All sales are final. These lobsters weigh 1.24-1.48-lbs each and are hand-caught off the coast of Maine. Refer to the forum thread for additional deal ideas & discussion. -johnny_miller
This collaborative space allows users to contribute additional information, tips, and insights to enhance the original deal post. Feel free to share your knowledge and help fellow shoppers make informed decisions.
All sales are final. These lobsters weigh 1.24-1.48-lbs each and are hand-caught off the coast of Maine. Refer to the forum thread for additional deal ideas & discussion. -johnny_miller
Honestly this is not a bad deal if you live outside New England. Lobster around CT are hovering between 4.99 - 5.99 per lb. Boston area, is about the same...Maine is obviously the cheapest constantly, seen as low as 3.50 per Lb (in the non-tourist areas)... New York chinatown in Manhattan or Flushing is about 4.99-5.50 per lb live.
Considering the Price includes shipping, I would say this is a deal....
Few Helpful facts below:
1.) Lobster less than 1.25 lbs are usually chick (young) lobster which have very little meat.
2.) Chick lobsters at 1-1.25 lbs are usually soft-shell lobster (you get more shell than meat)
3.) Best (sweetest tasting) lobster are between 1.5-2.5 lbs
4.) Lobsters over 5 lbs are old lobster, Meat is quite tougher...But awesome in pictures
5.) Try to avoid lobsters caught in End of June to Late August (August is the worst month)....This is when lobster molt and most will be soft-shell lobsters (you get more shell than meat)
6.) Female lobsters have roe, Lobster eggs (which my mother loves) is most people are indifferent to.
7.)Both male and female lobsters have Tomalley in the head section...Its a fatty substance that's like a lobsters pancreas and liver....It collects the toxins, Pollution like PCBs, and poison like red-tide....Some people like it, but most find it bitter tasting. (Most either like it or hate it)
8.) Common methods of killing a lobster are:
-Knife between the eyes, splitting the head in half (pretty fast kill)
-Put in freezer for 10 minutes and then directly in boiling water (seen as humane....a.k.a. kill them in a coma)
-Rip it apart alive and move on....(basically how every Chinese or Japanese person cooks/ does it)....If you eaten high-class Sashimi, this is how they do it...same for urchin, blowfish, squid, jellyfish, shrimp....All cut-up live.
9.) Like lots of living creatures, lobsters can still move after being killed...Nerve reflex.
10.) I say about 1 in 10 "scream" when being boiled...Lobsters don't have vocal cord, so its not actual screaming... just use a pot lid. (helpful hint, always use a pot bigger than you think you will need)
11.) Ways to eat
-Boil or steam whole, sometimes with clams and corn for a "seafood/clam bake" Served with butter.
-Boiled whole, Broken down for meat, chilled for seafood salad or lobster rolls
-Broken in pieces, Boiled, de-shelled, used for lobster bisque (keep the water to make the bisque)
-Cut into sections, Par-boil, stir-fry with corn oil, scallions, garlic, ginger, chicken broth, salt, corn starch slurry to make traditional chinese-style.
-Cut into sections, Par-boil, stir-fry with corn oil, garlic, ginger juice, chicken broth, salt, corn starch slurry, 1 egg white, white pepper, chinese cooking wine to make
Chinese/american takeout lobster w/ lobster sauce.
-Par Boil, Cut in Half, seasoned with butter and old-bay, grilled over open flame.
12.) Dead lobsters should not be eaten, unless it was a lobster that was flash-frozen and thus that's why it's dead.
13.) Maine lobsters and Canadian lobsters are the same species...In fact due to over-fishing, and the fact that most lobster like colder waters of the north, most lobsters are Canadian by birth.
14.) Maine lobsters are the best tasting and most meat of all the lobster species. (there are multiple kinds of spiney, rock, and Langostino) Most and easiest to get meat is in the Tail and claws; Knuckles, and body has good but hard to get meat; Legs and tail fins are good to suck on and do have small bits of meat.
15.) Do NOT follow Julia child's recommendation on how to cook lobsters...It will be a over-cooked piece of leather.
Fun fact: Lobsters were once seen as unfit for human consumption, and given to prisoners in Boston during colonial era.
Restaurant owner in Rhode Island - New england region: I'm a wholesale customer of this particular vendor, and used them about 3 weeks ago. Bought a case of "halves"' (1.5 lbs. - 1.75 lbs) per lobster and in my experience these lobsters were superior in quality. The lobsters were juicy and healthy, fresh ingredients are what our restaurant takes pride in.
Value:
From my particular experience this vendor under promises and over delivers. Honestly I wasn't expecting much as we deal with food all day, everyday, but I ordered a case of 24 lobsters and was told to average 37 lbs. per case but was shipped 53 lbs of lobster, no complaints in that regard. I also really like the fact that this sales channel is run by a union of independent lobstermen in maine and supports the locals.
