Keeping bugs alive topside

[cth6]

Why keep them alive? Clean them at the dock. Put the tails in a plastic glad tupperwear and cover with fresh water. Freeze solid, but make sure that there is no flesh or shell showing on the outside of the ice block. Remove from the tupperwear and you have a lobster ice cube. Put into a plastic bag with other tail-cubes. When you are ready to eat, just thaw. We have kept lobster for over a year that tastes just like it was pulled from the water in the morning.

 

[Soggy]

Why keep them alive? Clean them at the dock. Put the tails in a plastic glad tupperwear and cover with fresh water. Freeze solid, but make sure that there is no flesh or shell showing on the outside of the ice block. Remove from the tupperwear and you have a lobster ice cube. Put into a plastic bag with other tail-cubes. When you are ready to eat, just thaw. We have kept lobster for over a year that tastes just like it was pulled from the water in the morning.

This is American (New England/Maine) lobster, which, in my opinion, is disgusting after it's been frozen. It is cooked live.

 

[cth6]

Sorry. Didn't know it was any different than the spiney ones down here, but now I do.

 

[FredT]

This works for carribean reef roaches. No reason it wouldn't work farther north on the over grown mudbugs found up there.

The primary considerations in keeping any crustacean alive is to keep the gills wet and well airated and keep the critter at or near the temperature they were in before harvest.

The method used farther south is to wrap the catch bag in a towell soaked in sea water. This is then kept in the shade/air conditioning to maintain a temp of near 70°-80°F. This will allow fresh air to get to the gills while maintaining a 100% humidity level. if the towell starts to dry out dump more sea water on it. This method will keep reef roaches alive for up to 3 days. Farther north this may require an ice pack/chest to keep the temperature constant.

As far as cooking shellfish the key to boiling is to match the natural salt content in the meat to the salt content in the boiling water. More salt in the water than the meat makes the meat loose water, and thus get tougher, but it also makes it shrink a bit and easier to separate the meat from the shell. If the water has less salt than the meat the meat will gain water, thus causing the meat to swell. The meat will be tender, but a real bear to separate from the smaller sections of the shell. The best bet is an exact salt osmodic pressure match, or to be more exact the water you took them out of in the first place. The meat will neither gain nor loose water. It will still be tender and still easy to peel. Please note that the osmodic pressure involves both the major and minor salts. It's really hard to match the minor salts unless you bring the water home with you. This is the one advantage divers have over the supermarket crowd. We can get the right water! Without the right water steaming is the next best thing, but it's a poor second at best.

If doing a cajun style boil simply start the "tea" with the seawater by adding the ground pepper, citrus, onions, carrots, and fresh garlic, but NO SALT! Reef roaches respond well to cajun spices, I expect your monster mudbugs will too.

FT

 

[augk]

Here is some info from another source for transporting
http://www.lobsters.org/ldoc/ldocindx.html

As far as cooking goes: 1 large stainless steel pot 5-10 live lobsters depending on size
3 12 oz heinekens 1 Tbs of salt 1 Tbs black pepper 1 Tbs picklingspice 1/2 cup vinager
steam till done serve with sides of corn on the cob steamers and cold heineken
eat till full

 

[Green_Manelishi]

Also, I've heard of people bringing home sea water to boil the lobsters in. Supposed to have different taste? Anyone ever do this?

Yes. Seemed to taste much better with the seawater which had been drawn from the St George River.

 

[bottomtime99]

To keep lobsters alive, I would pack them in a cooler with ice to transport from boat/beach to home. At home I would keep them in the produce drawers at thebottom of the fridge covered with a damp dish towel. The lobsters would stay alive for at least 5 days. Torward the 6th day they would be alive but extremely sluggish. They cooked up fine (steamed w Budwieser) and tasted great.

Jim

 

[warpig]

bottomtime i think you need some remedial lobster education.

never pack them in ice or wrap them in towels. fresh water kills lobsters.

they may live for 5-6 days in the fridge, but they wont taste any good. the meat dries out and becomes dehydrated and will be much tougher than if you cook them fresh.

if you need to keep lobster for a week, cook it right away and then keep the meat in the fridge. it'll last much longer, and taste much better that way.

 

[MadisonK]

I use a keeper trap at my boat slip. When ready to eat just pull them out and take them home in a bucket of saltwater that you can then use to steam them. The bucket of saltwater will loose it's oxygen within a few hours at most so don't plan on keeping them alive this way. Put them in the fridge for at most a day if you don't plan on eating them the same day you take them from the ocean.

As for the grill - split the lobster right down the middle, season the flesh with oil, lemon, salt pepper etc.. and throw them flesh side down on the grill. High heat and no more than 5-10 minutes will do the job. The tails and the flesh at the point where the body meets the legs taste great. The claws suck on the grill in my opinion. They seem to stick to the inside and are real hard to get the meat out of. Maybe boil the claws. The other advantage to grilling is there is alot less mess when eating. If you put a cutting board in the sink and split them lengthwise all of the crap comes out instantly and can be sent down the drain. These are just my experience with grilling this summer. Feel free to experiment.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Mine are cooked as soon as I get home...less then 3 hours normally. We caught enough one year that we were freezing the meet in cooking water. We are eating lobsta into Jan/Feb