How to Cook Lobster | Tips from Bertha Nunan
Learn how to cook lobster that tastes perfect every time with these tips from the late Bertha Nunan, one of Maine’s most famous lobster cooks.
By Yankee Magazine|Jun 14 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanLearn how to cook lobster that tastes perfect every time through steaming instead of boiling. Then check out a few more tips for cooking lobster at home and some expert advice on cooking lobster tails.
In June 1979, we brought you the story of Bertha Nunan, owner of the Lobster Hut in Cape Porpoise, Maine, and arguably America’s most famous lobster cook. We stepped inside the Hut’s cramped kitchen, where Nunan shared with us her secrets for how to cook lobster that’s perfect every time. The lobster was great then, and it’s great today. 2002 marked the Hut’s 49th season, and neither the restaurant nor the 75-year-old Nunan has slowed down. During summer, the Hut serves as much as 700 pounds of lobster a night. It seems a Nunan lobster is something no one’s taste buds can forget. To make your own great-tasting crustacean, here again are Nunan’s tips on how to cook lobster.
Yield:
Ingredients
Instructions
Hard Shell vs. New Shell Lobster
“When you buy lobsters,” she says, “you should know that from winter to summer the lobsters are hard-shelled. They’re packed full of meat then, and you need fewer lobsters for a pound of meat if you’re making stew. But I prefer them when they’re soft-shelled. They’re sweeter then.”
How Much Water to Cook Lobsters?
“The secret to cooking lobsters is not to murder them. Give them a nice, slow, respectable way out. Don’t put them in boiling water, and don’t drown them in too much water.”
“Boiling them in a lot of water just boils their flavor out, and too much water waterlogs them. I put in two inches of water, whether I’m cooking two lobsters or 14. I take a salt container and with the spout open I pour it three times around the pot, then, plop! at the end (about three teaspoons). When the water is boiling, put in the lobsters, put the lid on, and steam them for 20 minutes. Not a minute less or a minute more.”
“When they’re done, draw up your butter and serve the lobster with a dish of vinegar as well. Now the next step is what a lot of people, and practically all restaurants, ignore. It’s why people tell me our lobsters taste the best of any they ever had.”
Wash the Lobster Pot
“I always wash the pot after cooking each lobster. Lobsters are scavengers, and they can get pretty greasy from the bait. Look in the pot the next time you cook them and you’ll see a sediment from the shell. So I always put in fresh salted water for every batch of lobsters.”
Never Boil Precooked Lobster
“I’ll never stop being surprised at what some people will do to a lobster. Some folks, to save time, precook their lobsters. When people arrive, they throw them in boiling water for a minute. That’s the worst thing you can do. The lobster just fills with water. If you’re eating lobster in a restaurant and when you crack it open water spurts everywhere, you can bet they just threw a precooked lobster in boiling water.”
SEE MORE:
Classic Lobster Chowder
Lobster Mac & Cheese
Lobster Pie
Editor’s Note: Bertha Nunan passed away in January 2009, and Nunan’s Lobster Hut is now run by younger members of the family. This recipe was first published in 2002 and has been updated.
If your going to cook lobster…listen to the pro’s. That gal knows what she is talking about..excellent.
We were from New Hampshire and cooked our lobsters between 12 and 15 minutes. I would think after 20 minutes they would be like leather.
20 minutes is too long unless you have hard shell 1.5-2.0+ lbers. Definitely use 2″ of water. A new shell or shedder will take much less time because there is a fraction of the meat inside.
I thought the instructions were clear and concise. I had no problem with it and the lobster was delicious. I’ve had lobsters at Red Lobster and they were watery; now I know why.
i found this recipe one night when stuck with lobsters. I had guests and I had no idea what to do. I have used this recipe five times now… and nothing beats it… thanks…..
Back in 1979 when this was first published, I used this method and the lobsters, no matter how many, were perfect! So here it is 24 years later and it is still the best way! Thanks, you brought back good memories too!
I have spent alot of time in Maine and
New Beford, Massachusetts. I have shared some great recipes for cooking lobsters.
