Lobster help
 

Help! Traveling to Maine end of September. We live in Ohio and wish to bring back some lobsters and clams. We probably will not be able to cook them immediately after arriving home, so should I just buy the lobster frozen and what about clams? Also, any recommendations on places to purchase from. We are staying around Pemaquid Point but am willing to travel.

Thanks!

Before going I'd check into some of the "purchase on line" options. I'm not sure that you can't do better just ordering them to be flown to you fresh when you want them, than having to deal with the frozen and keep frozen problems. Or places there may offer a shipping program. I don't really see the point in bringing back FROZEN lobsters.

Fresh Lobster is sooooo much better next to frozen lobster. Look around while you are in Maine, check out the places you eat at, ask the locals, and I am sure you will get some good ideas and recommendations on who to use for shipping fresh lobster.

Most fish stores, lobster places who sell wholesale and retail will ship them home for you, packing them so they will be good eating when you get home!
Whether in Maine or Ma. you will find several options. Freezing lobsters is not a great idea- try and cook them after arrigving back in Ohio.

I'm also reminded of friends who brought back those big cartons of fresh lobsters from Maine for a big party here in Florida. While she was shopping for the party at a local market here she saw they had live Maine lobsters in the tank for LESS than they had paid in Maine -- and they wouldn't have had to schlepp them back.

I like that story, Neopolitan.
Having lived in Ohio some years ago, that isn't a state where one can get lobsters readily!

Gee, they used to have live main lobster tanks at at least two markets I frequented in Dayton years ago.

I also remember moving to Florida and driving back to Dayton a year later and hosting a big party there. I packed 12 pounds of fresh gulf shrimp from Ft. Myers in ice and drove them up with me. I paid something like $4.99 a pound then, plus the ice and the cost of cooler. When I got there I was at the big Woody's supermarket near Dayton and they had a special -- fresh Gulf of Mexico shrimp at $3.99 a pound!

I must have lived in the wrong towns (Akron, Columbus and Cincinnati) I admit it was in the 60's and 70's though!

The problem with shipping them fresh, is the shipping costs just as much as the lobster does! Quite an expensive meal.

Capecodshanty, I was in Dayton in the 60's and 70's too -- moved in 1974. Hard to imagine that Dayton was more progressive than Columbus or Cincinnati. But admittedly these were large, upscale supermarkets.

When relatives of ours want fresh lobsters (in california and texas) they have been happy with either mainelobsterdirect.com or pemaquidlobsterco-op.com. Legal seafoods also ships , but if you want fresh Maine seafood, the two named above are in Maine and my relatives have been happy with their products. Instead of bringing them back with you, you can order them to arrive when you want them. Since you are going to be in Pemaquid area, perhaps you can check that one out while visiting.

I think, since you still have time before your trip, you should consider shopping locally in Ohio and checking prices there for live lobsters (and clams). There have been big advances in shipping live seafood lately, and you may find that buying them alive and locally is still cheaper than bringing/shipping them from Maine, as trinity pointed out.

Don't freeze 'em!

Twice a year I call the seafood manager at Costco and order two 5 pound lobsters. They arrive fresh , alive and delicious. They're then baked stuffed with shrimp and scallops.Try your local Costco or similar store.

My parents have a place on Pemaquid Point and I have done this many times flying home. I buy them at Shaw's (5 minutes) early on the morning I'm leaving. They pack them in a small carry-on cooler for a small fee and will guarantee the hardshells for 48 hours. However,I would check with the airline due to new security regulations.

I think with the new "no liquids" regulation, you have to remove the lobsters from their cartons and squeeze them until they "spit" out all the water they're holding.


Only kidding.

Oh Neopolitan you have no idea how much I needed to laugh right now !! Picturing security squeezing h2o out of lobsters lungs !!

Funny Neo!

Wouldn't it be great if you squeezed a lobster and got lemon and butter?

Once in Main while at a small park near the the water, what appeared to be a grandmother sat down for a rest and allowed her grandson to play with dinner. He was holding and running the live lobster on the ground while making race car noises!

I wonder if he grew up to be John Andretti: C:)

http://cgi.ebay.com/2000-43-John-And...ayphotohosting

Thanks all for your suggestions. We are driving back and as Escargot suggested, we are close to Pemaquid Coop so we will probably purchase from them. Neopolitan - son is at BGSU (saw one of your other posts) and he will be home the weekend we return, he's a big seafood lover, and his b-day is the following week, why I asked how to bring home. Cafeteria food - ya know.

Whatever you do DONT put them in the bathtub with fresh water!!!

Trinity84....you could make some cute little orange and brown pompoms for the lobsters to hold in their claws for a festive plate! :D

Eating lobster away from MA or ME has been an entirely different experience for me than eating it there. They always seem to be full of water. One of our hotel chefs told me a couple years ago that those which have been away from their food source for some time (those packaged and shipped) begin to use their own muscle for food, resulting in a lobster that comes out of the pot just full of water. Can anyone confirm that? Joan?