40

The most common way of killing a lobster is to put it into boiling water, however we can read on Wikipedia page that it is one of the methods which cause pain and distress.

The killing methods most likely to cause pain and distress are:

  • Placing crustaceans directly into boiling water

  • Placing crustaceans in slowly heated water to the boiling point

  • Placing marine crustaceans in fresh water

  • ...

Secondly, we can read here about the following study:

Dan Ward, then a grad student at the University of New Hampshire, once hooked an electrode up to a Lobster heart for me and boiled it. The heart beat for 1 minute 53 seconds.

So the question is, what is the most humane way to kill a lobster?

Community
  • 1
kenorb
  • 874
  • 2
  • 11
  • 24
  • 6
    meta question: https://cooking.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/3430/is-this-cooking-adjacent-question-on-topic Yes, this is clearly cooking-related, but not everything cooking-related is within the scope of this site, so it is worth considering. – Cascabel Dec 14 '17 at 16:49
  • Related: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/56059/lobster-death-freezer-vs-alcohol – Cindy Dec 15 '17 at 13:56
  • 3
    Heart beating doesn't imply to be able to feel pain. – Jean-Baptiste Yunès Dec 15 '17 at 14:00
  • The conclusion from the meta question (possibly with skewed voting) is that this question is on-topic because it's part of the cooking process *and answers can be supported with science*, not just speculation. Note the post notice, in particular that insufficiently supported answers really may be removed. – Cascabel Dec 15 '17 at 16:35

6 Answers6

32

Put the lobster in the freezer for about 30 minutes, it will basically be in a sleeping/coma state when you take it out. Then cut into its head lengthwise to destroy its brain before it wakes up.

Some people say that killing the lobster in a less stressful way gives the meat a better texture/flavor. But personally I have not been able to tell any difference.

EDIT: Another solution, though not a clean or popular method for lobster; If you destroy its brain faster than the speed pain travels through nerves, it would be dead before the pain reaches the brain. Could be accomplished by shooting it in the brain with a gun... a common method used to humanely kill many things.

Netduke
  • 1,084
  • 7
  • 13
  • 14
    It is generally accepted with the low order brain system in a lobster, it does not feel pain at least in the sense that high vertebrates do, but it does respond to stimuli. @Netduke's method is generally considered the method to allow the quickest and least chance of feeling. Do note though that allowing to chill for too long may result in a tougher product. Even 5 minutes in an ice water bath may be enough to put it into the sluggish "sleep" state though. It may well still move, but movement and nerve reflexes in muscles does not really equate to still feeling or pain. – dlb Dec 14 '17 at 16:55
  • 32
    @dlb Can you please provide a reference to scientific research backing up your claim? Lots of horrible things are "generally accepted" by the humanity. – undercat Dec 15 '17 at 03:07
  • @undercat Not the same as lobsters, but [fish do not feel pain in the way humans do](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130808123719.htm) – jkd Dec 15 '17 at 05:32
  • 2
    @jakekimdsΨ Thanks, from the linked article, "at a legal and moral level, the recently published doubts regarding the awareness of pain in fish **do not** release anybody from their responsibility of having to justify all uses of fishes in a socially acceptable way and to minimise any form of stress and damage to the fish when interacting with it." – undercat Dec 15 '17 at 06:30
  • 4
    I used this method before I put the halves on a covered BBQ. I can tell you it is quite unnerving to hear two half lobsters trying to get out of there. Obviously the lobster's body is capable of movement for quite some time after it must, by all reason, be truly dead. – oerkelens Dec 15 '17 at 09:28
  • 1
    @oerkelens spoooooooky!!!!!! – Stephie Dec 15 '17 at 09:56
  • 1
    Decapod crustaceans (like the lobster) is in some settings the defined boundary for which invertebrates feel pain. They are, for instance, [legally protected](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_in_crustaceans#Legislation) from research in some countries (as in, you have to go through a process of applications in order to do experiments on them), which wouldn't be there if there wasn't at least _some_ genuine worry that they feel pain. – Arthur Dec 15 '17 at 10:15
  • @undercat - Whew! Well, as long as fish are used in a manner that's acceptable to society, no need to worry. ;) And as long as we're careful not to damage fish while turning them into paella. – Obie 2.0 Dec 15 '17 at 10:18
  • 2
    It seems likely to me that simply ramming a knife through the Lobsters brain is likely to minimise pain, whilst putting it in a freezer seems like a process likely to cause lasting discomfort. The first of the two halves of this process, therefore, seems to me likely to make things worse not better. – Jack Aidley Dec 15 '17 at 13:13
  • 1
    In recipe of Lloyd Burgess from Masterchef for Lobster Fricassee, he said: "Live lobsters can be humanely killed by putting them in a plastic bag in the freezer for about two hours. They slowly lose consciousness and die.". [Source: BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4097798.stm). – kenorb Dec 15 '17 at 14:56
  • 2
    I'm surprised shooting lobsters in the head is not more common. Shooting fish and gators with a gun seems pretty common these days. – Netduke Dec 15 '17 at 16:35
  • Could I provide links to scientific research supporting generally accepted ideas, sure. But a cooking forum is really not the place to debate dogma and scientific definitions of high/low order brain functions and philosophical definitions of what constitutes pain, or if an animal that cannot produce endorphin can feel pain. They cannot feel pain as we do but we are incapable of knowing what they actually feel. The spectrum is full of extremists that would be satisfied by no answer, but the OP asked a cooking related question that calls for a best accepted answer. – dlb Dec 15 '17 at 18:05
  • 3
    This doesn't take into account the size of the lobsters brain. It's a tiny collection of cells, and you'd really have to remove the head to accurately destroy it. 1mm in the wrong direction with a knife and you would miss it completely. It's not a giant mass like we have. It's more like a few grains of sand. – JPhi1618 Dec 15 '17 at 21:57
13