The best is steaming lobsters in a pit
full of hot boulders and seaweed
covered with a tarp. The second best way
is this recipe.
I’ve never had them steamed in seaweed, but that must give it an even better more robust oceanic flavor. We always boiled them, but a,ways wanted to try the seaweed version too. Jusy never got around to it.
Lobster, Lobster, Lobster!!! Life doesn’t get any better than this.
Great lobster, but don’t forget Bertha’s blueberry or apple pies! Simply the best.
It’s so hard to convince people from away to steam, not boil lobsters, especially when this misinformation gets passed on by so-called expert chefs (food network!) Good to have confirmation from one who really knows.
I’m feeling blessed! I used this recipe from the 1979 issue of Yankee Magazine for years with wonderful results. During one move or another, I lost the recipe and could only remember the “three times around the pot” with the salt but not the cooking time.
I am beyond gleeful to have found it again after several attempts to find it on the website.
I love lobster and eat it several times during the summer months. But why the vinegar? I don’t know what that is used for.
Hi,
What can I do with the water I boiled the lobsters in?
I keep the “Lobster Juice”. Crack up the leftover lobster shells (make sure they’re relatively clean, though not rinsed). Add the shells to the juice and simmer it down some. Strain it and keep it in the fridge to use as a base (or mixed with fish stock). Use it for soup, stews chowders or as an alternate to a chicken stock for lobster risotto.
I’ve done them this way for 50 years and use a big stainless streel roasting pan with a lid to steam them in. I put them in back side down(with long tongs). The steaming time is “right on”.
I serve lemon wedges with them Perfect every time.
Totally agree with cooking method. Just like M. Anderson, what is the vinegar for, and WHAT kind of vinegar?? For butter/lemon, 1/4 a whole lemon, put pulp into a bowl and beat with a fork pick out seed when finished. add to melted butter just before serving. For used water, screen and use as a base for bisque with meat from body if your not a ” Lobster Body Picker”.
I was born and raised on Shelter Island NY and my father used to put on clambakes for different people and that’s the way we used to do it. We called it rockweed not seaweed. It was a full days work.
No one mentions the broth,I use onions and different flavored beer along with water and salt . I then will run the broth thru cheese cloth and use as a base for clam chowder, as well as sip it from a small tea cup. This broth after steaming lobsters has so much flavor . I always have as taste of the broth before digging into my lobsters.
Tasting the broth would seem counterintuitive given her remarks about washing the pot between batches……
We do that with clam broth too. Tastes delicious. It’s rugged, but very tasty.
Use the rock Kosher salt, cover the bottom of the pot. Never use table salt. Cook 12 to 15 minutes.
I am not clear from this recipe how many are cooked at one time and what keeps the bottom lobster places in the pot from getting wet?
As many as you like within reason. The bottom ones won’t be fully covered- there is only 2 Inches of water
Hi Deb. There isn’t a limit on how many — it will depend on the size of your pot! And the bottom lobster will get wet, but in 2 inches of water, they won’t be “waterlogged.” Thanks!
No boiling for me. It only shocks the Lobster and causes it to toughen. Try putting them in cold water and let Lobster and water come to a soft boil. This method will relax them as they softly cook approximately 20 min. Now you can enjoy a juicy tender meal. Naturally some warm or hot lemon and butter sauce on the side. And Tabasco of course!
Ouch. No thanks. I remember how delicious lobsters were, but since I have become a vegan, I can no longer bear to boil (or steam) a live creature, no matter how delicious.
It’s good to see that there are growing numbers of people who believe that eating animals is unconscionable.
I use one of those steamer inserts to keep the bottom lobsters out of the boiling water. Then I follow the rest of the recipe to a “T”. Great lobster.
Summer in Maine 50 year. use the double boiler type of pot with holes the the upper pot. 2 to 3 inches of salted water in bottom pot. lid on When lid is lifted and steam comes out, put lobsters in the top pot. replace lid and cook 15 to 20 minutes depending how many lobsters are in the top.
