Guide to Lobster Meat

Fresh vs. Frozen Lobster Meat

First, let’s go over the basics of fresh vs. frozen lobster meat. The best way to get fresh lobster meat is to catch or order a live lobster then cook it yourself. Maine Lobster Now does offer live lobsters in a variety of sizes that we can overnight directly to your home. We also offer pre-cooked and prepared fresh lobster meat that is immediately sealed to preserve freshness for when it arrives at your door. Most notably, this is the meat we deliver with our best-selling 6- and 12- pack lobster roll kits, along with a variety of other fresh lobster meat options.

The other alternative is our frozen lobster meat. What makes ours the best available is that it is flash-frozen directly after it is cooked using our proprietary nitrogen freezing tank, and vacuum-sealed to ensure quality and flavor.

Lobster meat in a bowl

TCK and CK Lobster Meat

TCK stands for tail, claw, and knuckle meat. CK stands for Claw and Knuckle meat. Maine Lobster Now offers both options.

It’s all delicious, but what are the actual differences? Tail meat is firmer, while the claw and knuckle meat is more tender. There is also more meat in the tail, but if you aren’t shelling it yourself that isn’t something to worry so much about. That’s really it. For some recipes, you might want firmer meat, like in a soup for instance. In others, like on a salad, you might want the tender claw and knuckle meat. This isn’t critical for many of us, it really just comes down to preference. Maybe you like them both–even better.

That’s not to say that there isn’t some fun and healthy debate about which is better. Though, we don’t think there will ever be any firm conclusion or agreement on that. If you don’t know what you prefer, order some of each or a mixture of them all and find out!

Lobster tail with a stick through them

Other Lobster Meat Resources

If you opt to order a live lobster or lobster tails and shell them yourself for the lump lobster meat, these guides will make the process easy and even fun.

Handling Frozen Lobster Meat

Preparing Frozen Lobster Tails

How to Cook a Live Lobster

How to Pick Meat from a Lobster