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Lobsters Are A Good Catch Right Now!

We all know times are tough but during the holidays we sometimes want to indulge ourselves with a little luxury.  One item that has become a little more affordable this Christmas season is lobster.  Both hard-shell lobster and cooked lobster meat are running at record low prices.

These low prices are mostly being recognized in the northeast where lobster is more prevalent, but the price drops can be found across the country as well.  Prices for whole lobster are running $4.99- $6.99 per pound in the Providence, RI, area.  Cooked lobster meat is running $19.95 – $29.95 per pound.

In N.Y., some of the best prices are at the Lobster Place in Chelsea Market and Greenwich Village where a price of $7.95 a pound was found.  More typically you will find $10.99 – $16.99 per pound, which purveyors say is 25% – 35% lower than last year.

In a survey in the Silicon Valley, good prices aren’t quite as wide spread.  A call to one local popular seafood store (Race Street Fish & Poultry) found the price at $16.99.  Another market (L&F Seafood) only had frozen tails at $24.99 per pound and it is common to find stores only carrying frozen this time of year due to the lower demand.  Knowing that good seafood buys are many times found in the Asian markets in the Silicon Valley, I ventured to Ranch 99 market and found wild-caught, live lobsters at a sale price of $7.99.  Interestingly, this price is not in their weekly flyer and I only found it by visiting one of their stores.

There are several reasons for the low prices.   The first is that this is the winter season where lobster is not as in demand as in the summer months.  Also there was a red tide scare this past summer in Maine causing people to stop eating lobster and creating an overstock.

Finally, the excess catch is usually funneled to processing plants in Canada, who freeze the meat and ship the frozen meat to chain restaurants. Due to the hard economic times, many of them have shut down operations pouring a surplus of fresh lobster into the market. 

The tried and true method of cooking lobster is to steam them and serve with melted butter.  Lobster is actually low in fat.  One pound of lobster meat contains only 98 calories.   (A pound of beef with 10% fat has 798 calories.)  It is when you dunk it in butter or other decadent sauces that boost the calorie meter.  Taking the time to clarify your butter will reduce the fat solids making the butter a little more healthy.

Trevor Corson, the author of  “The Secret Life of Lobsters” (Harper Collins, 2004) suggests you dispatch your lobster in the following method to be the most humane.  “The best way to kill them, according to animal welfare agencies, is to put them in the freezer first for 15 minutes, ” he said.  “It slows their metabolism.” 

After that, Mr. Corson suggested that you put the lobster on its back and slice lengthwise through its soft underbelly. 

“Lobsters have a decentralized nervous system,” he continued.  “The tail may still twitch, but the claws will go limp so you’ll know it’s dead.  Dispatching a lobster in this manner before boiling, steaming or broiling will makes for less rubbery meat.”

Here’s a great site for more information on the lobster.  If you’re looking for a special meal for the holidays, run down to your local fish market and pick up a few of these red crustaceans.  Decorate your platter with some green and gold and it will fit right in with the holiday season.

Filed under: Seafood