All I can say is WOW!!

Wow, how'd I almost miss this post?! That's really cool. What did you use, a Dremel tool?

Did you need to give it a rinse after cutting, to clear shell dust? I'm thinking a quick dunk back in the cooking water would take care of both that and the loss of heat.

A little OT, but I noticed you opened up the body, too. I'm interested in what you (and anyone else) eat from there? I've never known, so have stuck to claws, knuckles and tail. And an occassional leg.

There are a few slivers in the carapace....but mostly it's organs.
Looks like an autopsy to me.

agreed...sorry just doesn't look appetizing to me. But you do play pretty with most of your food!;)

Di

Dcarch did you serve the lobster cold? I'm thinking that by the time you get all the special cutting done the lobster would be cold. Although I guess if you are dipping it into hot butter, it might not matter much.

The other thing though is I like my lobster cleaned out so I wouldn't be able to serve it this way.

Ann

My initial thought was also that I'd probably throw that in the ice box and serve it cold as lobster cocktail. But then, unlike many (most?) meals I'm ok with lobster not being piping hot. Probably because usually you need to let it cool down enough to handle it anyway.

If you look for cooking time recommendations you'll see they vary enourmously. If I were doing this and wanted to serve it hot, I'd probably time it at the lower end of the spectrum, leave the body itself closed, then "rinse" it in a final boil for a minute or two to clean up the goop and reheat it a bit.

Yes, it definitely looks autopsyish. But it wouldn't bother me any more than a whole fish would. I still give it a thumbs up!

Oh come on, that's far too pretty to actually eat.

How many of our GW friends have actually seen an autopsy? Inquiring minds want to know. ;)

But I have seen pictures...
And I sure have done autopsy's on "other creatures".;
Reminds me of the stages of disection of a fetal pig...or maybe a frog....even perhaps a guinea pig. Splay it out and pare it down layer by layer to expose the organs.
Don't be messing with my lobster and expect me to eat it.!!!

Rachelellen - Technicality. Have you ever said something tastes like sh;+ without you ever having actually tasted sh;+ before? LOL ;-)

(I have!)

Thanks everyone. I like all your comments. All.

"Posted by foodonastump ---- Wow, how'd I almost miss this post?! That's really cool. What did you use, a Dremel tool? Did you need to give it a rinse after cutting, to clear shell dust? I'm thinking a quick dunk back in the cooking water would take care of both that and the loss of heat. "

Yes I used a rotary tool with a cutter attachment. Fairly easy job to shell lobster this way. I did a few lobsters for the dinner in the garden, so there was no problem with the dust. I did clean them up in plain water afterwards.

The lobsters were cooked in 170 degree water, so they were not over cooked and tender and juicy. The lobsters were enjoyed cold with hot butter/wasabi dip. It makes a big difference to cook the lobsters in lower temperature and not in boiling water.

"A little OT, but I noticed you opened up the body, too. I'm interested in what you (and anyone else) eat from there? I've never known, so have stuck to claws, knuckles and tail. And an occasional leg."

The lobsters were two-lb each. There was a good bit of meat in the carapace in a 2-pounder. The best part was there was a huge chunk of caviar (coral, roe) inside there. The green stuff that turns bright red. Wonderful expensive tasty treat. I save some of the meat and the caviar for another dish, which I will post later.

Everyone at the dinner really liked the fact that they were able to eat the lobsters with knives and forks and no messy laboring with tools was involved and no squirting juice on your next friends face when you crush the claws.

"Posted by ann_t --------Dcarch did you serve the lobster cold? I'm thinking that by the time you get all the special cutting done the lobster would be cold. Although I guess if you are dipping it into hot butter, it might not matter much.
The other thing though is I like my lobster cleaned out so I wouldn't be able to serve it this way. Ann"

Yes, the lobsters were served cold. Thats what everyone wanted. The dipping sauce was hot butter with wasabi. I make lobsters other ways also, taking all the meat out or chopping up with shells stir fried in ginger/black bean sauce with scallion Chinese style.

"Posted by rachelellen --- How many of our GW friends have actually seen an autopsy? Inquiring minds want to know. ;)"

I have. Some time ago around lunch time I was visiting a friend, Dr. B Leader, Dean of the Department of Comparative Pathology in the Rockefeller University in NYC. Dr. Leader had to borrow the electron microscope from Cornell Hospital, which is just across the street. Dr. Leader took a short cut to the electron microscope facility. We walked through the autopsy room.

There, in a big room were five stainless steel autopsy tables, each one had a body (corpse) on it in varying stages of disassembly. There was certain reek in the air which can not be described.

Around two of the tables were a few technicians, one female and four males. They were having lunch right on the autopsy table next to the opened up corpses. Cold cut sandwiches, salads, what not.

Me, "OMG, how can they be eating lunch right next to the smelly stiffs?!"

Dr. Leader, "Well D, they are enjoying the lunch. Apparently the hang up is yours not theirs."

