Having a plethora of excess lobster meat isn’t exactly a typical problem around our house (though I wish it were) but it has happened on occasion. Oddly, one of the most frequent questions I’ve heard about lobster is, “Can I freeze leftovers?”
As I’ve shared in the past, my Acadian Mother ate lobster as a child when lobster lacked the prestige that we give it today. Wealthy families sent their children to school with the more expensive, imported and English product called Spam (yes, canned ham), while the ‘deprived’ kids of fishermen (there were few, if any, fisherwomen in her community) had to struggle their way through repeated offerings of leftover lobster.
Lobster can be easily frozen and lasts quite well as long as it is protected in the freezer. Protecting it is easy – surround it in some lightly salted water or fish broth. Avoid the water it was cooked in (it should be way too salty), pack your meat in a freezer bag or container and then fill with the liquid. You can make a fresh batch of salt water or, if you were lucky enough to eat mussels recently you can use the liqueur from them.
Do not freeze them in their shells.
If you’re not sure where to start with lobster, check out our full series on how to buy, cook, eat and use lobster here. You may also be interested in our much shorter crab series which freezes the meat in a similar way.