How To Grill Lobster Tails

For some reason I have always been intimidated by seafood. I love eating it but have never really cooked it much. Salmon is fairly common on our table and we have shrimp from time to time but beyond that I don’t cook a lot of seafood. But now that I know how to grill lobster tails that is sure to change.

Most people consider lobster to be an extravagant food that they would only order at a restaurant if someone else is picking up the tab. Lobster, however, is very easy to cook at home and hopefully once you learn how to grill lobster tails you will splurge and enjoy it once or twice a year at home.

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I got an 8 pack of lobster tails from Luke’s Lobster (along with a lobster roll kit but that is for another post). These were about 4 oz tails so not huge but big enough to make a good meal.

If you were serving these with some nice steaks you could probably get away with serving one or two lobster tails per person. I grilled up these lobster tails for lunch and between me, my wife, and my mom we made quick work of them.

Let me pause for a minute and talk about Luke’s Lobster. They are primarily a lobster roll restaurant but they also have their own seafood company. By owning their own seafood company they can buy lobsters directly from the fisherman, process them, and get them straight to their restaurants or to consumers. This cuts out a few different middlemen and gives them much more control of the whole process. Luke’s is only MSC certified sustainable, and SQF Level 3 food safety certified seafood company in North America.

By controlling the whole supply chain and working directly with the lobstermen and ensuring fresh, sustainably harvested lobster. Once the lobsters are harvested they are quickly steamed, packed, and flash frozen to ensure quality.

OK, enough about Luke’s Lobster. Let’s talk about how to grill lobster tails…

Prepping the Lobster Tails

There are basically two different ways to grill lobster tails. There is a third but it is a bit more work than the other two so I won’t… ok, I will mention it. For the “fancy” method you need to carefully split the top of the shell leaving the tail intact, gently separate the meat from the shell, lift the meat up through the cut in the shell and rest it on top of the shell. This is how you will usually see lobster tails prepared in restaurants.

OK, enough of that hard work. The other two ways to prep the lobster tails are very easy. You can either butterfly the tails or split them. If you want to split the tails just cut them down the middle. To prevent the tails from curling up while cooking it is good to stick a skewer (included when you order from Luke’s)

I opted to butterfly the lobster tails. To do this insert the knife through the shell right in front of the tails (pictured below) and split the lobster tails down the middle leaving the tail intact.

Once you have the tail split just fold the lobster tail open to expose the flesh. They should sit nice and flat. Not all of mine were perfect but I am OK without perfect.

BTW, did I tell you to get some butter melted? If you haven’t done this yet go ahead and do that. 2 sticks should do the job but if you want more to dip in at the table go ahead and throw a third in there. I squeezed a lemon into the butter and added a couple cloves of finely chopped garlic as well.

Give the lobster tails a quick sprinkle of salt and take the them and the butter out to the grill.

How to Grill Lobster Tails

You can use whatever grill you want to grill your lobster tails. I used my SNS Grills Kettle Grill to cook mine but a standard Weber Kettle or a PK Grill will work great. Heck, pack the lobster tails in a cooler and take them camping or to the park and cook them on a portable grill. If all you have is a gas grill that will work fine as well. Just set it to medium high or so.

For a charcoal grill light about 3/4 of a chimney of charcoal, let it ash over, and dump it into the grill. You want about a 400 degree grill.

Brush some butter on the meat of the lobster tails and place them on the grill over direct heat meat side down.

Did I mention the grilled lemons? Well, cut a couple lemons in half and put them on the grill too. Grilling the lemons gives them a very nice sweetness that goes great with the lobster. You want to grill them until they take on a bit of color but be careful not to burn them.

Grill the lobster tails meat side down for about two minutes. You want the meat to just start taking on some color. Flip the tails over, baste the meat with the butter, and finish cooking shell side down for another couple minutes.

After two minutes or so the shells should start turning red. If you get a few black marks on the shell it isn’t a big deal. The temperature of the meat should be around 135-140. Much higher than that the meat will get tough. A good instant read thermometer like the Thermopop is great for smaller foods like lobster tails. If the lobster meat isn’t up to 135 yet just leave the tails on for another minute or so. Lobster is better a bit undercooked than overcooked so if you don’t have a thermometer you are looking for the meat to start to turn opaque.

Remove the lobster tails from the heat and douse with some more butter. Serve with the grilled lemons and again, more butter:

All in all it takes about 10 minutes to prep and grill the lobster tails. If you are serving the lobster with some steaks this can be done while the steaks are resting. Or since many of you are working from home just fire up the grill for a quick lunch.

Grilled lobster is very easy and as long as you keep the meat under 140 degrees you should be fine. If your fire is too hot move the lobster tails to a cooler part of the grill. If it isn’t hot enough just leave the lobster on a bit longer.

Once you know how to grill a lobster hopefully you will start making lobster tails at home. Grilled lobster is a delicious and decadent treat most anyone can cook at home. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out!