Quick: How do I keep live lobsters alive overnight?

Factual Questions
1

Here’s the deal:

My wife Stainz and I are treating my parents to a steak and lobster feast tomorrow (Saturday).

But they live an hour away and we can’t buy lobsters where tehy live. So I want to buy the lobsters tonight after work, then drive the hour to my parents house and cook them up tomorrow afternoon.

So what’s the best way to keep a lobster alive for ~20-22 hours outside of a saltwater tank?

My wife read that they can only stay alive for ~24 hours, and should be kept in a cooler with news paper and ice. But I would like some confirmation (wet newspaper on-top of the lobsters or just underneath? Should the lobsters be in direct contact with ice or have newspaper between it? Will they live for 24 hours in a cooler?).

Thanks in advance!

MtM

2

They’ll stay alive pretty easily in a cardboard box in the fridge with a little seaweed. You can use “blue ice” in the box for the drive.

3

I’ll tell you what *not * to do. Don’t put them in fresh water. I made that mistake once.

4

Keep their claws rubber banded.

5

You just going to leave us hanging? What happened?

Or am I getting wooshed?

6

Freshwater probably causes them to either suffocate, or have some of their membranes explode.

So they die.

7

Oh, sorry. It kills them in rather short order. Not sure exactly what the cause of death is.

The company that shipped them to me said they would still be fine if I cooked them right away. They were.

8

About an hour or two before you leave, you might want to transfer them to the freezer. This will slow their metabolism enough so they stop moving. It’s a lot easier to fit them into the pot*, or stab a knife through their brain to kill them if they aren’t moving.

*I’m not sure how you’re planning on cooking them, but if you’re going to boil them, you should try steaming instead. You’ll use less water, so it won’t take nearly as long. Getting a large pot of water to boil can take forever. Plus, when you’re done, you don’t have to wrangle said large pot of water over to the sink to dump it all out.

9

:confused: Why do you need to buy them the night before? Why not just reserve some at the market you’re going to buy them from, and pick them up on your way out of town?

Anyway, seeing as how this question was posed yesterday, may one assume that the lobster-fest has already gone down?

How did it go?

10

If I understood him correctly, he was leaving to the folks’ place Friday night, but not cooking until Saturday afternoon. So he was picking them up on the way out of town, but they needed to keep until the following day.