Things You'll Need
Dish tub
Ice
Gallon-size freezer bags
Freezing cooked lobster meat remains the best way to store this pricey shellfish when unable to eat it all at one meal or when preserving a recent purchase for a special occasion dinner at another time. Whether freezing in the shell or out, proper storage of lobster meat helps ensure freshness and prevents freezer burn from damaging this delicacy. Before packing the lobster away, consider placing a freezer safe thermometer in your freezer for at least an hour to check that it's in good running condition and holding steady at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 1
Prepare an ice bath in a dish tub or pot large enough to contain the full lobster. Layer the bottom of the container with ice and fill the rest with cold water from the tap. Keep the tub in the sink and turn faucet on so a slow stream of cold water runs into the bath.
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Step 2
Submerge the whole cooked lobster in the ice bath for 15 to 20 minutes. If the whole lobster isn't necessary for presentation and the cook prefers to conserve space in the freezer, separate the claws and tail from the body.
Step 3
Remove the lobster from the bath and pat the shell dry with a cloth or paper towel. At this time, if the cook prefers only to freeze the meat, pick the tail and claw meat from the shell. The meat of lobster body may also be collected, but remove the "tomalley," the green-colored liver and pancreas, and discard before freezing.
Step 4
Place the whole or cleaned lobster meat into a self-sealing gallon-size freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible before sealing, either by pressing the bag with your hands or using a vacuum sealer. An alternate method is to insert a straw into the bag, close the bag around it and suck the air out through the straw before sealing.
Step 5
Wrap a second freezer bag around the first and seal in the same manor to prevent freezer burn. Place the lobster in the freezer. The University of Maine recommends eating lobster within three to six months of freezing.
Warning
Freeze cooked lobster as soon as possible to avoid spoilage.
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