Shipping:
Package was shipped next day and packed in a manner consistent with shipping live food sources, insulated packaging along with cool paks. My particular package was designated for a guaranteed delivery before 11AM next day via UPS. At the time our particular UPS hub was facing a logistics crises (look up warwick, RI UPS hub) they were backlogged 150k packages but it did not affect our delivery.
Pricing:
There appears to be a number of posts suggesting superior pricing of lobster at other venues, though the trend of lobster pricing might be going down, at the time off this writing some of the prices stated ($4.99/lbs) is from what I know, a best case deal from a large box retailer offering a sale and often times with limited inventory... usually sold out when you get there. Also a point of value is to note the quality and weight of the lobster as some posts have mentioned, lobsters at 1lbs-1.25lbs are priced significantly differently from those 1.5lbs + or others.
Wholesale:
There should be a good amount of SD people curious about the difference between the retail and wholesale side so I ought to address this; pricing is not very different at case volume so you folks looking to host a juicy lobster party are getting about the same pricing as wholesalers. Wholesalers are only allowed to purchase "case" quantities so we cannot order just a few, though there is about a 20% difference in price (varies amongst different lobster weight classes and volumes) when it comes to retail customers.
-------------------------
As much as I know, there are no other "direct to retail" sales channels for live lobsters that are as open as this vendor, all other online retailers of live lobster to retail are about double the price. Most importantly however... as I constantly nag my staff... fresh ingredients are of utmost importance, we do not condone masking inferior ingredients/base materials using culinary skills, no matter how good our chefs are, and I found this vendor to have over delivered.
1# lobsters are tiny and the only thing worth eating is the tail which are very small. And 1.25# lobsters are not very much better. I try to get 1.5-2# lobsters which are just right. Shoprite hAS HAD 1.25# lobsters for $6.99 since the beginning of June.
1# lobsters are tiny and the only thing worth eating is the tail which are very small. And 1.25# lobsters are not very much better. I try to get 1.5-2# lobsters which are just right. Shoprite hAS HAD 1.25# lobsters for $6.99 since the beginning of June.
#1.25 to #1.50 is best for me. Anything too big gets too chewy. Claws are the best part.
Had lobsters from shoprite during memorial weekend. Asked the guy to give us the bigger lobster he saw and one was about #2. They were all meaty and very sweet. Starting this Sunday, it's going to be $5.99/lb. Definitely going to pick some up. Had some lobsters this week that I bought from Brooklyn chinatown. It wasn't as good compared to the one from shoprite.
Usually Stew Leonard's had lobster on sale usually around this time but haven't seen it yet this year.
I mean i've thrown hundreds of Lobsters in a boiling pot of water throughout my life... some do scream.
The more humane way, assuming that you ignore the fact that you are eating something alive, is to kill it before throwing it in the water.
This is normally a big chef knife through the head/brain. That part is not something that you will eat anyway.
Lobsters don't really have a centralized brain, just a collection of ganglia, with the one in the head slightly larger than the others. Dunking them in boiling water kills them pretty darn quickly.
Top Comments
Considering the Price includes shipping, I would say this is a deal....
Few Helpful facts below:
1.) Lobster less than 1.25 lbs are usually chick (young) lobster which have very little meat.
2.) Chick lobsters at 1-1.25 lbs are usually soft-shell lobster (you get more shell than meat)
3.) Best (sweetest tasting) lobster are between 1.5-2.5 lbs
4.) Lobsters over 5 lbs are old lobster, Meat is quite tougher...But awesome in pictures
5.) Try to avoid lobsters caught in End of June to Late August (August is the worst month)....This is when lobster molt and most will be soft-shell lobsters (you get more shell than meat)
6.) Female lobsters have roe, Lobster eggs (which my mother loves) is most people are indifferent to.
7.)Both male and female lobsters have Tomalley in the head section...Its a fatty substance that's like a lobsters pancreas and liver....It collects the toxins, Pollution like PCBs, and poison like red-tide....Some people like it, but most find it bitter tasting. (Most either like it or hate it)
8.) Common methods of killing a lobster are:
-Knife between the eyes, splitting the head in half (pretty fast kill)
-Put in freezer for 10 minutes and then directly in boiling water (seen as humane....a.k.a. kill them in a coma)
-Rip it apart alive and move on....(basically how every Chinese or Japanese person cooks/ does it)....If you eaten high-class Sashimi, this is how they do it...same for urchin, blowfish, squid, jellyfish, shrimp....All cut-up live.
9.) Like lots of living creatures, lobsters can still move after being killed...Nerve reflex.
10.) I say about 1 in 10 "scream" when being boiled...Lobsters don't have vocal cord, so its not actual screaming... just use a pot lid. (helpful hint, always use a pot bigger than you think you will need)
11.) Ways to eat
-Boil or steam whole, sometimes with clams and corn for a "seafood/clam bake" Served with butter.
-Boiled whole, Broken down for meat, chilled for seafood salad or lobster rolls
-Broken in pieces, Boiled, de-shelled, used for lobster bisque (keep the water to make the bisque)
-Cut into sections, Par-boil, stir-fry with corn oil, scallions, garlic, ginger, chicken broth, salt, corn starch slurry to make traditional chinese-style.
