21 lb lobster caught

That'll take a lot of butter!

 

Probably too big and old to be very good - just a curiosity. I'd have taken
a photo with it and tossed it back.

Jedi

 

We had a big'un like that at the aquarium where I worked. It lasted a few years before it died. Probably most valuable as breeding stock back where it came from.

I wouldn't eat it.

 

LOL! No, not interested. But anyone who thinks an ANCIENT and HUGE lobster
like that is going to taste good has more money than sense. I highly suspect it
will be tough, chewy, and flavorless - no matter how much butter you pour over it.



Jedi

 

I remember Homer's pet lobster, "Pinchy" was about that big before he drew a hot bath for him and consequently died and had to be eaten. Homer thought it was delisheous. He even said "boy, I wish Pinchy was here to enjoy this!" Might not be as tough or bad as you think...just sayin'.

 

http://www.cookingissues.com/2010/07/07/giant-lobsters-and-their-puny-brethren-plus-a-wild-vegetable/

Here's a great article about cooking a big lobster. Tastes fine, just needs to be cooked differently.

Most lobsters used to be this big, but they take decades to get bigger and we ate all the old ones already.

 

Yikes, I didn't realize they lived that long...

I say let the elderly live in pieces, err peace!

First pic is probably the referenced "heaviest on record is 44 pounds" but Google search found a 51 1/2 pounder. The big G knows all!
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a few years ago we had caught a 19 pounder at our place in new brunswick. we did not eat it and it was set back. the giants are not going to be good tasting and not easy to cook even if you were so inclined.

they are also not caught in traps as they do not fit...you catch them diving and i assure you that a giant is to be feared. when they are that big, you are playing in their house and they can hurt you!!!!

pcb

 

btw,

in deer island, NB they always have a biggy at the 45th parallel resturaunt. they get a new one each year and name him herman. they release it each winter. quite a crowd pleaser to see lobsters this big.

 

I agree with that approach... and I agree they wouldn't taste good at ALL. I've had
"oversized" lobster (NOTHING this big of course) and it was tough and flavorless meat.

Keep them for a novelty in a tank, let the kids oooh and aaaah over the size of the
pincers - then just let them go. They've lived a LONG LONG time - let 'em have
their retirement LOL

Jedi

 

I agree. To me a 1 1/2 -2 lb lobster is ideal. Prepared very basic New England style, steamed over wet seaweed and with a side order of steamed clams and corn on the cob. Eat it out of the shell with some drawn butter for dipping just the way God intended. Don't forget the sweet meat in the legs.

It tastes even better if you are eating it on the beach at sunset and with a nice glass (or two) of white wine!

Let the old guy go and live out his days in peace. There is a glut of lobsters this year especially so the prices are nice and low.

Yum, yum!

 

reminds me of a time I went to the Nordic lodge in Rhode Island, an all you can eat feast with lobsters, filet minion, crab, everything under the sun. They had a raffle for a 14 lb lobster. Our table of six purchased 5 tickets each and guess who won? my girlfriend at the time who was a vegetarian. We had to take the live critter and drope him off a bridge back into the ocean. Classic.

 

John, you guys on the east coast know your lobster! I used to live in Norwich for a couple years and my ex italian uncles made me ballon up 20lbs.! Used to go to vocatura bakery for the best grinders around.

 

Yeah, I can hear 'em now, "Why, you young whippersnappers . . . "

 

No mention of how old it might be.
A fishmonger friend once showed me a big lobster in his inventory, not this big, and said it was probably 70 years old. It was his opinion that the old ones were for show and not good to eat.
Free Pinchy!

 

Geek's tangent:

Food historian Evan Jones has said that 6ft long lobsters weren't that uncommon in the North East when the area was first colonized. In fact lobster was so plentiful in the region that workers would revolt because they were getting "roaches for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

Hey, I grew up in Norwich! We know the Vocatura family well. And coincidentally, I am typing this maybe 10 minutes from Orleans. May have to go take a peek at that lobster with the kids tomorrow- although they may never set foot in the water again!

JP

 

how much will that bastard go for, I want to buy it and keep it as a pet

 

That old boy was either wise enough or lucky enough to have survived to grow to that size, shame it was not released (the conservationist in me).