Biggest Lobster you ever tackeled?

Me , I think it was a 6 pounder at Mortons in Palm Desert, may have been 4, but the sucker was huge!

A week ago we had a 6.5 pounder ($6.99/lb.) from a local fishmonger (two large meals for us), once down on the Jersey shore we shared an almost 8 pounder with another family.

Cheers, John

By myself---a 7 pounder----on my honeymoon---she had a 5 pounder!---and they were freebies too!!!

The largest one I ever ate was a five pound bug that I caught in one of my traps on Long Island Sound when I was 13 years old.

About two years ago, my son, at the time 11, was doing a science report on lobsters. Having cooked many lobsters at home, I thought it would be great to buy us a few lobsters, photograph them and help make a poster for his presentation. I went to my local Shop Rite supermarket where they were on sale to buy three. When I told the man behind the counter why I was buying them he asked if I might be interested in a 6 pounder. At the time I was a single mom and just the small ones were going to break the bank. He said, tell you what, I need to get rid of him. How about 3.99 a pound? I made him show me how lively it was so I could be sure it was really alive. It was and I bought it. I then had to borrow a very large pot as I had nothing to fit it. We had a few meals and delicious lobster rolls from that one. I had to use a hammer to crack the claws! Well, that's the largest I've ever had. It was great!

The largest Maine lobster I've had recently was a 6 pounder at The Palm in Nashville. I once caught a 22 pound California spiny lobster near Ensenada, Mexico.

i thought i set some sort of record eating a 4 lb. lobster at Smith and Wollensky in Manhattan about ten years ago - boy, was i mistaken! my hat's off to all of you who ate those 6 pounders...(i will also admit to some serious jealousy - there's NEVER too much lobster!)

In 1978 at Los Angles Harbor fish market, I bought a 7 pounder for $30.00 and made 2 meals out of it. I 1981 picked another the same size, but now they wanted $90.00, almost bought it, but decided not too.

I've never been a big fan of whole lobster..Why? because it's just to much work for someone lazy like me I want to get to the eating part. Give me that tail and the claws and I'm happy. Someone else can go to work with the pick.

I recall many years ago through a friend of mine I managed to get hold of some New Zealand tails that were the largest I've ever seen.
I wouldn't venture a guess at the weight as things seem to grow larger with age but I do remmeber my wife having difficulty getting one in the largest pot we had.
Truthfully, I thought I would be disapppointed I figured at this size they would be tough but they were the most succulent lobster tails I have ever tasted.
I recall that we both ate heartily for 2 days from 1 tail so you take a guess.
I will say they were at least a few pounds each

Not being a lobster expert, I wonder if bigger lobsters are tougher on account they are older?

I also thought that there were restrictions on keeping the really big lobsters. I thought I read somewhere that the largest lobsters had to be released, but I could certainly be wrong on that.

I don't know about catch & release, but I CAN say with a degree of certainty, that when it comes to lobster, the bigger the better. The percentage of meat to waste grows as the creature ages, and there's no reduction in quality.

quote:

Originally posted by Poverty Pete

The largest Maine lobster I've had recently was a 6 pounder at The Palm in Nashville. I once caught a 22 pound California spiny lobster near Ensenada, Mexico.

I can and will tell you that wasn't a Maine lobster that you had. There are no such bugs available for sale at that size from the
State of Maine. Chow Jim

Most folks figure that if it's Homarus americanus it's a Maine lobster.

I can believe that. It wouldn't be the first time I've been the target of false advertising.

You can always ask to see the band. All Maine lobsters must be banded with Maine stamped on them for that reason.
In Mass. they have inacted the same law but it has yet to go in effect.
Same law applys to shellfish, the bags or cartons muts be labled on where and when harvested and kept on file. You as the consumer have the right to see the tag. Chow Jim

It has long been my understanding that most "Maine" lobsters purchased outside of that state are actually from Canada - something that bothers me not a bit. The big lobster we had last week had no identification at all on the bands - they were pink. Does that mean anything?

