How to Clean a Whole Lobster...

The first time we let Tucker try lobster he was barely 2, if that.  The kid fell hard and fast!  In our house, when someone is sick, they get to pick anything they want for dinner...our little smarty pants foodie asked for lobster the first time he got this royalty...he was 2.  The trend has continued...he prefers the tails, grilled, straight up with butter for dipping...and stand back because he will usually eat 2.  However, he will take them any way I will dish them!

Harris Teeter and The Fresh Market do some rockin' lobster deals frequently!  So just watch for them!  These guys were wild caught Canadian suckers, and only $6.97 each!  They are already cooked, so all you have to do is clean them!  

Don't be intimidated!  It's actually really easy, although a little messy, but the end result is AHHHHmazing! All you need is a kitchen mallet and some kitchen shears!

The Trifecta!  These guys are ready to go into a butternut squash and lobster "pasta" sauce...

There are 3 "sections"...claw, body, tail...eat, trash, eat...

Snap backwards on the tail portion and it will separate right at the joint...do the same with the large claws right at the base of each one...

This is where is snaps off, looking into the body.  The red stuff is the unfertilized eggs, which are edible and actually a delicacy to some, so don't freak if there are some on your meat...I discard...

Using kitchen shears, cut right down the center of the underneath of the shell where it's softer...you can see the line here where I cut it open and gently loosened the meat and pulled the whole tail right out.

Clean any debris out of the center vein, just like a shrimp...

Use a kitchen mallet like this one to break up the hard claw shells...you can place a towel or paper towel over the claws to keep from splattering shells around the room!

Once they are broken up, you can begin to remove the shells and pull the meat out...

The joints can be a little pesky, just use your kitchen shears to cut any membranes or shells that are challenging...you can also use a crab cracker or nut cracker, but I find that shears and a mallet really work best for me.  

I like to snap backwards on the claw, opening them up wider than what they are meant to...and this breaks them apart and allows you to easily pull the meat right out of the end parts.

This is the whole piece of claw meat removed from that claw...make sure to remove the fin inside this meat...it's that white part there in the center.  You can feel it, it's like cartilage...

Another pic of those little fins inside the meat!  You can also use a tiny fork to pick the meat out ...

The loot!  Look at all that yummy goodness for only $21!  This only took about 15 minutes!