FAQ’s

WHAT TO DO WITH LIVE LOBSTER

How to handle your lobster

We have put together a short list of do’s and don’ts, especially for people for people are not familiar with handling live lobster.

  • London Weekend Deliveries – We will deliver your lobsters wrapped in paper only.
  • Put them directly in the refrigerator. If there isn’t room then you can use frozen gel packs in a cooler box and keep the box in a cool place.
  • Cover them in damp newspaper or cardboard.
  • Do not put ice on the lobsters, freshwater kills lobsters.
  • Do not put them in the bathtub, freshwater kills lobsters.
  • We recommend your lobsters are cooked the same day that you receive them, but you can keep them live and eat them the following day. If you want to keep them longer please discuss with us.
  • You can keep lobsters in the fridge once cooked / parboiled for up to three days.
  • To move your live lobster you must only handle it by holding the solid shell of the front half leading to the head not the tail, holding them from above. Be careful not to put your fingers around the tail where the lobster will squeeze them if it clenches his tail.
  • Do not remove the pincer bands until after they have been killed or cooked.

Due to upcoming discussion of animal welfare legislation regarding lobsters we recommend that you follow the newer guidelines about dispatching them before boiling.

  • Before you begin cooking any live lobster, please place the lobsters in the freezer for 20 – 30 minutes to make the lobsters comatose.
  • Even if you are boiling the lobster we recommend you use a knife to kill the lobster by cutting down the centre line of the head with a heavy sharp knife. Find the cross on the central dorsal line where the head meets the tail. Place the tip of a sharp chef’s knife on this cross and swiftly plunge the knife down forwards through the head.

RECIPES

For how long to cook your lobster: please look at our recipes page and parboiling instructions.

NATIVE LOBSTER

All of our lobsters are native UK lobsters known as European Lobster or Homarus gammarus .

They live mainly in the coastal waters of United Kingdom and Ireland but they are found in less numbers in the Mediterranean and Atlantic.
If your in Spain on holiday and you see a lobster for sale its almost always come from British or Irish waters.

Most lobster eaten in the UK is actually Canadian lobster known as Homarus Americanus. It’s the same species as “Maine Lobster” found off the US coast of Maine. Canadian lobsters stay alive out of water longer making them perfect traveling lobsters. They are cheaper than our own native lobsters and with a different texture and less sweet taste.

COOKED WEIGHTS

All lobsters are weighed just put of the boat. They will lose a small percentage while travelling due to being out of the water and draining more. Please also expect all lobsters to lose 15-20% of their weight during the cooking process.

FREE CRAB

We occasionally offer a free European Brown Crab with our orders. Crab is a by-catch of lobster as they are attracted by the same bait into the lobster pots. This crab will also be live and can be any weight. It requires a smiler cooking process to the lobsters.