The Development of the Live Lobster Trade

By Sherry Shantel

Close your eyes, and picture that large, mouth-watering lobster waiting on your plate for you to crack open and enjoy. You'd be hard-pressed to think of anything that sounds better. However, don't rush out for a live lobster dinner just yet. Wouldn't it be fun to learn a little bit about the critter you're craving before you indulge?

Early Native Americans were a funny bunch. They had super-easy access to lobsters, but they refused to eat them. Instead, they used them to fertilize their farm fields or as fish bait. How sad is that?

The early European settlers which graced our shores didn't eat lobster meat, either. They'd pick them up by hand to use as fertilizer or to feed to the lowest creatures of their society, slaves, indentured servants, children, and the poor. After years of this practice, indentured servants begin to protest the constant lobster diet. In fact, they went so far as having it written into their contracts that they would never have to eat lobster more than three times a week.

Until the early 19th century, people collected lobsters by hand from tide pools along the shore. The first lobster traps didn't appear until around 1850. Lobster meat was only sold in cans, and the canned meat just didn't have much flavor, so it wasn't popular with consumers.

It wasn't until our modern transportation system developed that live lobsters became sought-after luxury items. Shipped to the big cities, they quickly became expensive luxury food for the higher classes of our population.

Have you ever felt a little funny about watching a lobster resting quietly in a fish tank only minutes before he appears on your plate? Don't worry. That's been a common feeling since people began eating lobsters years ago. But if you want to experience lobster in its freshest form, this is the way it has to be done.

During my lifetime I've known family members tracing clear back to my great grandmother who was born in 1873. Even when seafood came into vogue, she never ate it. As a Victorian lady, she would never have even wanted to think about throwing something live into a pot of boiling water. After all, women in the Victorian era were sheltered from the harsh realities of life.

It's hard to believe that our ancestors didn't like the way lobsters tasted. Just think of all the good food that was wasted as fertilizer. Their palates were just very different from ours. As our society developed more sophisticated tastes, lobsters finally became the delicacies they were always destined to be. - 29974

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Where Does a Lobster Live?

By Sherry Shantel

Be it ever so humble, where does a lobster call home? Lobsters live in the coastal regions around the world. Once shunned and now cultivated for human consumption, lobsters have come to be one of the most sought-after delicacies in the world.

To see a newborn lobster, you could never imagine it growing up to look like an adult lobster. It is incredibly tiny and misshapen, and its chances of living to reach the adult stage is only 1 in a thousand. While he spends his first two weeks of life floating near the surface of the ocean, he is easy prey for any fish that comes swimming by him. If he lives as long as the fourth stage of life, he will have molted 3 times.

During the fourth stage the lobster swims very well and looks for a permanent place to live on the ocean floor. He may choose a home in a softer habitat, such as the salt marsh peat around Cape Cod, but most generally he'll choose a harder spot, such as an area with a cobble (small rocks) bottom.

Cobble is an exceptionally suitable habitat for lobsters. There are many crevices and cracks around and under the small rocks that make up the cobble which offers him places to hide and wait for his food to come to him. While many coastal regions offer rocky bottoms, Maine is ideal in that it also has just what lobsters like, clean, cold water.

The lobster moves into his new, ocean bottom home when he molts into stage five. During his first year or so he lives in a tunnel or crevice underneath the cobble where his many predators won't be able to find him. From his first year until about his fourth year, he hides in the seaweed and the kelp as he cruises around looking for food.

Adolescent lobsters have great survival instincts that keep them hidden for the first few years of their lives. If he were to swim out in the open ocean when he was still this young, he would be eaten within a matter of a few minutes. When he gets larger he will make another move to an area where there are larger rocks for him to hide in. He might also choose to live in a muddy or sandy area anywhere between the edge of the continental shelf and the shore. Wherever he lives, he will live alone, because he's not a social creature.

It's hard for a lobster to live to be very old. It has natural predators and fishermen after it no matter where it goes. Going back in history, back to a time when lobsters were plentiful and people didn't fish for them, we find records of lobsters reaching five or six feet in length.

Lobsters don't get the chance to grow as large in this era of modern fishing techniques. The biggest one on record was caught in 1977 just off the coast of Nova Scotia. It measured in at somewhere between three and four feet, and it weighed a mighty 44 pounds, 6 ounces. It was estimated that he was around 100 years old. How about that! - 29974

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Buy Live Maine Lobsters Online

By Sherry Shantel

Are you planning a trip to Maine? Be sure if you do, you will do as my friend does and always bring home some of the live Maine lobsters to enjoy long after you get home.

Maine is known for some of the best lobsters in the country. These delights are sure to become a culinary favorite, once you have sampled your first ones. They are simply delicious and succulent to the taste buds.

In order for the lobsters to be their finest quality, they must be fresh. When you bring back your own lobsters from Maine, or if you are buying them from a company online; your lobsters must remain fresh until you are ready for cooking them.

