Lobster Roll Test Kitchen . . . sort of

[Peter the eater]

There's been some good Society discussions about lobsters and lobster rolls, like this one and this one.

There are also some strong opinions about what a lobster roll should be from the Society cooks, chefs, foodies, Yankees, New Englanders, Old Englanders, and the rest.

I'm not in search of perfection but I'm looking forward to lunch tomorrow. I'll be joined by the energetic and enterprising Calipoutine in my home kitchen for some lobster roll making and tasting. Randi's been touring around my province for a week and has graciously accepted my invitation to participate in a casual and purely non-scientific taste test.

I think we'll have five or six entries, most will be made from the 1 kg guy above looking defiant amongst the buns and mayonnaise, but we'll also have Subway's and McDonald's offerings. Some questions remain. Garlic? Lettuce? Celery?

Edited July 15, 2008 by Peter the eater (log)

[Holly Moore]

Garlic, no. Celery, no. Lettuce, no. Mayonnaise, maybe.

A Maine lobster roll is purity - the lobster is the star. Just a light touch of mayonnaise OR melted butter to compliment the chilled lobster meat.

A proper Maine lobster roll is also a contrast of temperature and textures - both supplied by the buttered and grilled bun. At the very least the inside of the bun should be buttered and grilled (caramelized). If you share my fanaticism you will also slice off the outer, crust of the bun and butter and toast that - approximating a New England style hot dog bun.

Many lobster sandwiches, including the tasty hot lobster drenched in butter and served on a bun that people in Connecticut call a lobster roll, claim lobster roll status. The only true lobster roll is as described above.

Enjoy.

[chezcherie]

wait...mcdonalds has LOBSTER ROLLS???!!

[Chris Amirault]

Holly's not fanatical. He's just right.

You want to be brave and daring, grind extra pepper on it.

[Peter the eater]

wait...mcdonalds has LOBSTER ROLLS???!!

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Officially it's called a McLobster.

[chezcherie]

this canNOT be true. and SUBWAY?

[Pierogi]

this canNOT be true. and SUBWAY?

I so completely and totally live in the wrong state/country.

The most exotic thing my Micky D's have is a chipotle Angus burger that really sucks. And Subway, let's not even talk about them.

And I *used* to think California was the promised land.

[CaliPoutine]

this canNOT be true. and SUBWAY?

I so completely and totally live in the wrong state/country.

The most exotic thing my Micky D's have is a chipotle Angus burger that really sucks. And Subway, let's not even talk about them.

And I *used* to think California was the promised land.

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I wouldnt get too excited about missing the lobster sandwich from Subway. My small town in Ontario has a Subway and they're sold there too. We're probably 1000 miles from the ocean. I asked the manager about the sandwich. She said the lobster is shipped in frozen and then mixed with 2oz of mayo. IMHO, it looks disgusting. It costs 8.49 for a 6" and 17.00 for a 12".

I havent tried the McDonald's version, but I've heard that it isnt bad.

[Chris Amirault]

Some quick pointers if you go with the butter-sauteed version.

Be careful not to reheat the lobster in the butter too much. You can toughen it up very easily if it's in there too long.

Get good butter: it makes a big difference. Salt it yourself, perhaps a bit more than you think, to bring out that lobster sweetness.

You can get a bit of Cain's mayo for a dollop, and if you're feeling all experimental, whisk in a bit of lemon juice before dolloping.

Holly's roll idea is a very good one. That textural contrast is crucial, and the browning on the bun also brings out the lobster sweetness.

Keep the lobster chunks nice and big. Think one per bite, and remember that people love to see those chunks.

Vegetables are a sign that you're trying to pull one over on your guests with "fillah."

[CaliPoutine]

You can get a bit of Cain's mayo for a dollop, and if you're feeling all experimental, whisk in a bit of lemon juice before dolloping.

I've never heard of Cain's. Is it a New England product? I've never seen it in Canada.

[Lindacakes]

Holly forgot to mention that quantity of lobster counts. It is important that there is enough lobster stuffed inside the bun that it would take a major effort to keep it in the bun. It needs to overflow.

[Katie Meadow]

There's a lobster roll, and then there's a lobster salad sandwich served on a roll (or bun) that's often wrongly billed as a lobster roll. The lobster salad sandwich has smaller pieces of lobster and standard salad ingredients such as celery and mayo. The classic lobster roll, in my mind, means a grilled buttered roll or bun and unadulterated large hunks of lobster.

The lobster salad sandwich with mayo can be good, if it isn't done with too much mayo. If the roll is lightly toasted and lightly buttered it's even better. Then the lobster salad can be fairly cold and makes a nice contrast.

The lobster roll that is the minimalist thing of my dreams is a toasted roll with a slather of sweet butter and large hunks of lobster sprinkled modestly with sea salt. In this case, I prefer my lobster to be room temp or cool, but not really cold. The perfect lobster roll should not be dripping with butter. It goes without saying that the lobster should be as fresh as possible and not overcooked. I have a very hard time believing that a McLobster would be worth eating.

I'm probably going against the grain here, but any small improvement in the quality of the bread/bun/roll is a good thing. It should still be a simple white-flour affair, but I am of the opinion that the average supermarket hot dog and hamburger buns are just plain awful. The best accompaniments to a lobster roll are home-made potato chips and a light lemony slaw.

[WiscoNole]

At the very least the inside of the bun should be buttered and grilled (caramelized).

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Bread does not caramelize.

[johnnyd]

All this talk of lobster rolls is making me squirm.

This is Busboy's lobster (on a burger) roll from the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, ME

I have to say I prefer the burger roll myself these days - sacrilege, I know.

