Lobster bisque from frozen lobster

[Hendrik]

Is it possible to make a decent lobster bisque from frozen (cooked) lobsters?

I've made bisque from langoustines, but never from lobster as the fresh living ones are either hard to find or very expensive. During the holiday season most supermarkets do sell frozen lobsters and I was wondering if the shells from these will still give enough flavor to make a good soup.

[ermintrude]

Yes - The meat in cooked frozen lobsters I've found tends to be a bit mushy or rubbery but the shells are great for lobster bisque. And in that context the meat is not so bad for garnish if sliced.

[Bjs229]

Cooked shells are tougher to extract flavor from. You will need more bodies than if using raw to get a nice rich stock.I agree the meat sometimes being off as well. I would just heat the meat up to temp into the finished soup at the end.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Bjs229 (log)

[ScottyBoy]

I never get the frozen meat but buy the frozen uncooked shells from my purveyor and are great for saving money making bisque. Grab once fresh lobster though for meat to finish the plates soup with.

[janeer]

agree: you could use frozen uncooked shells for the stock (wouldn't keep them too long) but fresh lobster, cooking at least one or two in the shell and adding that broth and shells to the stock and the tender meat for garnish. I am not a fan of buying cooked lobster meat.

[Hendrik]

Thanks guys. Will try to see if I can find some uncooked lobster shells somewhere.

[ScottyBoy]

Speak of the devil. A lot more economical to make stock with @ 3.25/lb

I'll then buy a whole one for the meat, dice it up at the bottom of the bowl and let the hot bisque cook it.