how do you kill a lobster humanely (shrimp, crab, boiling)

[gallowsCalibrator]

Originally Posted by libbykt

Lobsters are invertebrates, so they don't really have a nervous system. Therefore, they don't have the ability to feel pain. They have been compared to having a similar nervous system as a grasshopper- I think that's where the insect correlation comes from.

Tell that to the lobster I got my mother-in-law. She put Old Bay on him and some got in his eye... and he was NOT impressed.

As far as humanely killing them. There's no way to kill them before you cook them. You cannot cook an already dead lobster. When they die, poisons get released in their body.

The most humane way is to put them directly into boiling water.

[DontH8Me]

Originally Posted by Kuharai

Tell that to the lobster I got my mother-in-law. She put Old Bay on him and some got in his eye... and he was NOT impressed.

As far as humanely killing them. There's no way to kill them before you cook them. You cannot cook an already dead lobster. When they die, poisons get released in their body.

The most humane way is to put them directly into boiling water.

That's true - I just watched Alton Brown's episode on cooking lobster, and he said the poisons start spreading through the meat rendering it a mushy mess.

You can do the sharp knife bifurcation thing if you are going to cook it right after - otherwise the fridge for 10 minutes and then into the pot.

I wish I lived in Lobsterville! For those who feel guilty about killing the lobster - their closest relative in the animal kingdom is the cockroach!

[fjtee]

I had never heard that the lobster was related to the cockroach. That's nastier than the crab being related to the spider. My problem is that I wouldn't want to eat a spider or a cockroach, so that kind of turns me off lobster and crab.

[DontH8Me]

Originally Posted by fjtee

I had never heard that the lobster was related to the cockroach. That's nastier than the crab being related to the spider. My problem is that I wouldn't want to eat a spider or a cockroach, so that kind of turns me off lobster and crab.

Leaves more for the rest of us - we thank you in between slurps of butter-dipped divinity

[gentlearts]

We hypnotize them, before we thow them into the pot. Tuck their tail under and stroke them between the eyes a few times and they go calm.

[eevee]

from what I've heard, Whole Foods Market no longer sells live lobsters except for in its Portland Maine store, reason being they feel it's inhuman to boil them alive. apparently, at the Portland store, they stun the lobster before boiling them. know, I know nothing about the nervous system of a lobster, but you'd think being electrocuted would be just as "painful" as the boiling??? I'm in the camp that believe lobsters either don't feel pain, or feel very little when initially tossed into the water. heck, I'm sure years from now, scientists will discover that carrots and potatoes let out a shriek of pain as they are being boiled!

I like Whole Foods for most stuff, but I was a bit PO about this move, esp. when I was living in Boston. it hurts a major NE industry if this becomes widespread (I doubt it will though). if it makes WFM feel better though, I'll only dip my "humanely killed" live boiled lobster into organic, hormone free butter that came from cows that slept on water beds and had free range of the state of Vermont (alas, I'm in IL now and have no quick access to fresh lobster!)

[stone-ground]

I dunno.

I watched, horrified, while a fisherman skinned and gutted his fish alive, while they were flailing all over the place.

Sure looked like they were in pain to me.

Why do the lobsters 'scream' as they get boiled? They do make kind of a screaming sound, don't they?

[fjtee]

Dont8me, you're welcome! I am a giver, after all.

[sean98125]

Lobsters scream just like a teenager at a Beatle's concert. They are just so excited to fulfill their role in the food chain.

If God didn't want us to eat lobster He wouldn't have made them so dang tasty/

[ssg II]

Make sure you have a big enough pot. The last time I cooked them, I had an escapee! Poor thing managed to jump out and was scrambling around the kitchen floor!