I've not tried it personally, but I've heard good things about using clove oil to anesthetize the lobster (incidentally, the same link that the second quote in the question is pulled from).

The above link details a series of experiments done by Dave Arnold and Nils Noren on 7 different methods of killing lobsters, including the freezing mentioned by Netduke's answer. The article concludes that (when it comes to flavor at least)

Anesthesia [is] (still the best)

I can't speak to the objective difference in humaneness of killing method between this and something like freezing, but I suspect that isn't a question that's answerable.

Morgan Thrapp
  • 230
  • 1
  • 6
3

Less of a practical suggestion but suffocation with a noble gas would not hurt a human and is being considered as a way to kill livestock. For a lobster this should work the same.

https://vimeo.com/83750163 video shows around the 30mins the effects on a human and 40mins for use in farms.

PStag
  • 251
  • 1
  • 5
  • From what I heard, suffocation is a pretty nasty way to go? And even for noble gasses it's unclear whether they are making the victims unconscious quickly enough to be "painless". - There are general health warnings on He cylinders. – Stephie Dec 15 '17 at 11:06
  • 5
    @Stephie it's not a case of how quickly they die, the body cannot detect an absence of oxygen, only the presence of carbon dioxide. If you were to be suffocated with a pillow then the lungs would be turn all the oxygen in the body into carbon dioxide trapped in the lungs, if you were able to breath but not take in oxygen then there would be very little carbon dioxide in your lungs. Watch the video. – PStag Dec 15 '17 at 11:32
  • 8
    @PStag, there is an oxygen drive to human breathing, called the hypoxic drive. It exists, but is very weak compared to the hypercarbic, or CO2 elimination drive. It is part of what makes carbon monoxide poisoning so nasty. CO binds to blood cells a lot like free oxygen, and it kills that drive. – Paul TIKI Dec 15 '17 at 14:37
  • 3
    [Nitrogen works just as well](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation#Animal_slaughter) and is much easier to get hold of – Chris H Dec 15 '17 at 16:27
  • 1
    Carbon monoxide from your local car tail pipe may work too... – Netduke Dec 15 '17 at 16:42
  • 2
    I was about to recommend this! Either NO2 or CO. You just basically fall asleep. Lots of dentists in the 50's died from nitrous masks. And people die in their sleep from CO from fires all the time. If I started a livestock plant, I would use nitrogen on the cows. This might not be the most practical thing for lobsters or cows, but that's probably why I'm not a farmer or fisherman. – Chloe Dec 15 '17 at 19:47
  • 4
    Carbon monoxide works by binding to hemoglobin and converting it to carboxyhemoglobin. Lobsters do not have hemoglobin, they have hemocyanin, which has different dissociation curves and allosteric properties. It has the same or slightly weaker affinity for CO compared to O2. I would not recommend doing this unless you _want_ to cause significant suffering. The same issue applies to the weak human hypoxic drive. This will not be the same for the arthropod superfamily. **Please do not say "for a lobster this should work the same" after comparing it to a distant cousin on the phylogenetic tree!** – forest Dec 17 '17 at 06:43
  • @Chloe With CO you do not "basically fall asleep". You are in incredible pain, extremely nauseous, and confused and disoriented. Sometimes you even get severe amnesia and delusions. It is one of the worst and most painful ways to die. – forest Dec 17 '17 at 06:47
