How to make the most flavourful, Succulent Sous Vide Poached Lobster to add to your favourite lobster dishes!
This post for Succulent Sous Vide Poached Lobster was created in partnership with Clearwater Seafoods LP.
OK, I'm just going to put it out there... if you are not cooking your lobster sous vide, you haven't yet experienced lobster at its best. Granted, I played around with a few temperatures before I settled on what I liked best, but that's part of the beauty of cooking sous vide.
How To Prepare The Lobster
The hardest part of preparing live lobsters is the killing. As a kid I remember the first time I saw my grandfather kill, boil and pluck a chicken and swore I would never eat meat. Or the that time I skipped dinner because I could not bear the screeching of the lobsters as they morphed from black to red in a pot that could easily double as a mini pool.
Those things traumatized little me, but clearly not enough to swear them off permanently.
Apparently sticking a knife between the eyes of the lobster guarantees a quick and humane death. The Dude and I went back and forth for a good hour about who would do it. Finally, I lost the coin flip and gained a butcher knife. Humane? Still questionable. Quick? Not really. The tails kept fanning and flapping for a good thirty-plus minutes after the so-called humane death.
If dealing with live lobsters is all too much for you, then go with raw, frozen lobsters. Clearwater Seafoods offers packages of tail or claw and knuckle meat, and they ship well.
How To Bag & Bath Your Lobster
Once you have killed, blanched, shocked and shelled the lobsters, it's bath time. I like a little thyme or tarragon and butter in the bag with my lobster. Butter is easier to vacuum seal than oil, and, along with the added aromatics, imparts a better flavour to the finished lobster. if you don't have a vacuum sealer, use food-safe freezer bags and the water displacement method.
I've tried a few different temperatures for cooking the tail and claws, and my preference lies closer to those recommended in my copy of Modernist Cuisine.
- Tail - water bath heated to 50ºC and cooked for about 20 minutes to a core temperature of 49ºC for a soft, buttery melt-in your mouth experience, best enjoyed as-is. 54ºC will take you to the firm, succulent stage, perfect for lobster rolls.
- Knuckle and Claw - water bath heated to 55º and cooked for about 30 minutes to a core temperature of 54ºC at the low end. Or, for a firmer finish, 60º to 65ºC.
Once cooked, you can enjoy them straight from the bag, or added to your favourite dish. If the plan is to use them later, remove the bags from the water bath after cooking and immediately shock in ice water to quickly drop the temperature. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use, no longer than a couple days.
Ways To Enjoy Your Perfectly Cooked Lobster
Now that you have flavourful, succulent lobster, you can go ahead and eat it straight from the bag (no judgement here), or serve it up in a more civilized manner. Below are a few ways we enjoyed it back in the summer:
- Lobster roll burgers - we tossed some claw and knuckle meat in a simple homemade sauce and piled them high on homemade, toasted brioche buns. Make slider versions to serve at your next gathering!
- Lobster tacos - a spicy mix of knuckle and claw meat with avocado, served on chipotle Charras with a side of legs. Throw some together for your next taco Tuesday!
- Lobster Plate - butter-poached lobster tail and claw, served alongside sous vide corm on the cob, fingerling potatoes, asparagus, tomato and homemade dipping sauce (a.k.a. flavoured buttah). So freaking GOOD!
I have a few more recipes coming your way made with Succulent Sous Vide Poached Lobster, that would be great for holiday brunch, an intimate dinner and a week-night family meal.
Sous Vide Resources
I like to come up with flavours and recipes on my own, but the pros have done the work around timing and temperature for cooking sous vide. Still, I like to play around to get a texture/taste that suits my palate. More importantly, always check the internal temperature of your food to ensure it is safe to eat.
A lot of books are available on 'how to cook sous vide', some from folks who fancy themselves experts, without any real expertise. If purchasing, choose a book from a reputable chef/author. Two of my most used resources and where cooking sous vide started for me, are my copies of Modernist Cuisine and Under Pressure.
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