Q&A for How to Get a Lobster Tail out of Its Shell

The hard red "meat" you see in some lobsters is actually roe, and tells you it's a female lobster. In other words, you are eating lobster caviar. It's delicious.

Every few years lobsters shed their shell and grow a new one. It can take up to a year for the shell to harden, and the meat will often remain slightly stuck to the new shell until then. Also, tails are usually frozen, and freezing can cause them to stick as well.

The instructions are for removing the meat from a cooked shell. If you're going to boil or steam it, it should be kept in the shell to keep in the flavor. However, if you've removed the shell, it would be better to cut up the tail into cubes and sauté it up in a fry pan with some butter.

Insert a knife to remove the tail from the shell.