  • @forest No you aren't! https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/25/nyregion/mother-and-son-1-die-of-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-in-car-during-snowstorm.html Why did they basically fall asleep? Why didn't they scream out in pain? I call BS on your statements! – Chloe Dec 17 '17 at 18:18
  • 1
    @Chloe A quick Google can answer this for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_poisoning `Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion.[1] Large exposures can result in loss of consciousness, arrhythmias, seizures, or death.[1][2]`. CO poisoning is not a peaceful way to go. It's not as bad as CO2 where it literally acidifies your brain, but it's still very unpleasant, nothing like NO2 where you just pass out. Not realizing you're poisoned != not suffering. It causes confusion. – forest Dec 18 '17 at 00:51
  • 2
    See also http://www.newhealthadvisor.com/Carbon-Monoxide-Suicide.html, which explains the myths behind it being a "painless" way to die. Pure, 100% CO _may_ knock you out before you feel much, but that is true with nearly any poison, even something as horrific as sarin. Perhaps also see https://www.quora.com/Is-death-by-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-inside-a-car-painful for a first hand account `ALMOST dying from carbon monoxide poisoning from a broken furnace was extremely painful. The intensity of the piercing headache seemed to increase by the minute and made my migraines seem like holidays.` – forest Dec 18 '17 at 01:04
3

I do not know objectively if this 'causes the least pain and distress', but just putting the point of the knife through the back skull and cutting down the front is fast.

Demonstrated in e.g. this YouTube video

0

Martha Stewart once demonstrated a method of placing vodka in the water, and then putting the lobsters in. I guess they got drunk and then were pleasantly anesthetized when they died!

Catija
  • 16,300
  • 8
  • 54
  • 86
Terry
  • 1
-1

I know Mom loves lobster and she swears by Steaming lobster. It was also the preferred method when I worked at a very popular Restaurant Chain.

Mom would start with warm water in the bottom of a pot. Then she put the lobster in on a rack to hold it clear of the water. Then she increased the heat, Pot uncovered, and timed it for something like 10 minutes after water came to a boil (putting the lid on the pot). She claimed the slower rise in heat knocked it out. All I know is the the lobster usually stopped moving when the first bubble formed and it never thrashed violently.

I can't be sure when exactly it died and whether it felt pain, but it seemed way better than just dropping it in boiling water.

Paul TIKI
  • 389
  • 2
  • 9
  • 4
    I'd note only that "[p]lacing crustaceans in slowly heated water to the boiling point" is listed as one of the methods most likely to cause pain and distress in the OP's link and this method seems no different. – Jack Aidley Dec 15 '17 at 13:11
  • like I mentioned, the little beastie did not thrash or move about, soooo. I have no other objective measurements to use other that personal experience. – Paul TIKI Dec 15 '17 at 14:32
  • 5
    This seems like a good way too. At first it didn't sound good, but the lobster isn't touching the water. Think how relaxing and tired a steam room makes you? [People have died in steam rooms for staying too long](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/08/sauna-championship-russian-dead). – Chloe Dec 15 '17 at 19:56