BTW: anent Tiki's honeymoon story: When we were honeymooning and having a lobster dinner at a restaurant in Essex Ct. My delicate new bride had already finished off her lobster and i was just getting around to the nit-picking stuff, so I innocently asked if she would like another lobster? "Well yes I would," says young and delicate and calls over a waiter and orders another - which she finished off while i was still on the first and full.

Cheers, John

You guys continue to be a wealth of info. The Maine lobster thread is fascinating...I bet most of the "maine lobsters" I've had in restaurants weren't. I'll be looking for that band...thanks for the info!

quote:

Originally posted by Robearjr

Not being a lobster expert, I wonder if bigger lobsters are tougher on account they are older?

I also thought that there were restrictions on keeping the really big lobsters. I thought I read somewhere that the largest lobsters had to be released, but I could certainly be wrong on that.

LONG ago--like about 1959--my best friends dad put on a lobster feast that included a HUGE lobster---not sure how big but i mean HUGE--probably 25plu lbs---it was steamede in a pit as we had no pot big enough to cook it---my buddy and got the large claw and it stuffed the both of us--and we were well used to eating a couple of "Chicken" lobsters by ourselves!! Fortunatly its now illegal to eat those big beauties--IF THERE ARE ANY!!!---and about getting tough---Not if you cook em right! I once worked with a chef---Ralph Lucy--who was the exec at the Fontainbleu in Miami and, with his family. owned a summertime lobster and clam place in Maine and he swore by keepin his live lobsters in a tank of water to which he would add a bottle of brandy---claimed that drunk lobsters didnt tense up and toughen when you dropped em in the boiling pot> Does it work???---who knows--but i kbnow thaty paide Ralph alot of miney to cook lobsters!

Personally I like a 2-pounder. For me it's just right. But when I worked at Yankee Lobster in Boston we once had a 24 pounder in the crates. Some touristas came in and wanted to see the largest lobster so I hauled this one out of my tank. They were so impressed they asked me to steam it for them. I did, cracked the claws and away they went. I don't find the meat of the larger lobsters to be tough at all.

You can still get 25 pounders and up, they are not illegal.
Those bueaties are from the offshore boats, draggers.
Most of them end up at the canners, not a big retail item.
Nothing wrong with a Canadian lobster, in fact they are very desirable.
Lobsters are graded much like beef and Canadians are at the top.
I've seen some awfull ugly crustations that could never be sold retail, nothing wrong with the meat though. Chow Jim

Well, what is the reason behind not taking the big lobsters?

With crabs in Maryland, the restrictions are on the small ones. It also looks like females may get restricted.

I can understand these limits, but what is benefit of keeping the big lobsters out in the sea. Is it simply to preserve the big lobsters, or is it somehow related to the overall lobster population. Are big lobsters the big breeders or something like that?

I remember as a youngster...my father came home with a HUMONGOUS lobster (I believe over 8 lbs) and threw it in the bathtub right before I was going to take a bath!!! Needless to say...the bathtub got a good scrubbing afterwards...but it was the biggest lobster I ever saw..required special tools to crack the claws...but oh what fun

quote:

Originally posted by Robearjr

Well, what is the reason behind not taking the big lobsters?

With crabs in Maryland, the restrictions are on the small ones. It also looks like females may get restricted.

I can understand these limits, but what is benefit of keeping the big lobsters out in the sea. Is it simply to preserve the big lobsters, or is it somehow related to the overall lobster population. Are big lobsters the big breeders or something like that?

Like largemouth bass--the bigger the female the more eggs! The more eggs--the more babies---etc

There are relatively speaking, few large lobsters left. There was a picture in my store of one of the owners (years ago) holding a 45 pounder. The only size limit is on the small lobsters, not the big bugs. I once had a blue lobster....yes, cobalt blue in a crate. They are pretty rare. I took it over to the New England Aquarium.

I think the reason the big lobsters are illegal to catch in Maine is they are considered breeders. When animal rights activists need someplace to release a large lobster (ie 25lbs) they send them up to Maine where if they end up in a trap, they are thrown back into the water.

