It’s surprising how few people have grilled their own lobster.
Lobster is a GREAT thing steamed, but gets kicked up even more with some wood smoke and basil butter.
With the grill warming up to a medium heat (170-200°C), the lobsters need to be prepped. This is the interesting part. The lobsters are moving around, whole, but they need to be not moving and cut down the middle to grill. How will they get that way, you may ask? With a really big, sharp knife, of course.
To get the lobsters ready for the grill, put the point of the knife at the first joint behind the head, with the edge forward toward the eyes. Quickly slice down through the head to start the cut, then turn the lobster around and continue cutting the lobster into equal halves. It should be quick, and a sharp, long knife is essential to doing it right without hurting yourself. Okay, the lobster will not fare as well. Just be careful not to cut yourself because the shell will take some effort to slice through, and it’s important to use a bigger knife that’s as sharp as possible. Or maybe a table saw. (That’s a joke, by the way).
Place the lobsters on the grill with apple or pecan wood smoking, at medium heat, cut side down to start. While the lobsters start to grill, add chopped basil to softened butter (2 tablespoons of butter per lobster, with 2-3 basil leaves stirred into the softened butter). This makes a compound butter, which will sound fancy to your friends, but it’s actually very easy to make.
Turn the lobsters over after about 3 minutes and add the butter to the tails. As the butter melts, it may drip and smoke on the grill. One great thing about using a TRU-Infrared™ grill is that flare ups won’t happen. When the tail meat is opaque and the claws are slightly charred, remove the lobster halves from the grill. Serve immediately and enjoy!
A couple of closing notes:
- I don’t add salt and pepper to my lobster. Being a salt water creature, I find there’s enough salt for my taste without adding more and I don’t think pepper adds to the taste of lobster.
- Instead of halving a live lobster, the lobster can be parboiled before grilling. Follow the same steps for cooking the lobster for rolls, but only boil/steam it for 4 minutes. Place it in an ice bath, then cut the lobster in half and finish it on the grill.
