Screaming Lobsters

National Geographic | 7/30/03

[missyme]

I had an intersting conversation with some Freepers today regarding Lobsters, and if they scream in pain while being boiled alive. My research has found these facts to be true and authentic and just what I thought about The Lobster

Lobster Facts

The Anatomy of a Lobster A lobster is made up of these simple parts (in layman's terms): thorax, tail, flipper, crusher claw, pincher claw, legs and antennae

Lobster blood is clear and turns an opaque white when cooked. It has no flavor and is perfectly fine to eat. The green stuff you may find is called "Tomalley", and is the equivalent of a liver and pancreas for the lobster. Many people consider tomalley to be a delicacy, while others avoid it altogether.

Screaming Lobsters For those of you who are concerned about cooking screaming lobsters, here are the facts. The nervous system of a lobster is decentralized and has been compared to that of a grasshopper. From what we know, this means they probably feel little or no pain. They also have no vocal chords. The sound you may hear is actually steam escaping from the shell as the lobster cooks. If you're still concerned about hurting the lobster, begin to cook it in cold water instead of hot. As the temperature rises, it will put the lobster to sleep. So will laying it on its back for a few minutes.

The Adventures of the Incredible Regenerating Lobster This is not a comic book hero. Lobsters can actually regenerate legs, claws, and antennae. In fact they can amputate their own claws and legs to escape danger. Sometimes they can drop a claw for no reason at all.

How Do They Grow? Lobsters shed their shells to grow (molting). Their shell softens as a result of enzymes that are secreted. This allows the shell to split up the back, enabling the lobster to crawl out. They will increase their size by about 20% at every molt. The New Lobster Diet! Okay, not really. But if you're looking for a low fat, low cholesterol dish, why not eat Lobster? Maine Lobster has less calories (98), cholesterol (72mg) and saturated fats (0.1g) than turkey and chicken. (Of course, that doesn't include your butter).

[dinasour]

sea roaches - Yum

[Bogey78O]

The crawfish is actually the sea roach. A lobster would be the palmetto bug.

[missyme]

You must be from the winner of Sweat City FLORIDA
Use to live there Palmetto Bugs YUK!

[Maceman]

A local restaurant has been running a twin lobster special for $19.95. I have been partaking at least two (and sometimes more) times per week since they started several weeks ago.

Can't seem to get enough lobster this summer. Yum indeed.

[manofsteelbeams]

At our local Wally-world, they have a tank in the Seafood Dept for these critters...

My kids (now 8,4, and 2) each asked what these creatures were the first time they saw them.

I offhandedly reply "Sea Bugs". To this day, to my kids, they are "Sea Bugs" and they "eeeeewwwwwwww" at the the thought of eating them. Except my 4 year old, he said that people eat Sea Bugs, then they would probably like "Dirt Bugs" (his words) too.

I replied calmly while trying not to bust out laughing that Dirt Bugs are edible. If you clean them and toss them in the microwave, they pop up just like pop corn, while they arent as tasty.

My boy nodded and went back outside. I'm listening out for the stool being moved near the microwave....

[PoorMuttly]

Muttly eat lobsters at every opportunity. Lately having concerns about West-Coast "lobsters" being marine Spiders, not actually lobsters, in the normal Muttly sense.

However, Muttly has typical solution for such dilemmas...just eat it, and it goes away.

Seemed to work with that O'Sama guy who sneaked into our backyard last week.

[Semper Paratus]

A couple of things to keep in mind about lobsters.
They are bottom feeders. And eating lobsters "off the boat" may not be a great idea considering they were feeding off the chum put in the traps as bair. Let them 'refresh' in the tanks for a day or two.