Lobster claws - how do you remove the tendon?

[therippa]

Here's a question I hope you guys have an answer to, because for once google doesn't.

When I make lobster I remove the meat from the shell so I can sous vide it with butter. I know how to crack the claw with the back of a knife (cleaver in my case) to get the meat out, but there is always the tendon from the part of the claw that moves stuck in the meat, and I have to dig at it with a knife to get it out. Is there some trick to easily and cleanly removing this that I'm missing?

[Chris Amirault]

Hm. I don't have that problem, so it makes me ask: for how long are you cooking the lobsters?

[therippa]

I blanch them for about 2 minutes before removing the meat to vacuum seal...maybe I should try removing it after the come out of the water bath?

[Chris Amirault]

That's pretty speedy, so the tendons are still adhering to the muscle. Can't up the time or else you lose your sous vide advantages. How about pulling the tendon after SV instead of before?

[Prawncrackers]

If you want to remove the hard tendons/cartilage from the inside of lobster claw cleanly, do not crack it first. Gently twist the moveable upper claw shell to loosen it and carefully pull it away from the main part of the claw. If you do it right the main tendon should pull away along with the little piece of shell, in fact you should see a second smaller tendon too. You should have a filigree of meat that was inside the upper point of the claw, now you can crack the main part of the shell and release the claw meat in one whole fleshy piece. If you crack the claw first it's more diffcult to pull the tendons out cleanly with this method.

I've not seen any other way of removing the tendons without cutting the meat. Hope that makes sense.

[therippa]

If you want to remove the hard tendons/cartilage from the inside of lobster claw cleanly, do not crack it first. Gently twist the moveable upper claw shell to loosen it and carefully pull it away from the main part of the claw. If you do it right the main tendon should pull away along with the little piece of shell, in fact you should see a second smaller tendon too. You should have a filigree of meat that was inside the upper point of the claw, now you can crack the main part of the shell and release the claw meat in one whole fleshy piece. If you crack the claw first it's more diffcult to pull the tendons out cleanly with this method.

I've not seen any other way of removing the tendons without cutting the meat. Hope that makes sense.

Yeah, that's what I was doing originally...I guess I was getting a little overzealous with removing the upper claw

[Prawncrackers]

It definitely rewards the gentle touch and takes a little practise. I prepared ten lobsters recently over New Year and Chinese New Year, so out of twenty claws I probably only managed to do half cleanly.