Apparently my posting on our lobster/ clam cook went south somewhere along the way.
Cooked a dozen lobsters a couple weeks ago in two batches. Talk about good! Wow! We just slightly undercooked them in boiling salted water. The intent was to flavor, not really smoke them. We split them in half and really beat up on the claws to let some smoke in. These babys averaged 2 1/2 pounds each. Basic prep was the same for both batches.
The first 6 were smoked for 20 minutes using hickory chips (not chunks since I wanted them in and out with max smoke) The second six were done with alder chips. Same process.
After boiling we prepared the shells and put them in the refrigerator. They were, as mentioned above, slightly under cooked. After about 4 hours in the fridge I stuck them in the freezer for half an hour. I wanted them "frosty" but not frozen.
The CS was preheated to about 200 and was pumping a fair amount of smoke. We had the little darlin's on a rack, opened the CS, stuck them in for 20 minutes and pulled them out. Changed the wood and repeated the process for the second batch. Let stand for 1/2 hour. Added drawn, clarified butter with them. Nothing else. I was surprised but the hickory was the near unanimous favorite.
Results? Fantastic. I'd like to take the credit for it but it has to go to the CS. I've tried this before with an offset and they weren't anywhere near as good.
Had a little left when we were done and made a bisque. Not a good choice, imho. Next time I'd make a salad with the leftovers. The cream and smoke didn't seem to mix too well together.
The clams - fresh New England little necks - (Mercenaria mercenaria to you marine biologists out there) went in raw and unopened. For them I used 1 1/2 oz maple wood chunk. We did about 1/2 bushel. Set at 225 for 35 minutes. 25 minutes would have probably been better. They were just a bit over done. But still great. Of 10 people there, only one used butter on them. Everyone else used nothing!
The clams and lobsters were, in a word, a bit messy in terms of liquid spillage. We had to do a good cleaning of the CS afterwards to eliminate the oder. No soap or anything but wiped down three times.
Another note - the clams seemed to draw every fly within 5 miles. They were phoning their little fly friends to come to the party. If anyone has a solution to that poblem, I'd love to hear it.
As I'm sure you're all aware, this type of seafood is very delicate. The CS handled it beautifully.
-Ron
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