How To Cut A Lobster Tail For Grilling? A Step-By-Step Guide

Among the popular seafood are lobsters, one of the large marine crustaceans. You can prepare them through various methods, including grilling, which involves cooking with direct radiant heat.

How to cut a lobster tail for grilling? To prepare lobster for grilling, use kitchen shears to cut through the curved part of the top shell stopping before the tail fin.

Carefully spread apart the shell to create a room enough to reach the tail meat. Lift off the now exposed tail meat and rest it on top of the shell where you will grill it from.

Prepared well, the tail, which is the meatiest part of a lobster, can make a good serving along with a side dish.

Read on for various methods and steps to prepare this seafood.

How To Cut A Lobster Tail For Grilling?

Though they’re available throughout the year, fresh lobsters are harvested in the fall. Their tails can be purchased fresh or frozen in the fish department of your local grocery store.

For the frozen fish, thaw them in a refrigerator at a constant temperature below 40°F or use cold water.

Also, to prepare lobster tail for grilling, parboil it in hot water for 10 minutes. But for a 5 oz tail, two minutes should be enough.

There are several methods to cut a lobster tail, and below are three of them. You will need kitchen shears and a knife for preparation.

Follow the steps below to cut the tail to use for grilling.

Method 1. Butterfly

Step 1. Cutting

Using kitchen shears or a knife, cut the curved top part of the lobster tail running from top to bottom. You shouldn’t cut through the fantail; as for this method, the shell is indirectly used for grilling the meat.

Step 2. Splitting

After cutting, use your thumbs to expand the shell and create enough room to pull out the meat. This should be done extremely carefully to avoid shells from cracking into your meat.

Step 3. Separation

After splitting wide enough, use a knife or your fingers to loosen the meat from the lower part of the shell. Pull the now-free tail meat and place it on the shell to season it for cooking.

Method 2. Inverted

Step 1. Cutting

In this method, you will cut the tail shell while it’s inverted. Use the kitchen shears to cut slits on both sides lengthwise towards the tail fin.

Step 2. Splitting

Remove the now loose middle part of the two slits to expose the meat. Pull the shell apart to create enough room for your fingers to slide through while pulling the meat.

Step 3. Separation

Use your hands to pull the meat loose from the shell. This should be easy to separate since this method involves cutting from the undershell, which is soft.

Method 3. Split

Step 1. Cutting

In this method, you will cut the shell’s top and bottom parts at the same time using a sharp chef’s knife. Cut lengthwise evenly from the fan tail towards the exposed upper part.

Step 2. Splitting

Set apart the cut regions carefully to expose the inner white meat. You can leave the tail fins connected to keep the two halves together.

Tips For Grilling Palatable Lobster Tails

After buying your lobster tails, you want to prepare them in the most appetizing way possible. Unfortunately, you may blunder during the preparations, affecting your final results. Below are some expert tips you should follow to maintain the right taste.

• Use your kitchen cutting shears to safely penetrate the lobster’s thick shell.
• Don’t thaw your lobster tails using hot water. Instead, allow them to thaw overnight.
• Clean and rinse your tails thoroughly to eliminate all the dirt. You may also remove the digestive tract passing through the tail’s center as it doesn’t taste good.

The above tips will come in handy as you cut your lobster tails. Make sure to follow them if you want tasty and properly grilled lobster tails.

FAQs

If you’ve been trying to make the yummiest grilled lobster tail, you probably have unanswered questions left.

Below are some frequently asked questions on how to cut and grill a lobster tail.

Do You Split Lobster Tails Before or After Boiling?

Boiling is a necessary step when preparing lobster for either method of cooking. It’s okay to boil a lobster tail while it’s split, though avoid cutting through the meat, which can be destroyed.

However, most times, splitting happens just before grilling or before cooking using other methods.

Why Do You Cut a Lobster Tail?

Like other types of meat, lobster needs to cook uniformly. Cutting the tail allows heat to penetrate through the meat evenly, which is hard when it’s still in its shell.

Also, cutting allows the meat to cook faster since it’s directly exposed to the heat source.

Conclusion

Preparing and cooking sea foods is sometimes considered the hardest compared to other dishes.

Every step must be perfect, from preparation and cooking to presentation. When it comes to lobster, there’s no exception.

There are various methods to cut a lobster tail in preparation for grilling. The aim of the cutting is to allow it to cook evenly while making it artistic and presentable.

There are quite a few cutting methods and they may vary based on your cooking techniques.