Before you bring the lobsters at your restaurants or kitchen home, here are few simple guides to buy wholesale lobster meat so you can get desired seafood:
1. Buy lively and healthy lobsters
When the lobsters still alive then there are three signs which can tell you that the lobsters in healthy conditions:
- When the sellers pull them out of the tanks, they should flap and raise its tail and claws.
- If the claws are drop instead then this is a sign that the lobster in weak condition.
- If the lobster tail does not re-curl when you push the tail straight, it is better to move to the next lobster.
To be able to tell which the freshest lobster is in the tanks then there are certain things you can pay attention:
- The lobster claw bands appear clean and do not crack. More importantly, check the lobster shell, if there is any damage or cracked then avoid buying it.
- Look for the two long antennae, if the antennae are chewed or missing then it is a sign that the lobster is already in the tanks for too long.
- Lobsters which already being held in the storage for so long will eventually lose some weight and the claw meat appear shrink.
3. Buy hard shell lobsters
When buying from wholesale lobster meat suppliers, they particularly will offer you some hard shell and soft shell lobsters. You need to check whether the lobsters you want to buy is the hard one. We recommend you select hard shell lobsters since they are easy to be delivered due to the stronger and hardier shell thus these criteria will prevent any damages during the long trip.
Moreover, hard shell lobsters usually have better texture and more meat than the softer one. To check if the lobsters are the harder one then you can do these things:
- Press or squeeze the shell of the lobsters, softer shell will yield when pressured while the harder one will stay firm.
- Usually the softer shell lobsters have lower price than the harder one, however it does not mean necessarily becomes a bargain in the end.
4. Buy female or male lobsters
Actually there is no different in taste between the female and male lobsters. Only female lobsters will have roe in their body which is many people consider it to be delicacy while mature male lobsters have bigger claws size. In addition, female lobsters have more meat in their tail. If you want to differentiate female or male lobsters then turn the lobsters on each back. Look for the first pair of appendages or swimmerets where the tail and body meet. Female lobsters legs are softer and more delicate while male lobster legs are stiff and thick.
5. Buy according to the size of lobsters
Bigger lobsters do not mean they are the highest in quality. Most of lobsters which you can find in the market usually have average size from less than the legal size to around 20 pounds. If you want to use the lobsters for the main ingredient then you can purchase lobsters about 1 to 2 pounds each person. Live lobsters sold by individual weight. The lobsters themselves grow like forever, however it needs 6 to 8 years to reach desired marketable size.
You can buy lobsters year round because they are available in frozen lobsters as well. However, if you ask best time to buy lobsters especially Maine lobsters then we suggest you purchase them before the summer tourist come or after the tourist leave. It is because in the summer, the catch of the lobsters sold by the suppliers are mostly the soft shell one and harder lobsters are very difficult to find. Another season best buy to get lobsters is during fall season.
Those are several tips to buy from wholesale lobster meat distributors. If you want to eat lobster but you do not have enough budget because we understand that average price of lobsters is quite expensive then you can order for culls instead. What are culls? Culls are those lobsters that missing one of their claws and thus they are less expensive. In fact they are best to be purchased when you want to cook lobster meat recipe. For extra note, lobsters with no claws are called bullet or pistol and the missing claws are mostly due to fight. But, lobsters can re-grow their claws so there is no big deal for them.
To tell whether you pay for the meat of the lobsters then when you select lobsters product from wholesale lobster meat, check the length of the carapace. The bigger the lobster’s carapace are then usually they have more meat while the smaller that part is then it is usually offer less meat. Do not forget to ask where the sellers caught the lobsters, are they are wild caught or farmed lobsters. This is important because it will affect the sustainability of the lobsters as well.
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