How Much Meat Is Actually In a Lobster? A Detailed Breakdown

As a seafood lover, I’ve always been curious about how much edible meat I can get out of a whole lobster. Is the meat mostly in the tails and claws? Or are there tasty morsels hiding in the body and legs too?

To get a definitive answer, I did some research on lobster anatomy and meat yields. In this article, I’ll share everything I learned about how much meat you can expect from different sized lobsters. Read on for a complete meat breakdown!

An Overview of Lobster Sizes

Lobsters are categorised by their weight, which typically ranges from 1 to 5 pounds for whole lobsters bought from markets and restaurants. Here are the common size names:

• Chick Lobster: 1.0 – 1.2 lbs
• Quarter Lobster: 1.2 – 1.4 lbs
• Half Lobster: 1.5 lbs
• Three Quarter Lobster: 2 lbs
• Jumbo Lobster: 3+ lbs

The smallest legal harvest size for a lobster is around 1 pound. After that, lobsters grow an estimated 1 to 1.5 pounds per year until reaching 5+ pounds at over 15 years old. The biggest lobsters can reach 20+ pounds and 100 years old!

Total Meat Yield from a Whole Lobster

Manysources indicate that a 1.5 lb hard-shell lobster will yield about 4-5 oz of meat. That comes out to roughly 20-25% meat from a whole lobster. The remaining 75-80% is mostly shell, with some waste parts like guts.

Here’s a breakdown of the total meat yield percentages:

• Hard-shell lobsters: 20-25%
• Newly molted soft-shell lobsters: 15-20%
• Minimum legal harvest lobsters (~1 lb): 15%

Larger lobsters will give higher total meat weights in ounces, but the proportion of meat to shell stays about the same.

Meat Yields from Different Lobster Parts

Where does all the meat actually come from on a lobster? Here’s a breakdown:

• Tail: 35-40% of total meat
• Claws: 30-35%
• Knuckles and legs: 20-25%
• Body and head: 7-10%

The tail and claws contain the biggest chunks of meat, while the knuckles, legs, and body have smaller morsels. The head doesn’t have much edible meat.

For a 1.5 lb lobster, you can expect around:

• 2 oz meat from the tail
• 1.5 oz from the claws
• 1 oz from the knuckles and legs
• 0.5 oz from the body

So while the tail and claws get most of the attention, don’t forget about cracking the knuckles and legs too! There’s a decent amount of meat hidden throughout the whole lobster.

Tips for Maximizing Lobster Meat Quantity

Here are some tips if you want to get the most lobster meat out of your money:

• Buy hard-shell lobsters when possible. They yield more meat than soft-shell.
• Go for larger lobsters around 1.5-2 lbs. The meat yield percentage stays the same as smaller lobsters.
• Consider female lobsters. Females tend to have bigger tails with more meat.
• Ask your fishmonger for culls. These are lobsters missing a claw and sold at a discount. The remaining meat is just as good!
• Carefully crack the knuckles, legs, and body. Don’t leave any meat behind in the smaller crevices.
• Learn how to extract the body meat if desired. It takes some effort but results in a bit more meat.

With some lobster cracking skills, you can maximize every ounce of meat from your lobster dinner!

Estimating Ounces of Meat Per Lobster Serving

When dining out, you’ll often see lobster dishes listed with the meat weight rather than the whole lobster weight. Here’s a guideline for estimating how many ounces to expect:

• 4 oz lobster meat is suitable for an appetizer or side salad.
• 6-8 oz makes a nice single main course serving.
• 10-12 oz can feed two people or provide extra large portions.

For whole lobsters, a 1.25-1.5 lb lobster generally provides about 5-6 oz of meat after shelling. So you’d need two of those lobsters to make two 6 oz main servings.

Getting 12 oz of meat would require purchasing over 3 lbs of whole lobsters. If you don’t want to shell that many yourself, ordering the 12 oz meat already shelled can be convenient.

Keep these serving size estimates in mind when cooking lobster at home or ordering at restaurants. It will help ensure you get properly portioned recipes and the right amount of lobster for your needs.

Does Meat Weight Change After Cooking?

Lobsters are most often prepared by boiling or steaming. You might be wondering if the cooking process changes the amount of meat you end up with.

The good news is that cooking does not significantly alter the meat weight. Lobster meat is already over 80% water before cooking. The small loss of moisture during cooking reduces the weight by only a few percent.

So you can rely on the raw meat weights from whole lobsters to estimate how much cooked meat you’ll have for serving. Just be sure to shell and clean the lobster thoroughly to extract all the usable meat.

Common Questions About Lobster Meat Quantity

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about how much meat you get from lobsters:

How many pounds of live lobsters does it take to make 1 pound of meat?

It takes 4.5-6 lbs of live hard-shell or 5-7 lbs of soft-shell lobsters to produce 1 lb of cooked lobster meat, depending on size.

Which has more meat, 1 two-pound lobster or 2 one-pound lobsters?

The single two-pound lobster will have slightly more meat. The meat yield percentage goes up a little with larger lobsters.

How old is a two-pound lobster?

A two-pound lobster is estimated to be around 10-15 years old. Lobsters reach 1 pound at 5-7 years old and gain 1-1.5 pounds per year until growth slows as they age.

What parts of the lobster are edible?

The tail, claws, knuckles, legs, and body/head contain edible lobster meat. The tail and claws have the largest portions, but the knuckles and legs have quite a bit too.

Get Cracking and Enjoy That Lobster Meat!

Larger hard-shell lobsters will give you the biggest bang for your buck. Or if preparing at home seems daunting, you can always order pre-shelled lobster meat based on desired serving sizes.

Either way, grab some lobster picks and melted butter because a delicious lobster feast awaits! Just be sure to get all that sweet succulent meat out of the shell.