-Cut into sections, Par-boil, stir-fry with corn oil, garlic, ginger juice, chicken broth, salt, corn starch slurry, 1 egg white, white pepper, chinese cooking wine to make
Chinese/american takeout lobster w/ lobster sauce.
-Par Boil, Cut in Half, seasoned with butter and old-bay, grilled over open flame.
12.) Dead lobsters should not be eaten, unless it was a lobster that was flash-frozen and thus that's why it's dead.
13.) Maine lobsters and Canadian lobsters are the same species...In fact due to over-fishing, and the fact that most lobster like colder waters of the north, most lobsters are Canadian by birth.
14.) Maine lobsters are the best tasting and most meat of all the lobster species. (there are multiple kinds of spiney, rock, and Langostino) Most and easiest to get meat is in the Tail and claws; Knuckles, and body has good but hard to get meat; Legs and tail fins are good to suck on and do have small bits of meat.
15.) Do NOT follow Julia child's recommendation on how to cook lobsters...It will be a over-cooked piece of leather.
Fun fact: Lobsters were once seen as unfit for human consumption, and given to prisoners in Boston during colonial era.
The more humane way, assuming that you ignore the fact that you are eating something alive, is to kill it before throwing it in the water.
This is normally a big chef knife through the head/brain. That part is not something that you will eat anyway.
Value:
From my particular experience this vendor under promises and over delivers. Honestly I wasn't expecting much as we deal with food all day, everyday, but I ordered a case of 24 lobsters and was told to average 37 lbs. per case but was shipped 53 lbs of lobster, no complaints in that regard. I also really like the fact that this sales channel is run by a union of independent lobstermen in maine and supports the locals.
Shipping:
Package was shipped next day and packed in a manner consistent with shipping live food sources, insulated packaging along with cool paks. My particular package was designated for a guaranteed delivery before 11AM next day via UPS. At the time our particular UPS hub was facing a logistics crises (look up warwick, RI UPS hub) they were backlogged 150k packages but it did not affect our delivery.
Pricing:
There appears to be a number of posts suggesting superior pricing of lobster at other venues, though the trend of lobster pricing might be going down, at the time off this writing some of the prices stated ($4.99/lbs) is from what I know, a best case deal from a large box retailer offering a sale and often times with limited inventory... usually sold out when you get there. Also a point of value is to note the quality and weight of the lobster as some posts have mentioned, lobsters at 1lbs-1.25lbs are priced significantly differently from those 1.5lbs + or others.
Wholesale:
There should be a good amount of SD people curious about the difference between the retail and wholesale side so I ought to address this; pricing is not very different at case volume so you folks looking to host a juicy lobster party are getting about the same pricing as wholesalers. Wholesalers are only allowed to purchase "case" quantities so we cannot order just a few, though there is about a 20% difference in price (varies amongst different lobster weight classes and volumes) when it comes to retail customers.
-------------------------
As much as I know, there are no other "direct to retail" sales channels for live lobsters that are as open as this vendor, all other online retailers of live lobster to retail are about double the price. Most importantly however... as I constantly nag my staff... fresh ingredients are of utmost importance, we do not condone masking inferior ingredients/base materials using culinary skills, no matter how good our chefs are, and I found this vendor to have over delivered.
Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!
230 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
This is normally a big chef knife through the head/brain. That part is not something that you will eat anyway.
(almost like throwing away the cherries, fudge, whipped cream and other toppings on ice cream sundaes!)
Had lobsters from shoprite during memorial weekend. Asked the guy to give us the bigger lobster he saw and one was about #2. They were all meaty and very sweet. Starting this Sunday, it's going to be $5.99/lb. Definitely going to pick some up. Had some lobsters this week that I bought from Brooklyn chinatown. It wasn't as good compared to the one from shoprite.
Usually Stew Leonard's had lobster on sale usually around this time but haven't seen it yet this year.
(almost like throwing away the cherries, fudge, whipped cream and other toppings on ice cream sundaes!)
Assuming that you like eating the eggs if the lobster is pregnant? But, I guess that might be a little less strange.
The more humane way, assuming that you ignore the fact that you are eating something alive, is to kill it before throwing it in the water.
This is normally a big chef knife through the head/brain. That part is not something that you will eat anyway.
Lobsters don't really have a centralized brain, just a collection of ganglia, with the one in the head slightly larger than the others. Dunking them in boiling water kills them pretty darn quickly.
(almost like throwing away the cherries, fudge, whipped cream and other toppings on ice cream sundaes!)
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
As I heard, there are 28 billion pounds of lobster they can't export at this moment.
Maybe, but I do eat about 40 at one sitting.....
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Assuming that you like eating the eggs if the lobster is pregnant? But, I guess that might be a little less strange.
https://youtu.be/tBolrlL7jPI?t=8
https://www.mainelobste
Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!