Last week I had “a really significant birthday” and went out to a very famous place on my day. The following day I had 2 friends over for a second birthday party and got 9 Maine lobsters that I got to pick myself with my own hands and have been using this recipe since I discovered it 2 seasons ago. Yes, Bertha, which was the name of one of my aunts, by the way!, you certainly were correct. I was steaming them almost close to your recipe, but 2 inches of water really makes them taste the best and that quantity of salt is perfect, also, I use French gray sea salt, so I don’t have to use quite that much because it is “potent”. My guests never had lobster prepared by that method. On the 4th day, today, I’m finishing what’s left (not much!!!!!)!!!!!!!!! To be perfectly honest, one of my guests wasn’t able to go out for my birthday with us; I told him our home-cooked lobster dinner was better tasting food than the “fancy famous restaurant” meal. After I told him the history of this method he agreed.
I think you are wasting expensive salt. If you are steaming, none of the flavor goes into the food. It just helps the water maintain a steamy boil. Try using kosher salt (about 1/4 cup). I promise you won’t be able to tell the difference. Save the du Paladier to grind onto the meat later.
How about cooking lobsters in the microwave?
oh god NO!!! 😀 😀 LOL ….in all seriousness that would be like over cooking except you would dry the meat as well as toughen it up
I was taught years ago when I lived in Maine to start the lobster out in cold water & bring to a slow boil & let cook for 10 minutes. Reason: What happens when you stick your hand in boiling water ?? The muscles really tighten up suddenly. Well, guess what, the same thing happens to the lobster. I have cooked many & not a one has been tough. Just the price is tough here in the Midwest but we have to splurge periodically.
I woild,think that as the water got hotter and hotter, the reflex would still be there as the lo stereo tensed up due to,the rising heat before it died. Seems like,thye would,be in “pain” longer and e more tensed up- maybe not, but seems like that would happen
What does the salt do when the lobsters are cooking in steam. Does the steam absorb some of the salt which then gets absorbed by the lobster. ?????
Salt only lowers the boiling point of the water and keeps it at a full, steamy boil. It doesn’t impart any flavor unless something is submerged in it.
My question has been asked by others. Yet I see no reply. Once again, what is the purpose of the vinegar? Thank You Mj
The purpose of the vinegar is taste. It goes great with lobster. Dip your bite of lobster in the butter, and then the vinegar. And vice versa.
My father was born on Frenchboro, Maine and cooked a lot of lobsters. Your recipe is very good, but for a couple things. There was a reason, which I can’t remember now, but when putting the lobsters in the cooking pot, you put them in upside down. The reason for the vinegar was to put some in the melted butter and it enhanced the flavor plus cut full feeling from the richness of the butter. I have told this to many people and they wouldn’t eat any other way. By the way, I steam my lobsters now instead of putting right in the water.
I have been steaming for years and it is my prefered method. I think it gives you more flavor.
I agree with this method however I add a few bay leafs and a few pepper corns to the water…
20 minutes! Maybe for a 3 lb. lobster. For the 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 lb average lobster we normally get, you will have a shell of flavorless mush. 2″ of water to a full boil on high heat. 1/4 cup salt. Lobsters in, cover, cook 13 – 15 minutes, lowering heat a little if it starts to boil over. I dilute my butter with olive oil and lemon to lessen the fat and heat it with a crushed garlic clove and a few fresh basil leaves, or you could make salad for lobster rolls (with Trader Joe’s whole wheat top split rolls, toasted and buttered).
And I always check the tamale on one of the lobsters before removing, by breaking the tail a little to make sure the tamale is green and not black.
This is to make sure the lobster is cooked. I also cook 15 to 20 minutes.
Whole wheat for a lobster roll?!?!?! We’re doomed.
Put on salt resticted diet for stage 4 kidney disease . Lobster (my adbsolutely positively favorite) item is off the menu. I ran across a lady from Maine who explained that she soaked and rinsed the lobster meat to eliminate to sodium. Any truth to that technique? Help!