I would eat it!

and I have taught biology :o)

I think it looks lovely and I would be thrilled to be served a plate like that. The wasabi/butter dip with Mexican limes would take it over the top for me. I would not look at it and think autopsy. But the fact that we all view things in our own way is what helps make the CF so interesting and fun.

How long did you cook them at 170°?

Lee

"Don't be messing with my lobster and expect me to eat it.!!!"

AH HA HA HA HA! :D That is down to the essential! Food might be art, but is it tasty?

Regarding lobster bodies (carapaces):

It's a shame that so much good stuff is wasted by the typical lobster eater, who eats the claw and tail meat and discards the rest. It's like eating the center put out of a steak and throwing away the rest. My family likes to get lobsters weighing in excess of four pounds to share, the size depending on how many are eating. Contrary to the myth, large lobsters are not tough and it is easy to get out the lesser pieces of meat. For instance, meat can easily be poked out of the legs with a chopstick. And there are a lot of legs! Even small lobsters have a lump of meat at the base of each leg, if you know how to get it out.

The best reason for me to share though is because I get all the rich, delicious white fat which lines the shell, and the roe (coral) and liver (tomalley). Those who don't like those parts usually prefer the tail meat, my least favorite part, and they are welcome to all of it. It's like the story of Jack Sprat and his wife. Betwixt and between us we lick the lobster clean.

My local fish market often has bodies for sale at 20 cents a piece. These are left from the lobsters they cook and clean for meat by the pound. Cleaning out bodies is too labor intensive for that purpose. Sometimes I get a few bodies and use them to make a sauce or bisque.

Boiling lobsters is not recommended. We steam them in a two piece enamel pot which has boiling water in the lower section. Steam goes up through holes in the bottom of the upper section where the lobsters are. Often we let the fish market steam, split and crack them for us. There's an idea for those of you who visit the shore. Instead of eating lobsters at a restaurant, buy them at the fish market and find a nice, shady picnic table which you can cover with newspaper and have a messy feast.

Small, cold lobsters are nice for a light lunch, cut in half lengthwise and served on a bed of lettuce with mayonnaise, one half per serving.

As usual, darch has come up with an ingenious and eye catching presentation, beautifully photographed in his own style. And, as usual, I won't be trying to emulate what he does. I may be influenced a bit though. Who knows?

Jim

Mister Jimster, you the Master Lobster Eater!

I say there ought to be a law, making it illegal to sell lobsters to anyone who throws the carapace, the best part of the lobster away.

I will agree with you that steaming is the best way to make the lobster. If you taste the water used to boil a lobster, you will realize how much good taste is lost from the lobster.

Your post has done a great service to add additional enjoyment to many lobster lovers.

I am not making this up; I have a friend who I will not invite to a lobster dinner. He spends at least three hours working on a lobster, including taking the meat out from the antennae. LOL

Lee, "How long did you cook them at 170°? " It depends. I started with a large pot of 180 degree water. The temperature dropped down to 170 after the lobster was placed in the water. I kept a small fire going to maintain the 170-degree and had a thermometer probe inside the deep part of the lobster to check until 170 was reached.

How safe is it not to cook lobster in boiling water? Lobster sushi is served regularly.

Just a quick note if you decided to "autopsy" the lobster.
I used a cordless rotary tool to perform the "medical" procedure on the "corpse". If you use a plug-in tool, make sure you plug into a GFP electric outlet; otherwise you may end up on the autopsy table yourself, LOL.

dcarch

Jim - Sounds like if we had lobster dinner together the only thing we'd fight over is the gin. (You can keep the vermouth as far as I'm concerned.) I'll take the tail, you can have the rest.

But seriously, in layman's terms, what is it you eat out of the body? I get that the coral is the red stuff. You can have it. What's the liver look like? And how do you deal with that green mush? Or is that edible, too?

By the way - Personally I've never noticed a difference in taste between boiling and steaming lobster. If I'm serving the lobster whole I'll steam it so that it's a bit neater on the plate. If I'm pulling out the meat in the kitchen I'll boil it. Only because it seems more humane. Yeah, I know, they're just bugs...

The green mush is the liver and someone else can have mine too. I may be a Mainah and have eaten my body weight in lobster several times over, but I'm not eating the tomalley and I only use the roe when I am making lobster stew. That said, I do pick the carapace pretty clean and am sure to get all the tasty bits between the things that are sort of like "ribs" where the legs attach. Break one of those sections apart and there is a wealth of bits that are very tasty.

Back a million years ago when I first graduated from college, I was living in Maine and did not have a lot of money. But like most early 20-somethings, I did like having a social life. Every Thrusday I would swing by one of the lobster pounds on my way home from work and buy lobster bodies for $0.05 per. I would take 20 - 30 of them home and spend Thursday night pickeing all the meat bits out and put them in the fridge for dinner the following night. Every Friday I would get together with a small group of friends (3 - 6 of us) and we would have a "dinner party" where someone would bring wine, someone else would bring crusty bread, another person would make salad and I would boil a lb or two of pasta and we would have lobster in garlic butter over the pasta. After dinner we would play Uno and drink more wine until the wee hours. Those are some of the best times of my life.....

