Congratulations, you’ve come to the right place if you love lobster! This article from Fishermen’s Net will give you the three most interesting facts about lobster: how much meat is in a lobster, how to grade lobster, and what size lobster to buy. Are you ready? Let’s get started!.
Lobster is one of the most prized seafood delicacies, known for its tender and sweet flavor. But given the effort it takes to extract the meat from a whole lobster, you may wonder – how much edible lobster meat can you actually get from one lobster?
At our seafood company, this is a question we get asked frequently by lobster lovers curious to know what they can expect from their lobster order. After years in the lobster industry, we’ve broken down the typical yield of meat you can get from lobsters of different sizes and shell hardness. Keep reading for a complete guide to how much meat is in a lobster!
Factors That Determine Lobster Meat Yield
There are a few key factors that impact how much edible lobster meat you’ll get from a whole cooked lobster
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Size – Larger lobsters will yield more meat. A 2 pound lobster will have substantially more meat than a 1 pound lobster.
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Shell Hardness – Hard shell vs soft shell makes a big difference. Hard shell lobsters have a higher meat to shell ratio.
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Sex – Female lobsters tend to have slightly more meat in their tails due to having roe (eggs).
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Time of Year – Spring/summer lobsters after molting have less meat yield than fall/winter hard shell lobsters.
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Cooking Method – Boiling can cause some meat to detach from the shell, slightly decreasing yield.
Average Meat Yield By Lobster Size
- 1 pound lobster – Approximately 2 to 4 ounces of meat
- 1.25 to 1.5 pound lobster – Approximately 4 to 6 ounces of meat
- 2 pound lobster – Approximately 8 to 12 ounces of meat
- 3 pound lobster – Over 12 ounces, up to 1 pound of meat
As you can see, the bigger the lobster, the higher the meat yield. Going from a 1 pound to 3 pound lobster more than doubles the edible meat!
Meat Yield By Parts of Lobster
When breaking down a cooked lobster, you’ll get meat from these sections:
- Tail – This is the main lobe of meat and makes up about 45% of the total meat.
- Claws – The claws contain a good amount of meat, around 35% of total.
- Knuckles – The knuckles or joints where the claws connect have about 5% of lobster meat.
- Legs – The small legs have little bits of meat making up 5% of the total.
- Body – The main torso has about 10% of the usable meat.
The tail and claws are the prime sections filled with the most succulent lobster meat. The legs and body provide supplemental meat.
Average Total Meat Yield
Taking factors like size, shell hardness, and meat breakdown into account, here are the typical meat yields you can expect from whole lobsters:
- Soft shell live lobster – 15% to 20% meat yield
- Hard shell live lobster – 20% to 25% meat yield
- Frozen pre-cooked lobster – 8% to 15% meat yield
- Raw lobster tails – 35% to 45% meat yield
On average, a 1.5 pound hard shell live lobster will yield about 5 to 7 ounces of cooked lobster meat. Lobster tails have the highest proportional meat yield since there’s no body and claw shell weight.
Getting The Most Meat From Your Lobster
To maximize the lobster meat you extract from a whole cooked lobster:
- Use live or freshly cooked vs frozen pre-cooked lobsters
- Select hard shell lobsters which have a higher meat to shell ratio
- Pick female lobsters for slightly higher tail meat yield
- Target 1.5 to 2 pound size range for best meat to price value
- Carefully remove meat from legs, knuckles, and torso – don’t miss any!
- Consider cracking the body and leg shells with shell crackers to access extra meat in crevices
With some effort, you can get nearly 100% of the usable lobster meat out of a cooked lobster. Using these tips, crack open a lobster and enjoy all of its sweet, succulent meat!
At our seafood company, we hand select premium hard shell live Maine lobsters to ensure the highest meat yield and quality for our customers. Order your lobsters from us and taste the difference fantastic fresh seafood makes. We can’t wait to send your lobster feast out today!
How Much Meat Is In A Lobster?
If you’ve eaten lobster for a long time, have you ever thought about how much meat is in a lobster? Depending on your needs, the amount of meat in each type of lobster varies, but on average, a live lobster will give you up to 30% of its weight in meat. Obviously, the remaining 70% are made up of shell and waste. Also, softer-shell has less meat per pound because most of their body is water (after being freshly molten). It is rare for any live lobster to yield less than 15 – 20% of its body weight.
The lowest-yield but sweetest-tasting lobster is typically harvested during the summer. Most of the live lobsters that are shipped to you need a hard shell that keeps the meat at an average yield rate of 2020 to 2025. Here is an estimated meat yield broken down by different parts of lobster.
- 15% Lobster Tail.
- 10% Claw Meat.
- 3% Knuckle Meat.
- 2% Leg Meat.
How Is Lobster Graded?
Grading lobster is a way to determine its value and quality. When purchasing, this technique helps customers know how much meat is in a lobster as well as its quality. At any time of the year, lobsters are graded to remove the spoiled and weak ones. Specifically, the lower the grade is, the softer the shell and less hardier the lobster is. Lobsters that are undergoing molting normally have soft shells. These lobsters are generally weaker and yield fewer meat than hard-shell lobsters.
If a lobster has a soft shell, it means that it just got a new shell that has more room for growing. This new shell fills with water which makes the yield slightly less per pound. Soft shell lobsters are not shipped because of their weak and fragile natures. Moreover, the meat yields lower than good hard-shell lobster about 10%. Due to the yield being a bit less, the cost is less per pound for soft shells. However, the lower the price is, the more water in the shell is. Soft shells are better because they make it easier to separate the lobster meat from the shell. However, water inside it makes the meat a bit messier.
Lobsters with hard shells are the most popular due to the quantity and quality of the meat. After cooked, the shell turns into orange along with a sweet fragrance. The white flesh is firm and dense with a sweet flavour. Hard-shell lobsters are the standard of quality with the higher ratio of meat on shell. The meat of a lobster usually only makes up about 20% of its weight, but a hard-shell lobster can give you up to 30% more meat inside, with meat all the way from the claws to the tail.
Grade-A lobsters are the best lobster with the highest ratio of meat inside. These are hard-shell lobsters, which have the most meat and are the firmest. When cooked, they also smell the best. Nowadays, grade-A lobster has the highest price in the market.
On the contrary with Grade-A lobsters, Grade-B lobsters have lower quality and price. It’s best to catch them in the summer, after the lobsters have shed their shells and their shells are still not too soft. At this time, the lobsters’ shells are firm or medium hard. Moreover, they also yield a significant amount of meat and are delectable.
If you want to find a good deal for live lobster, culls are the best choice to consider. Culls are lobsters that are missing one of their claws. They are usually less expensive, but have a good flavour and yield a lot of meat. Additionally, these are a great option for a recipe calling for cooked lobster meat.