Inspired by the CHOW TIPS video on salt roasted prawns, we took advantage of a sale at our local grocery sale to purchase 7 lobsters and develop this technique.

Roasting the lobster claws in salt produces meat that is tender and perfectly seasoned with a crisp bite and no chewiness. This simple method requires little to no preparation, but caution is required in handling the heated salt.

Though it’s possible to roast the tail in salt, we found that it was better suited a short sauté in butter or other cooking methods.

  • Yield: 2 lobster claws
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Total: 80 minutes
  • Active: 10 minutes at the beginning, 10 minutes at the end

Ingredients (7)

  • 1.25-1.5 pound lobster, as lively as possible
  • 8-16 pounds rock salt, depending on the size of your roasting vessel
  • Inexpensive ovensafe vessel large enough to hold salt and lobster claws
  • A smaller inexpensive, ovensafe vessel to contain the salt for heating
  • Optional: woody herbs such as rosemary or thyme
  • Optional: whole peppercorns
  • Optional: 1 lemon wedge

Instructions

  1. Preheat an oven to 525-550 degrees.
  2. Optional: combine herbs and peppercorns with salt.
  3. Pour 80% of the salt into the smaller vessel and the remaining salt into the larger vessel. Place both vessels in the oven for 45 minutes or until the salt temperature reaches approximately 400-450 degrees.
  4. Twist the tail and claws off the lobster. Optional: dispatch the lobster before doing so.
  5. Be care to brush away any tamale from the anterior portion of tail section as it contains enzymes that can degrade the quality of the tail meat. Reserve any eggs and the the tail for another recipe—we suggest sautéing it in butter. Reserve thorax and head section for other use.
  6. Cautiously remove both vessels from the oven. Place claws on top of heated salt in larger vessel, and then pour the heated salt from the smaller vessel into the larger vessel, burying the claws completely.
  7. Return larger vessel to the oven and bake at 525 degrees for 20 minutes.
  8. Remove larger vessel from oven and carefully spoon heated salt from the larger vessel into the smaller vessel to reveal claws. Remove claws with tongs and place on a rack or plate to cool for 2 minutes.
  9. Spoon enough rock salt on an ovensafe plate to make a bed for the claws. Nestle claws on top of salt and optionally garnish with herbs and a lemon wedge.