So yes, there is some great eating even after the tail and claws are gone.

Alexa

How did I miss this one? ? ?

It not only looks delicious to me,
It looks like the only way to eat a whole lobster!
(Even though I've never had the opportunity)

All the comments are fun, too.

Rusty

Do any of you guys deliver ?????
Lou

Thanks Rusty. Lobsters are so wonderful and everyone enjoys them. You just have to find a way to serve them.

dcarch

I would be happy to be presented with a lobster with its outer garments removed. Very creative and user-friendly idea, dcarch. Now I'm waiting to see a similar crab autopsy.

Okay, people will probably groan at this pedantry, but rather than using the word 'autopsy' to describe this, this preparation is best described as an 'ecorche' (pronounced ay-kor-SHAY) which is defined as follows: an anatomical illustration or manikin showing the muscles and bones that are visible with the skin removed. The Renaissance artists were big into that--see the link.

And dcarch, whatever word you use to describe it, you have demonstrated a high level of artistry and craftsmanship in that. Bravo.

And rachelellen, I've been to a few autopsies. They're not fun. Glad I don't do that for a living.

Dcarch:
I don't know how this can be classed as an Autopsy.
I thought an autopsy was something they did on a dead body,
to determine the cause of death.

*************************************

What Dcarch has done here, is amazing and would probably only be seen, in a 10 Star Restaurant.

I'm sure the parts that are being discussed, could be removed and cleaned, then put back.

Why degrade a Masterpiece because of personal tastes.
Have a good one !!!
Lou

I love lobster and will eat it in nearly any way it's presented to me, hot, cold or in the middle. I don;t want the roe or the liver, though, thanks.

And yes, I've been present during more than one autopsy.

Annie

"Posted by ruthanna ------ I would be happy to be presented with a lobster with its outer garments removed. Very creative and user-friendly idea, dcarch. Now I'm waiting to see a similar crab autopsy."

Thanks ruthanna. Those were not outer garments, they were outer hostile armaments.
Regarding crabs:
I also post in another forum where there are many professional chefs. I was advised of the following:
"In Japan, it's very common to do something sort of similar to crab legs. You use a smallish deba knife, ------And basically you shave a fat strip of shell right off along the leg, exposing the meat to chopsticks. The claws can be shaved or cracked with the same knife. "

"Posted by hawk307 -------Dcarch: I don't know how this can be classed as an Autopsy. ----What Dcarch has done here, is amazing and would probably only be seen, in a 10 Star Restaurant. -----Lou"

Thanks Lou. But I like "autopsy". The term "autopsy" derives from the Ancient Greek autopsia, "to see for oneself". Pretty fancy word for what I was doing. I consider that a compliment.

"Posted by arley ----------- but rather than using the word 'autopsy' to describe this, this preparation is best described as an 'ecorche' (pronounced ay-kor-SHAY) ----------And dcarch, whatever word you use to describe it, you have demonstrated a high level of artistry and craftsmanship in that. Bravo. --------"

Thanks arley. "ecorche", Now thats even better than "autopsy". Everything does sound better in French LOL!

"Posted by annie1992 -------I love lobster and will eat it in nearly any way it's presented to me, hot, cold or in the middle. I dont want the roe or the liver, though, thanks. And yes, I've been present during more than one autopsy. Annie"

Annie, come here to NYC. Lobsters are on sale, $4.99 a lb! I will be getting may be 10 lbs and freeze a few.

dcarch

Of the many interesting things contained in this thread, the one that surprises me most is the number of members who have observed an autopsy, including the original poster himself. I am sure seeing an autopsy is not an experience most people have had. This can't be a normal group!

Jim

Well, Jim, I DO work for the Prosecutor, and that's opne of the things we do, we prosecute people who have killed other people. Cause of death for criminal prosecution requires an autopsy...

$4.99 a pound? OMG, I'd definitely have to stock up, it's $14.99 a pound here for whole lobsters.

Annie

Speed reading can be entertaining. The first time I quickly scanned that I saw "Cause of death for criminal prosecution requires an autopsy...$4.99 a pound?"

I surmised the reason you might have observed an autopsy, Annie, even before you explained it. Come to think of it, although I have not seen an autopsy, I have seen police photos of a murder scene. Years ago I worked in an office which was in the same building as the police department and we often chatted with the cops.

Reviewing the thread, I find that three members have actually observed autopsies. Not so many as I thought, but still a high percentage of us. My impression must have included those who mentioned biology dissections and the like.

Jim

LOL, Jim, autopsies are definitely more than $4.99 a pound by the time you add in expert witness fees!

wish I could get lobster for that, though.

Annie