How to Cook Live Lobster on the Grill

Barbecue Grill cooking seafood.

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Buy live lobsters seasonally at grocery stores and fish markets. If you are brave enough to bring home these spiny delicacies, you will need to kill, clean and cook them. Quickly boil the lobsters to kill and partially cook them. When you use the correct techniques, cleaning the lobsters is easy and painless. Once cleaned and seasoned, lobsters can be prepared on the outdoor grill. Grilled lobster is tender, succulent and picks up some great smoky flavor.

Prepare garlic butter. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir the mixture with a wire whisk until the garlic is light brown. Whisk in the lemon zest and parsley. Set the mixture aside.

Prepare your grill for grilling. Ignite charcoals and allow them to reach a very hot heat or turn your propane grill to the "High" heat setting.

Heat a large pot of salted water until a rolling boil is reached. Plunge one of the lobsters, headfirst, into the boiling water. Cook it for five minutes. Remove the lobster from the boiling water and place it immediately into a large bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Repeat this with the second lobster.

Place one of the lobsters on a cutting board. Slice the lobster in half from head to tail with a large, sharp knife. Remove the black vein from the tail and the sand sac located near the head. Remove the greenish tomalley from the body, if desired, or leave it in place if you enjoy eating it. Repeat this with the second lobster.

Brush both of the entire lobsters with butter. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

Place the lobsters, flesh-side down, on the grill. Grill them for five minutes. Turn the lobsters over. Cook them for five more minutes, or until the meat is opaque and pulls away easily from the body.

Serve the lobsters immediately with garlic butter for dipping.