When you cook a live lobster is it true that they screech?

Answer 1

Yes, sometimes they screech, but the screeching is just steam being released in the way a boiling kettle whistles. The lobster doesn't actually audibly scream. Whether it is screaming in its head is another question. I can just see the lobster's thoughts now... "WOW THATS HOT!"

Answer 2

Oh, my goodness, no!

Like all invertebrates they have very poorly-developed central nervous systems and marine biologiest believe they do not feel pain. They certainly do not scream or screech.

But why take a chance that they feel pain? Many people kill the lobster by severing the spinal cord (inserting a knife behind the lobster's head) moments before putting them in the boiling water. That way they are dead when cooked, yet still proven fresh and safe to eat.

Take this from a Newfoundlander living in New Brunswick who has cooked or been present for the cooking of hundreds of lobsters.

No lobster screeching :)

Answer 3

Do lobsters feel pain when you cook them?

The Lobster Institute has received many inquiries about whether boiling lobsters is humane. Being concerned about this important question, researchers conducted experiments and studied the lobster's nervous system. The nervous system of a lobster is very simple – not unlike that of an insect. Neither insects nor lobsters have brains. For an organism to perceive pain it must have a more complex nervous system. Neurophysiologists tell us that lobsters, like insects, do not process pain.

Why do lobsters twitch as they cook?

Researchers found that a few seconds after a lobster is dropped in boiling water it will begin to twitch its tail. The tail movement, which continues for approximately one minute, is part of a reflex action found in lobsters and crayfish (but not crabs). Known as the "escape response", it is a reflex action to any sudden stimulus - a reaction that was first identified by George Johnson in 1924. The lobster is reacting to an external factor, such as an elevated water temperature.

How can you minimize the movement of a lobster when its placed in a cooking pot?

There are several methods purported to "put lobsters to sleep" so they don't twitch their tails when cooked. These include hypnotizing, slow heating, and chilling/icing. Experiments at the University of Maine determined that:

- Boiling in the traditional manner causes a lobster to begin activity in 5-10 seconds and continue for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes.
- Hypnotizing the lobster by holding its head down and rubbing it nearly doubles the length of time it moves.
- Slow heating in salt water from room temperature results in increased activity when the water reaches a temperature of around 30°C/86°F. This activity lasts 2-3 minutes and then subsides.
- Pot steaming seems to reduce the activity of lobsters. However, lobsters at the top of the steam rack may still be alive after 20 minutes when large numbers of lobsters are being cooked at once unless the steam is retained in the pot.
- Chilling/icing before cooking, by placing the lobster on ice or in a freezer (but not freezing it) delays the onset of activity about 30 seconds and reduces the duration of movement to about 20 seconds.

Researchers believe the best way to minimize the lobster's movement time is to chill/ice it before dropping it in water that has come to a rolling boil. Hypnotizing, slow heating, and steaming increase the length and duration of activity during cooking.

I hope you find this helpful, it is the most informative thing I could find and was a credited source.

Answer 4

No, it is not. Any sounds you hear are simply water or air. No screeching, trust me.

BTW, you can't cook a dead lobster because once they die, they become poisonous and the meat is bad. Which is why they have to be put in the pot alive.

You can cook them the way Fiona describes, (see below), but it will take forever! Bring the water to a rolling boil, cook a 1 and 1/2 lb lobster for 12 minutes. Delicious!

Answer 5

Well now that we got past the knee jerk reaction.....lobsters don't scream when you cook them. The sound comes from air escaping from their carapace (shells) as they cook. You will get much the same sound from non-animal food stuffs when you cook them. Even potatos will make a similar sound in some forms of cooking!
Lobsters actually have none of the required physiological equipment to vocalize any sounds at all.
Much as we try to assign human reactions to sea creatures, it is only true if you are Pamela Anderson!:)

Answer 6

To people who have responded above:
Oh please, "It's so sad..." Do you eat hamburgers? They slaughter cows alive. Hang them upside down and slit their throats to drain them of their blood. Veal is from a baby cow kept in a small box whose feet never touch the ground. Its all the same thing.

P.S. The "screeching" is not the sound from the lobsters vocal chords yelling out in pain. Their brains are so small, they most likely don't experience real pain. The sound you hear is the air escaping from the shell.

Answer 7

I've heard that but I think it's a myth. It's probably just the water, like when a teapot "screeches" it's not actually the teapot screeching it's the water.
But it's not very nice that they cook them alive. Although if you kill them first they can be poisonous. There's no way to win!

Answer 8

that's what i hear, a close friend told me once he try to cook one but the lobster started to screech a lot and he couldn't take it, he didn't finish cooking the lobster. and never try again.
poor thing

Answer 9

Yes its true. Thats why you have to put them in head first. If you put them in tail first then you will hear the screeching. Isnt that so so sad!?!? Makes me mad. My dad gets lobsters sent in from Maine. I leave the house when he makes them cause I want nothing to do with them. Im a vegan so that stuff makes me so so mad!!!

Answer 10

Hi,

the way to cook lobsters and crabs is to put them into cold water and slowly bring them to the boil. they are cold blooded creatures so the warming water basically makes them go to sleep. I was broght up with this method, never any screetching or anything else nastly. no spiking with long skewers or dropping in boiling water. Both strike me as incredibly cruel, and yes I have heard horror stories!
So put in cold water and heat gently till you get to boiling point. works a treat!

Good luck!