Okay, to head the Vegitarians/Vegans off at the pass, i’ve anticipated your response… “don’t eat them”, that’s not an option in this thread
oh, and just to make things good between us, you should know that i plan to liberate a rare Blue Lobster from one of those Og-awful “The Lobster Zone” claw “games” tonight, i’m purchasing it and going to release it back into the ocean tonight, i have no problem cooking and eating lobster, but blue lobsters are too rare to cook…
this got me thinking, “intelligence” level of the common Homarus Americanus aside, what is the most humane way to dispatch a lobster to minimize it’s suffering while it’s being cooked?
so far i’ve found the following options…
1; have the water in the lobster pot boiling, plunge the lobster in headfirst, thermal shock should stun it and it should expire moments later
2; put it in a bucket of ice water or in the freezer for a half hour to put it to sleep (not sure of the efficay of this as Homarus Americanus is a coldwater species)
3; strike the lobster with the butt end of a knife at the “T” joint in the carapace behind the eyes, stunning it
4; pith it by putting the point of the knife at the “T” and plunging it in, bisecting the lobster’s brain, killing it instantly
what’s the best way to minimize the lobster’s suffering?
I was taught that #4 is the quickest and most painless. If you are squeamish Alton Brown says you can put the lobster in the fridge for a couple hours to put it to sleep, then into a steamer, in <30 seconds it’ll be dead and on the way to being cooked.
Wellllll…, this ain’t much more that a WAG, but I imagine death by bifurcation of the <ahem>brain is the quickest. That being said, I usually freeze 'em then steam 'em. They’re bugs. If you would squish a cockroach with no qualms, why wouldn’t you cook a lobster with no qualms?
maybe because they’re more crafty than people give them credit for?
i have a pet Florida Crawfish (Zoidberg) who shares a tank with some guppies, he’s learned that he can take a food pellet/wafer and shred it, causing a cloud of food particles in the water, these food particles lure the guppies in, once they’re in claw-range he drops the wafer, and grabs a guppy and eats it…
he figured out how to go “fishing”…
and since Craws are a similar species to lobsters, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to expect that behavior from them as well…
I know you said you didn’t want to get into the intelligence debate, so I won’t. I will just state that I disagree that your experience is proof of intelligence.
Regardless, slice their brainstem if you want the quickest death.
One time, I was steaming some crabs, and I was using a wok. Of course, a wok lid is very light, so as soon as I put the crabs in and lid on, they started screaming and came busting out of the wok lickety split. Having to pry their claws from the edge of the wok, plunge them back in, hold the lid down tight and hear/feel them clawing and screaming, desperately trying to escape a scalding, suffocating death just made me even hungrier, all that extra effort and all.
Okay,truth be told, i’ve been known to say “Help ME,HEEELLLLP MEEEEEEE!” in a “The Fly” type voice, or in reference to the Gary Larson Far Side comic, go “Auntie Em, Auntie Em, there’s no place like home,there’s no place like home…” as i dunk the lobsters in (always head-first though)…
The most humane thing I can imagine is soaking them in white wine before they enjoy a nice soak in the “jacuzzi.” Sure, It would probably still be alive but then it probably wouldn’t care.
The most humane? Buy a giant, giant fish tank and decorate with all the comforts of home. Put lobster in tank. Feed lobster well and periodically clean tank. Repeat until lobster dies of old age.
Sure, it’ll probably be the nastiest tasting lobster you’ve ever had, but you don’t get more humane than this!
Please don’t release it into the ocean to get killed …
http://ezinearticles.com/?Blue-Lobsters-Are-Real!&id=79999
It has been suggested that more than ‘one in a million’ lobsters born are blue, but many do not survive because their bright blue shell brings too much attention to themselves, making them a prime target for predators. Scientists also believe that blue lobsters tend to be more aggressive than their normal colored counterparts. Since they don’t easily blend in, they have adapted and changed to be more aggressive to protect themselves.
Just eat the damned thing as it will die sooner than the normal greeny lobsters. Or keep it in your own salt water aquarium.
And oddly enough, per a who works at the aquarium in mystic they are getting to be not so rare - because they get people trying to donate them at least once a week when they fish them up. They can only tank so many lobsters, so they take them, tag them and toss them back in. They rarely get the same one twice.
Lobsters are generally, from everything I’ve heard, considered insects. While maybe not entirely accurate, it’s pretty darn close. Also, with no way of providing a cite, I’ve read in more than a few articles that the early Colonists didn’t eat them as they thought they were insects. (Seems to be a recurring theme happening)
Anyway, as for the most humane way to dispatch a lobster. One shot behind the ear. Or eye. Or wherever. Shooting a lobster is a sight to behold. Especially if using a hollow point.
Damnit, forgot to mention another thing I can’t find a cite for. Hasn’t it been pretty much proven that lobsters can’t feel pain? It was a University study, I think. Or a combo of Uni and gov’t studies. Can anyone clear that up for me?
Rub their tails/bellies with a pencil or a knife to get the clickety-clackety washboard effect going. This hypnotizes them and puts them in a state of total relaxation. Then, boil them in beer.
Lobster thoughts: “Ahhh…how wonderful…my body is like totally feeling relaxed, man …sniff… oh yes, some alcohol right now would be perrrrrfect…whoa, I’m feeling wasted already…what the-!” dies
I used to have a lobster boil for a group of friends every fall.
Upon entering the domicile, one was required to pick out their lobster. We then named our respective animals. One year we dressed them up. Every year we had the great lobster races. The winner went to the pot first. The person putting it in th pot was the one who got to eat it, so squeemishness would leave one hungry.
I always put mine in the water head first for a pragmatic reason, it didn’t try to climb out.
Yes, we were heartless and cruel, but we were also young and clueless.
