Florida lobster- individuals that don't taste quite right

[flspy]

OK- so I am getting much better at this lobstering thing. But i have a question- do any of you ever get a lobster that tastes a little "off?"
The one I had last night had an almost musty flavor. The last two were great.
My buddy said he got a one a few weeks ago that was the same.
Oh yeah, they were cleaned, washed and chilled so sitting in a hot car was not the issue.

The were caught of Pompano Beach, if that matters.

 

[djtimmy77]

I've caught many down in Pompano and many up in Jupiter (in deeper water) and generally have always thought the ones up in Jupiter taste better. I presume it is from what they are eating. Are there sewage outflows near where you caught them?

 

[flspy]

I am sure there are. But I think we have caught some off Palm Beach that had same issue. Someone suggested they may have been getting ready to molt, but I have no idea how that affects the flavor.

 

[djtimmy77]

Could very well be something like that. Interested to see if people who know more about it chime in!

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

Often times lobster that have just molted do not taste very good. They can also be extremely mushy - so much so that none of the meat is solid/firm. I don't know how true it is, but I did a little poking around when I got my first mushy lobster thinking it was bad. While not directly related to your predicament, I suppose it's possible that it was in the process of molting or recently had molted.

Google had to say the following:

The Lobster in order to molt (to shed an outer covering) has to remove and store the calcium which is in its shell. The removal allows its present shell to soften. The Lobster pumps in water between the softened shell and its new shell, which is soft. The old shell will split and the new shell will start to harden. The calcium which the Lobster has stored in the meat of its tail is used to help harden the new shell. If a Lobster is harvested while the calcium is stored in the tail, this tail will be mushy. It is possible to look at a Lobster and tell if the Lobster is ready to molt-a look at the eyestalks will be a good indicator. The eyestalk will be cloudy if the Lobster is getting ready to molt.

It also said that this is most prevalent in warm water lobsters.

 

[drbill]

Well, at least you may have gotten your calcium from them!

Interesting factoid about storing the cakcium in their tails. Here in SoCal, I see lobster gnawing on lobster exoskeletons that have been molted as well as on sea urchin tests to gain additional calcium.

 

[flspy]

I found a link to another thread that describes the same problem
Why do some lobster taste different than others? [Archive] - ScubaBoard - Scuba Diving Forum - Diving Social Network

 

[BadaBing]

Lobsters that have just dropped their eggs don't taste good.

 

[flspy]

So the males are better eating?

 

[sc00bad1v3r]

Ive read that if you take the membrane off the lobster (red looks like a fake tail once you peel the meat out of the tail you will see it) it is way better and no "grizzle"