A lot of places claim they have Maine lobsters but you see anything over (I'm guessing) 5lbs, it isn't from Maine. I was at a Wegmans in Sterling VA one weekend and I was looking at the lobsters which they had advertised as Maine lobsters. There was a gentleman there also looking at the lobsters. I saw one that was huge. I said to him, 'That's not a Maine lobster, you can keep one that big'. He agreed. It seems he was from Maine also. I noticed a little while after that Wegman's stopped advertsing their lobsters as 'Maine' lobsters. The State of Maine has been going after places in other states that advertise their lobsters as Maine lobsters. If it doesn't have the band that has Maine on it, it isn't a 'Maine' lobster.

The only lobsters that are keepers in Maine {state waters} are between 3 1/4
to 5in. from the back of the eye to the start of the tail.
Known breaders, females called hens no matter what the size can't be taken.
They are to be marked, V notch in the tail and returned to the sea.
A 25lb. lobster would never make it into a trap due to it's size.
These are caught by either dragging or by divers both legal unless there is a V notch.
And those do gooders saving a lobster by returnig it to the sea may have sealed the fate of said crustation. Male lobsters are very territorial and defend till death his brood and area.
It takes 4 to 7 years for a lobster to grow to market rate and many years before they get to big to leagaly market.
A female hen will produce 10,000 to 20,000 eggs once a year with only about 10% surviving. And Maine's landing report last year was somewhere in the 60 million pound area. That's a lot of Lobster.
On a side note, the tommally the liver of the lobster should not be comsumed at this time due to red tide problems. This is the ONLY part of the lobster effected. The meat is just as good as it always has been and safe to eat. Chow Jim

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

There are relatively speaking, few large lobsters left. There was a picture in my store of one of the owners (years ago) holding a 45 pounder. The only size limit is on the small lobsters, not the big bugs. I once had a blue lobster....yes, cobalt blue in a crate. They are pretty rare. I took it over to the New England Aquarium.

Hey Lisa--i may have SEEN that blue bug!!! gorgeous, arn't they!!!

i had a 10 pounder and ate the whole thing every 1 pound is 4 oz of meat so i had about 2and a half pounds of meat yummo as rachel ray says

I cannot claim a large lobster ingestion but I was scheduled to fly into Portland maine for a birding trip on 9/11. Well, you know what happened on that day. All flights were cancelled and it was the following Sunday before i could reschedule my flight.

I flew into Portland and we flew just west of NYC where we could see the smoke from the twin towers. I landed in Portland, rented a car and proceeded to a Marriott facility. When I got there, the parking lot was full of black suburbas, cop cars, dogs, dudes with machine guns and etc. It was intimidating and I found out pretty soon that the hijackers and the main dude Addis or something like that stayed there before he flew out of Portland. It was strange seeing so many folks with loaded guns walking around.

The next day I went to Cadillac Mountain for birding, had blue berry soft serve and blue berry beer.

I was driving down the coast and at Belfast, Maine, I saw a sign that indicated that Young's Lobster pound was available on the bay.

I stopped there and their stainless steel pots were full of lobsters because they could not ship due to all airlines being grounded.

He sold me two 2 pound lobsers for $10.00 with the trimmings. His misfortune was to my advantage. Beautiful setting.

I have attached their web site so you can see for yourself.

http://www.acadiavacations.com/d344/d344-05.htm

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Just remembered--not the biggest---but the most---One day long ago i was ging out to Block Island__off the Rhode Island Coast--to visit with a band i once worked with that was booked out there for the week---my brother said he would give me a lift to the ferry---well---on the way he jammed on the breaks and saied---DO you see that!!!???---and there on the other side of the road was a place with a sign that "all the lobster nyou can eat $19.99!!!!" Well that was all it took!!--My bro was 6'2" and 300lbs--me--at the time--5'10' and 275!!--we walked in the door and my bother looked at the hosrtess and said"Hi--we'd like a table and a bibs---and tell you boss that you folks are in financial trouble! We ate for quite while---have no idea at all how much we ate---but it was a LOT!---and we just made it by seconds to the last ferry too!

I just came back from Wells Maine and the biggest lobster I could find had to be special ordered and it was 3.5 pounds at $10.99 per pound. Maine limits both small and large lobsters from being taken now.
http://www.sunjournal.com/story/213603-3/Business/Lobster_size_limit_extends_south/