How to Eat Lobster Legs

The lobster's legs are tasty, but often overlooked.

Eating a lobster is not as much work as it seems to intimidated novices, but it is certainly more complicated than a cheeseburger. Most diners content themselves with extracting the tail and claw meat, and the fat portions from the "arms," or knuckle meat. However, there are several other portions of sweet lobster hiding in less obvious portions of the shell. One of those less obvious places is the small walking legs, which contain a few morsels of very sweet meat.

Things You'll Need

• Cooked lobster
• Lobster pick
• Napkins
• Paring knife

Instructions

1. Strip the legs away from the lobster's underside.

2. Twist or bend the legs at each joint, to separate the segments. If you do it just right, sometimes the meat will slide out of one of the segments as you separate them.

3. Place a leg segment in your mouth, holding the far end firmly between your thumb and forefinger. Bite down on the soft shell to force the meat forward to the opening. Pull forward slightly with your hand and bite again, forcing the meat further out. Repeat, until you can easily suck out the morsel of meat.

4. Use your long thin lobster pick, if you have one, to push the meat out of each segment. This is less messy, and will call for fewer napkins when you've finished eating.

5. Cut the legs in half horizontally, if you wish, with a small paring knife. Use the knife tip to pick out the small morsels of lobster for eating.

6. Repeat your favorite technique, until all the legs have been emptied.

Tips & Warnings

• Inside the lobster's shell, where the legs attach, are several more pockets of sweet flesh separated by thin layers of shell-like membrane. These are also worth pursuing.

References

• Maine Lobster Council: Tips for Eating Maine Lobster
• Pool Lobster: How to Crack and Eat Lobster
• Gulf of Maine Research Institute: How to Eat Lobster and Other Items to Discuss over Lobster