What’s your favourite seafood dish? Ask around and one of the top answers you will get is lobster. The lobster does have its merits as a food item. Thick and meaty and takes on flavour well it’s easy to see why seafood lovers would rate it so highly. Lobster also happens to be quite pricey and there is no way anyone would let the delicacy go to waste. So if we are going to keep lobster the question of the best ways to reheat it is naturally going to follow. Let’s understand what lobster is before we get into reheating it.
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What is lobster?
Lobsters are salt water-dwelling crustaceans that have an irregular 10 legs. Lobsters usually have claws on the first 6 of their 10 legs with the claws on the front 2 legs being extra large and visible. They are very popular as food and are also of great economic importance as they are highly-priced. They live on the ocean floor among rocks and coral and feed on other small animals. While there are many crustaceans with the word lobster in their names, lobster generally refers to the clawed lobster. Lobsters live around 40 to 50 years in the wild. They are often boiled or steamed in the shell through experimental recipes will fry, bake and mix with cheese and sauces. There are a few things we must note about the storage of cooked lobster before we discuss how to reheat it.
Storage
Seafood is tricky when it comes to storing it and there are some important things you need to know about storing seafood in general and lobster in particular. Firstly you need to make sure you refrigerate your lobster or freeze it within two hours of cooking. This is to prevent the growth of bacteria which happens at mild temperatures. When storing your lobster it is best to put it in an airtight container. Tupperware or a resealable bag is best for this purpose. When freezing it make sure the bag is heavy duty and consider double bagging it to prevent freezer burn. If you want to store your cooked lobster in the fridge you can safely do so for four to five days. Lobster keeps its best condition in the freezer for around 3 months. You can freeze it for longer but you will have some deterioration in quality and texture. When thawing frozen lobster you are best thawing it in the refrigerator overnight or for a full 24 hours. With storage instructions out of the way, we can look at the various methods for reheating cooked lobster.
Reheating Lobster In The Microwave
The microwave provides a quick and easy method for reheating your cooked lobster. To pull this off you will need a microwave-safe plate, a microwave cover, paper towels your lobster and the microwave of course. The first step is to wet the paper towels just enough to completely moisten them. Squeeze out extra moisture then wrap the paper towels around the lobster shells. Microwaves tend to dry out things in the heating process. This happens because of the way microwaves work. They send small waves that target the water molecules in food and make them vibrate at very high rates which causes them to produce heat. Unfortunately, the water molecules also evaporate and this is why food heated in the microwave tends to lose its moisture. The additional moisture from the paper towels will help retain the moisture levels of your lobster. If the dish has just the lobster meat you can ignore the paper towels. Place the lobster in the microwave-safe plate. Now at the highest setting heat in the microwave for 2 minutes. In most cases, this will be enough but if you feel it is not you can add another minute. Your reheated lobster is ready to eat.
Reheating Lobster In The Oven
Another great way to reheat cooked lobster and perhaps the best from a flavour and texture perspective is to reheat your lobster in the oven. This method, unfortunately, requires more effort and time than the microwave method so it will not always be the ideal method. What you will need is aluminium foil, a baking tray or pan and a sealable plastic bag if you’re working with frozen lobster. If your lobster is frozen and you just didn’t have time to thaw it place it in the sealable plastic bag and place it in warm water to quickly thaw it. This will take a while and it probably won’t thaw completely. That’s alright. Take your lobster out of the sealable plastic bag and wrap it in aluminium foil. This is the first step if your lobster is thawed already. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place your wrapped lobster on the oven tray and into the oven. The lobster will take 5 to minutes to reheat completely, this depends on how well thawed out the lobster was when you put it in the oven. Once done just unwrap and enjoy.
Reheating Lobster On The Grill
You can also reheat your cooked lobster on the grill. If you’re not afraid of a little butter you can add butter to your lobster as you reheat it on the grill. On the downside firing up the grill takes a bit more energy and planning than the oven or the microwave. That said it is not a very complicated exercise. You will need aluminium foil, non-stick coating and butter if you’re going that route. You will need to have your lobster ready thawed for best results. Spray some non-stick coating on one side of your foil, usually, you will want the shiny side on the inside so spray that side. Before wrapping the lobster you can add the butter and it will melt in the grilling process. The butter is included to add flavour. If you’re not into butter for whatever reason you can exclude it. Place the lobster on the grill at medium heat and turn every minute. Your lobster should be ready to eat in 6 minutes.
Reheating Lobster On A Stove
Finally, you can reheat your cooked lobster on the stove. You have a few options on the stove as you can shallow fry it or steam it. To fry the lobster you will need a good pan in which you will put a little bit of oil. The amount of oil will depend on the size of the lobster but the goal is to cover the pan. Once you get the oil hot place the lobster in the pan. You will need to keep turning the lobster so it doesn’t burn. You also have the option of taking the meat out of the lobster, frying the meat alone and then adding it back to the lobster shell. If you want to steam it you need a large pot and a steaming tray. Bring the water to a boil. A deeper pot helps to keep the boiling water off the lobster. Place the lobster in steaming tray into the pot and reduce the heat to medium. You will need at least 5 minutes to get the lobster hot just remember the bigger the lobster the more time you need.
Four great methods to reheat your cooked lobster. The choice of which method will depend on the time you have on hand and how much effort you’re willing to put in. To preserve the flavour the best method is the oven and grill is best if you want to add in some butter flavour.
