To make sure, pick up the lobster - if the tail curls under the body, it's alive. This test is especially important with lobsters that have been stored on ice because they're so sluggish, it's sometimes hard to see movement.
If they are not moving, you should cook them within a few hours. Otherwise, if they are stored properly, they may be kept alive for an additional 24 hours before cooking. Keep in mind, though, the sooner you cook lobsters, the sweeter they will taste.
Lobsters are not poisonous if they die before cooking, but you should cook them quickly. Many lobsters sold commercially are killed and frozen before cooking. Lobsters and other crustaceans do spoil rapidly after death, which is why many buyers insist on receiving them alive.
A lobster can live out of the water for a couple of days if kept in a moist and cool place. How can a lobster live so long out of water? A lobster can extract the oxygen from the air, but in order to do this its gills must be kept moist or they will collapse.
The reaction of astaxanthin with the protein complex gives the creature its dark blue colour. But crucially, when the lobster is cooked the protein is denatured and the astaxanthin is released and reverts to its orange-red state.
It's chemistry
The pigment is wrapped up so tightly inside the protein that it stays put, unable to flow or absorb light. That's why lobsters in the wild don't appear red. However, when a lobster is cooked, the boiling water changes its body chemistry.
It should be bright red. Using a chef's knife, split the shell where the tail meets the body. If the meat is white, the lobster is fully cooked. If it's still translucent, back into the pot it goes.
After letting them freeze, the lobsters were then thawed in 28-degree sea water. The result was that only two came back to life out of thirty lobsters. Isn't that surprising?
Scientists have found that it can take lobsters between 35 – 45 seconds to die when plunged into a pot of boiling water — and if they are dismembered their nervous system can still function for up to an hour.
Moisture: Lobsters need to be kept moist, but not wet, to stay fresh. Cover them with seaweed or damp newspaper. Do not store them with ice or in tap water as fresh water will kill them.
What to do if your lobster dies. Should they die and you've kept them cold, you can still cook them. According to State of Maine food safety experts, dead lobster can be consumed safely up to 24 hours from time of death, if refrigerated properly at or below 38°F (the temperature of the average home refrigerator).
The animals are often stunned with electricity or killed in some manner before cooking. Electric lobster stunning devices are available. At a cost of a few thousand dollars, however, they're unreasonable for most home cooks who enjoy the occasional lobster.
Boiling lobsters alive is a way to reduce the risk of food poisoning from bacteria that live in their flesh and that quickly multiply on their carcasses, according to Science Focus. Plus they have been deemed tastier and better presented on the plate when cooked this way.
The trouble is with enzymes mostly located in the dark liver in the central carapace. These enzymes break down the protein structure of the lobster's muscles, becoming highly active after the lobster's death (the main reason you should always look for lively lobsters), particularly at warmer temperatures.
This foam is caused by an excessive amount of protein floating about the water. Such circumstances are a result of dead lobsters deteriorating and releasing the protein into the water or lobsters with broken limbs whose protein filled blood is being released into the tank water.
Cook em fast!
If they are blowing bubbles, they are stressed and not far away from dying. Cook em, eat em or freeze em.
In reality, freezing and thawing live lobsters may be safe, but it simply isn't worth the risk of toxins developing as a result of the process. Safety aside, freezing and thawing lobster prior to cooking it will lead to enzymes leaching into the meat, resulting in a mushy, unappetizing texture.
Head First into Boiling Water
Hold the lobster around the middle to avoid those claws and put it head first into the water. It will die quickly. Boiling water is also the best way to cook the lobster so you can leave it in there and carry on the cooking process.
The tails should begin to float toward the surface once the lobsters are cooked.
Lobsters don't have vocal cords, and even if in agony, they cannot vocalise. The high pitched sound made by an overheating lobster is caused by expanding air rushing out of small holes in lobsters' bodies, like a whistle being blown. A dead lobster will “scream” just as loudly as if it was living.
How long can lobster live out of water? A good hard-shell lobster can live up to 36 hours out of water if kept cool, moist and refrigerated. Since lobster is a gill breather wet newspaper and/or seaweed helps keep them moist. Since lobsters are seawater creatures never store them in fresh water.
If you've ever been to a seafood restaurant, chances are you've seen your lobster dinner in a large tank. That's because lobster is very high in protein, and this means they can spoil very quickly.
While there is no known safety considerations when it comes to eating lobster meat, consumers are advised to refrain from eating the tomalley. The tomalley is the soft, green substance found in the body cavity of the lobster.
According to the University of Maine's Lobster Institute (the highest authority we could think of), the white stuff is congealed hemolymph, which is what lobsters have instead of blood and intestines.
These are immature eggs called roe and are naturally black. If the eggs are black and not red when you are ready to eat your lobster, that means the lobster needs to be cooked further. Once the eggs are red — meaning they're cooked — they can be eaten.