I made this one is during my foodblog '07,

[tino27]

At the very least the inside of the bun should be buttered and grilled (caramelized).

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Bread does not caramelize.

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So what exactly does a toaster do?

clicky clicky

[slkinsey]

It "maillardizes" the bread.

As Wolke points out in What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained, "strictly speaking, caramelizing means the heat-induced browning of a food that contains sugars, but no proteins." When sugars or starches are heated up in the presence of proteins or amino acids, you get Maillard reactions, not caramelization reactions. Some free sugars are liberated as a result of some Maillard reactions, and can then undergo true caramelization, but unless you add sugar this is not likely to be a huge component of the reaction product. When proteins are nearby, the majority of the reaction is Maillard.

[kbjesq]

I've never heard of Cain's.  Is it a New England product?  I've never seen it in Canada.

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OMG, Randi, if you and Peter eat lobster rolls with Cain's mayo on a toasted, split-top bun, I'm going to cry.

As has been correctly stated, a lobster roll should have lobster, mayo, S & P. Nothing else. Bun should be split-top, buttered on the outside only, then toasted on both sides. The filling should be chilled, and have a mix of large and smaller chunks of lobster, and contain both tail and claw meat.

Anything else is a lobster salad sandwich, not a lobster roll.

I am sooooooo jealous!

[johnnyd]

I agree with toasted with butter - I mean, who wouldn't - but roll or bun, mayo or butter... or this:

Tomalley spread on one side,

still makes an awesome lobster "roll".

I'll start shaving fennel on my next one just to irritate everybody.

[Holly Moore]

At the very least the inside of the bun should be buttered and grilled (caramelized).

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Bread does not caramelize.

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It is a fast food term, first taught to me by McDonald's in the late 60's when I worked new products. They use the terminology to refer to the heat from the grill caramelizing or browning the sliced surface of the bun on a grill.

They and I may be McWrong in the annoyingly scrutinizing eyes of those cursed with accurate scientific knowledge, but over time "caramelize" and "caramelization" have become generally accepted usage within the fast food industry.

[CaliPoutine]

I've never heard of Cain's.  Is it a New England product?  I've never seen it in Canada.

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OMG, Randi, if you and Peter eat lobster rolls with Cain's mayo on a toasted, split-top bun, I'm going to cry.

As has been correctly stated, a lobster roll should have lobster, mayo, S & P. Nothing else. Bun should be split-top, buttered on the outside only, then toasted on both sides. The filling should be chilled, and have a mix of large and smaller chunks of lobster, and contain both tail and claw meat.

Anything else is a lobster salad sandwich, not a lobster roll.

I am sooooooo jealous!

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Don't cry..... We didnt have Cain's and according to everyone here, we might not have even had a lobster roll. We did have lobster mixed with mayo and celery on a split top toasted bun. We also had hunks of lobster on a toasted bun with garlic and butter.

Peter has the pics and will do the writeup.

[Peter the eater]

Randi and Robin arrived for lunch and we had five lobster sandwiches to taste and compare:

a. Subway's Lobster sandwich ($8.49 plus tax)

b. McDonald's McLobster sandwich ($5.99 plus tax)

and then three made by me for my guests, all with fresh chunky lobster meat cooked this morning and involving a white top-split hot dog bun:

c. toasted bun, meat mixed with melted garlic butter

d. toasted bun, meat mixed with Hellman's mayonnaise with naked lettuce (iceberg)

e. fresh bun, meat mixed with melted garlic butter, Hellman's mayonnaise and finely chopped celery

The Subway product was a 6" Italian white bread sandwich with mayo and lettuce, plus the lobster meat. I asked the "sandwich artist" for nutritional info but he looked alarmed and suggested the internet. He did show me the bag containing frozen lobster meat from the back room, and he changed his gloves twice while putting it together in front of me! The Subway website is very annoying and I don't think I can get the info unless I fill out a dozen fields to register - no thanks.

McDonald's also had no data to give me, but they proudly said it's 100% Atlantic Canadian lobster meat. I get to McDonald's maybe two or three times a year and it's usually a pleasant experience, very clean with a sense of corporate pride.

The 0.913 kg lobster this morning, after 17 minutes of steam:

McDonald's on the left, Subway on the right:

Contestant c:

Contestant d:

Contestant e:

Uh-oh, in all the excitement that comes with good company and good food - and my sweet 3 yr old daughter puking blueberries on the kitchen floor - I didn't get a shot.

And the results . . .

The numbers are ranks, 1 is best and 5 is worst. Randi abstained from the Subway product, and I now understand why.

It's no surprise that freshly steamed lobster meat that literally grew up across the street is going to jerk one out of the park every time when compared to fast food. I'm prepared to say that the Subway sandwich was twice as bad as the McDonald's product and this is further compounded by the price point. I'm not saying either was actually unpleasant to eat, just that I'll stick to the other items that they do well.

What did I learn? Freezing, shipping, processing and packaging lobster meat the way these chains do is still not enough to remove all virtue. If I were at an event catered with these products I think I'd still go in and sample. If nothing else, I'd be reminded of how transcendental lobster can be when done right.

[Peter the eater]

Oops, forgot to post the obligatory Peter the Eater and Calipoutine team photo:

[Peter the eater]

I'll start shaving fennel on my next one just to irritate everybody.   

Hey . . . I'd eat that!

[adey73]

Peter are you now or have you ever been Robin Williams?

[Peter the eater]

Peter are you now or have you ever been Robin Williams?  

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Shuzbot! I used to get Gabriel Byrne, much dishier.