When drawing up the butter, should that read a dash of vinegar instead of a dish of vinegar?
Is that apple cider vinegar or white vinegar?
I started thinking of how we cook lobsters, and do they feel it. I decided to find out. I cooked 2 lobsters, and when they went into the water they flinched and curled up their tails. I realized I have been killing live creatures this way for years, they have feelings. I cannot eat any more, so am now a complete vegetarian. I’m so sorry for the pain I caused living creatures.
I’m pretty sure that a great white shark is not, “sorry for the pain I’ve caused living creatures” when it rips a human being, or any other living thing into pieces. Something about the food chain. Oh, have you ever seen the leaf of various plants recoil and curl up when touched? You’re killing plants!
Doty, it’s proven that p,ants have “feelings” too. They react to stress, to pain, to harsh environments etc, and there is some evidence they can communicate to other plants under certain circumstances. Look it up. It,is jusy a fxct of life that in order to live, something must die first. Animals also,have a reflexive reaction that puts them,into shock when they are preyed upon and eaten live by predators. What you are witnessing is reflexes, nerves that fire when the animal expires. It’s fine if you want to be vegetarian, but rea,,y you are killing plants which it turns out have feelings and reactions to,pain too. – it’s just a fact of life. The prepare your food as humanely as possible. Boiling is an instant death practically- far faster than a gazell being eaten alive by hyenas. Humans are a pretty ethical species
The reason for the vinegar was to put some in the melted butter and it enhanced the flavor plus cut full feeling from the richness of the butter. That was from one of the comments left….
I studied under Dieter weisenberg and he showed me how to do oysters Rockefeller I was impressed you see I came from the mountains but anyway after studying underneath him knowing my wines and everything else I became a fantastic cook Baker and I can do deserts and then I ended up assistant supervisor of the embassy suites hotel went from a dishwasher to tableside cooking Louisiana Mississippi recipes main recipes then retired and went into assistant supervisor and then after that went into nursing I’ve had a pretty nice career and I’m happy
In the second paragraph it says NOT to put the lobsters in boiling water and in the third paragraph it says “when the water is boiling, put in the lobsters”. Have others noticed the inconsistency?
Hi there! The boiling water she is referring to in the 3rd paragraph is only a couple of inches, so the actual cooking method is steaming. When she says “don’t boil,” she means don’t stick the lobster in a full pot of boiling water. Hope this helps!
Personally, I don’t like to reheat lobster meat. Seems that a lot of flavor and texture is lost. I use the leftovers, as you wrote, in salds, soups, chowder and my favorite; lobster risotto. Lobster meat (bite size pieces) into the risotto just before the risotto is done so that it gets warm.
Had summer cookout and ended up with 4-5 leftover lobsters. What would be best way to reheat next day? Or would I be better off just making lobster salad even though preferred choice is to reserve whole lobsters.
Lobster salad for sure. Take,the time to get the smaller leg meat out too, that meat is sweeter. Haven’t tried heating the green tomali (sp?) The next day- we usually eat that when its fresh cooked- that and the fat in the shell and roe if any. UT yeah, definitely make lobster salad and serve on good,hotdogs buns toasted or grilled
How do you prepare frozen cooked lobster?
My first question to you would be why you’re using frozen cooked lobster. If you’re not in the northeast there are quite a few online lobster suppliers that can get you fresh lobster in a day. Believe me those lobsters are going to taste a magnitude better than any frozen cooked lobster. Is it cheap? No. It’s fresh lobster. If you’ve got to use frozen cooked lobster there’ve got to be cooking/thawing instructions somewhere on the package.
Frozen whole lobster? If so, then Thaw it first, then cook in 2 inches of water as per the article. You will lose some flavor with frozen, but stil get something of a treat. If you are near coast, and can get some seaweed, cook them wrapped in the seaweed to hopefully impart a little more oceanic flavor.
My grandmother grew up on Grand Manama Island. They dipped their lobster in malt vinegar because butter was scarce. I still add some to the lobster meat when making casseroles or lobster salad. It is a perfect accompaniment.