Kendall---

I'd be honored to see you eat lobster.

I used to smash the 7-8# claws with a hammer. Until I learnt
the precise spot to nail them with a cleaver to get them to
open up. Granted, it's a good idea to do this outside, because
it splatters a bit.

I think a lot of people over-cook a monster lobster, mistakenly
thinking it needs a radically longer cooking time. Thus the tough
meat. Any lobster gets rubbery if over-cooked.

Maybe it's the fact that we get them steamed that keeps them
tender. Steam works its wonders quickly and deeply.

Howe'r it is, the claws are just dead tender, and the tail is
firm, but not chewy. The crusher claw is insane--- it comes up
about the size of a cornish game hen or a small meat-loaf.

I do, however, feel some remorse in the realization that the age
of one of those big beasts means that they'd have known me father
as a boy.

That goes away in ten, fifteen seconds.