside out but rather the opposite -- with large, uneven shapes the center takes forever to be heated because the waves aren't able to penetrate past a few inches. With thinner pieces, where this isn't a problem, all water and fat molecules in the food are heated at the same time by the radio waves.

geek mode off

I used to work with a guy who worked on radar towers during the early days of radar in WWII. He once got zapped while working on a radar dish and had various blood chemistry problems for the rest of his life. He was not cooked, however.

Cathy2 wrote: Microwaves cook from the center out, so maybe they don't quite realize what is happening to them?

Just keep telling yourself that, and maybe it will become true ... boy, I sure hope when I go, it's by being cooked inside-out in a giant Radar Range! Seriously, I've never understood why everyone insists on plunging live lobsters into boiling water, in the first place. Why not just konk it on the head with a skillet and have done with it? I think I could live with eating a lobster with a flattened skull if I knew he was at least lightly dazed before being boiled to death. I've also heard that sticking the lobster in the freezer for a while will put it in a coma before you go all Vlad the Impaler on him, but I admit to some skepticisim on the humaneness of that option, too.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:

Cathy2 wrote: Microwaves cook from the center out, so maybe they don't quite realize what is happening to them?

Just keep telling yourself that, and maybe it will become true ... boy, I sure hope when I go, it's by being cooked inside-out in a giant Radar Range! Seriously, I've never understood why everyone insists on plunging live lobsters into boiling water, in the first place. Why not just konk it on the head with a skillet and have done with it? I think I could live with eating a lobster with a flattened skull if I knew he was at least lightly dazed before being boiled to death. I've also heard that sticking the lobster in the freezer for a while will put it in a coma before you go all Vlad the Impaler on him, but I admit to some skepticisim on the humaneness of that option, too.

JILS,

We've been microwaving lobsters for a while now, and what I do is let them spend the last day of their lives in the bathtub in a solution of 4 parts water to 1 part gin. The lobsters are so drunk by the time they're ready for the long walk to the microwave/chamber of death, that they really don't seem to care about much of anything.

Hammond

Ed

I'm not surprise this has all the fingerprints of an urban legend. The time frame was the late 70's or early 80's. If you want to discount it as urban legend, it doesn't really bother me. I wouldn't have brought up the urban legend stuff if I didn't think it was the first thing to pop into most people's minds.

&&&

JiLS,

There is always the option of severing the spinal cord for instant death. Take a large chef's knife, place it about a 1/2 inch behind the eyes and give a good wack with the palm of your hand. You're basically severing the spinal cord; the lobster stops squirming, can't feel anything, and you can chop it up.

Cathy2 wrote:Ed

I'm not surprise this has all the fingerprints of an urban legend. The time frame was the late 70's or early 80's. If you want to discount it as urban legend, it doesn't really bother me. I wouldn't have brought up the urban legend stuff if I didn't think it was the first thing to pop into most people's minds.

&&&

JiLS,

There is always the option of severing the spinal cord for instant death. Take a large chef's knife, place it about a 1/2 inch behind the eyes and give a good wack with the palm of your hand. You're basically severing the spinal cord; the lobster stops squirming, can't feel anything, and you can chop it up.

Oh, I'm not sure it's an urban legend.. my nexis search was of the entire tribune archives, but i only searched for "hancock microwave" in the full text and got no hits.. but it could have been "hancock radio" or "sears microwave" or who knows what else...

anyway, back to killing lobsters. and cathy's method is the one i believe to be most recently in vogue (ice baths/freezing is soooo 1970s [note high school girl twang]).

-ed

I like to eat 'em while they're alive, as in sashimi with a little wasabi and soy sauce.

Cathy2 wrote:There is always the option of severing the spinal cord for instant death.

Cathy, you are a font of knowledge. Please understand and don't be too offended if tomorrow night at Friendship I won't sit next to you.

Update on the whole how-to-kill a lobster thing:

Worms on a hook don't suffer?

Worms squirming on a fishhook feel no pain -- nor do lobsters and crabs cooked in boiling water, a scientific study funded by the Norwegian government has found.

Eat! You look so thin. wrote:I like to eat 'em while they're alive, as in sashimi with a little wasabi and soy sauce.

My favorite waiter at Shaw's told me a great story about a Japanese woman who came in and ordered a live lobster. She turned it over on it's back and rubbed it's belly for about 5 minutes. After the lobster calmed down, she drove a knife through it's head, cracked open it's shell and dined on the insides.

I don't know about belly rubbing, but this always works for me: I hold the lobster by the carapace with head and claws pointed toward the floor. I wave my index finger back and forth, parallel with the length of the body, just over the lobster's eyes. After just a few passes, this always calms the lobster down just enough to allow me to get it into the pot and get the lid on without its waving its front claws all around and making the task considerably more stressful (for me anyway, I have no accurate way of judging the lobster's stress level).

Hope to be be sucking legs soon,
Kristen

as a transplanted cape codder, i can attest to Kristen's methods. my dad
(who wouldn't eat but always cooked the lobsters in our house) had a whole routine of "hypnotizing" them for the benefit of my mother and me. i bought a few from dirks the other day and amused my friends with that trick.

oddly enough, in culinary school they taught us the "plunging the knife through nerve bundle method" instead. it's alot quicker, if less houdini like.

I don't want to sound cruel, but I just plunge the guys and gals straight into the pot. I don't feel any guilt, remorse, etc. I do feel anticipation though.

Just cooked some this afternoon. Just put them in the freezer for 15 minutes. They were totally in a trance...then drop them in the water. Super succulent Maine deliciousness.

Bruce wrote:I don't want to sound cruel, but I just plunge the guys and gals straight into the pot. I don't feel any guilt, remorse, etc. I do feel anticipation though.

Bruce,

My thoughts as well, though I put the lobsters in the pot head first, which I've found tends to minimize movement.

Enjoy,
Gary