There are many places online that offer you good quality seafood at reasonable prices. One such place is the Pine Point Fisherman's Co-op that offers some fresh lobster you can eat there, or take home with you.

If you can't get to Maine and want to order lobsters for delivery, the co-op's prices are like online outlets. It is great to know that online ordering is available to you. Many companies can send your lobsters out to you overnight.

Thus, every effort is made to assure you with the quality you demand and you deserve.

Are you in the mood for some really good seafood, is going to Maine not in your line of things to do soon?

Enjoy something sweet, delicious, and succulent. Enjoy some Maine Lobsters. Have a seafood feast soon. Don't put it off; you know you are craving the taste all of Maine is talking about-Live Maine Lobsters! Enjoy eating something that is nutritious and good for your health. Buy some live Maine lobsters and eat hearty! - 29974

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Can You Cook Live Lobsters Humanely?

By Sherry Shantel

Advocates for animal rights will protest the practice of putting live lobsters into boiling water. Their concerns are based on whether or not the lobster is capable of feeling pain. They believe that there has to be a better way to cook live lobsters.

Scientists have searched for information regarding the amount of pain a lobster is capable of feeling. Lobster lovers everywhere may be surprised at what they found.

A lobster has a brain about the same size as a grasshopper has which is pretty minute for a larger animal like a lobster. Lobsters brains are lacking in the complexity human brains have which means a lobster is unable to think.

There's no way a lobster can have a brain like that and have the ability to think or feel like we do. Researchers have concurred that the practice of cooking live lobsters by steaming and boiling and grilling are not inhumane.

Steaming a lobster starts with a four to five gallon pot containing two inches of seawater or salted water and containing a steaming rack being brought to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the pot is up to temperature, add the lobsters one at a time. Put the lid on the pot and start your timer. It takes about 10 minutes to cook one pound of lobster and around an hour for six to eight pounds. Halfway through the cooking time, rearrange the lobsters in the pot.

For every 1 to 2 pounds of lobster you want to boil, add three quarts of water to your large pot. Calculate the total number of gallons of water in the pot, and add one quarter cup of salt for each gallon. Heat the water to a rolling boil and add the lobsters one at a time. It will take about 8 minutes to boil one pound of lobster. Six to eight pounds will take 50 minutes to an hour. Halfway through the cooking time, stir the lobsters.

Grilling lobsters starts the same way boiling them does by cooking them in boiling water for about five minutes. Remove them from the hot water immediately and plunge them into a cold water bath so that they won't continue to cook. Take each well-drained lobster and place it on its back on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, split each lobster down the middle and cut out the black vein in the tail and the sand sac by the head. Baste the lobsters with melted butter or oil and place them flesh-side down on the grill. Cook them for five to six minutes on that side before turning them over. Baste them again and continue cooking for another four or five minutes.

Although there are still people who spend time advocating humane treatment for lobsters, most are willing to accept the scientific data which says they do not suffer. The only way you can enjoy the taste of truly fresh lobster meat is by steaming, boiling or grilling it. The purchase of live lobsters isn't limited to grocery stores and restaurants any more, either. Online seafood shops will deliver the very freshest lobsters overnight to your home. - 29974

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Color of Maine Lobsters: The Truth

By Sherry Shantel

Think that all lobsters coming from Maine are red? Then time to think again ! The lobsters that come from Maine are actually greenish-brown or black, but they can also be blue, yellow, or even white. About one in every 30 million lobsters is born with a blue shell.

Contrary to what many believe, lobsters don't commonly have a red shell. If you see one with black holes or marks on it, that is a sign of wear and tear. The marks are not harmful.

The color of the shell has no affect on the lobster's taste or texture. When you cook it, all the color pigments are hidden, except for the red. That is why your lobster will become a beautiful red tone when it is completely cooked.

These gems can be broiled, steamed, baked, or grilled. You will find the white meat in the tail, claws, and knuckles. Meat can also be found within the body and the legs.

The red contents in the tail section are the roe, or female eggs. This is considered a delicacy, like caviar. The green matter is located at the section of the body and tail and is called tomalley, the liver, and has a peppery taste. This is used in various recipes.

Lobster lovers might adore the tomalley, but; it shouldn't be consumed on a regular basis. As with other animals, contaminants may settle in the liver of the lobster, so it is always best to be on the safe side.

Maine lobster is healthy and tastes delicious-if, you go light on the butter. Hard to believe that Maine lobster has less calories, cholesterol, and saturated fats than leanbeef, skinless chicken or pork. Lobster also remains a great source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, which have been proven to reduce risk of heart disease and hardening of the arteries.

Maine lobster will make any occasion a special time for celebrating. Maine lobster is sweet, succulent, and delicious. Remember, looking for fresh Main lobsters? Don't look for something that is red to begin with, look for the lobsters that are greenish-brown orblack to be sure of getting the Maine lobster that you are sure to enjoy! - 29974

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