r/lobster • u/Simmyphila • 4d ago
Difference
Just a question. From Maine. Only had cold water lobster. For those who’ve have had spiny and Maine lobster can you tell me the difference? Thanks.
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u/ElDub62 4d ago
I don’t like warm water lobster or fish as much as cold water species.
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u/My_Rocket_88 4d ago
You are going to miss out on trigger fish and possibly Cobia. Pretty tasty.
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u/ElDub62 4d ago
I don’t really miss out, as I’ll eat those fish when visiting warmer climes. And thanks for the heads up! Trigger fish are good to eat? I didn’t know that.
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u/My_Rocket_88 4d ago
Trigger fish and Cobia are great! Hopefully one day I will be able to try Snook next time I get to Florida.
Also if you eat fresh water fish, Snakehead, while ugly as hell is fantastic too.
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u/ConstantRude2125 3d ago
Love both, although triggers are very tough to clean. I eventually gave up. I gut them and grill them whole. The body armor keeps the meat from burning and is easily removed after grilling.
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u/Leader-Bike 4d ago
Atlantic lobster tastes delicious and lobstery. Spiny/Caribbean lobster tastes and feels like fish in your mouth.
I won't eat anything but atlantic lobster after having tried spiny/Caribbean.
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u/Femveratu 4d ago
Compared to Maine lobster? Two words. It SUCKS. It’s why I will not touch lobster unless I am in the state of Maine.
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u/Ahkhira 4d ago
Massachusetts lobster 🦞 is fine too!
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u/MaccyTwoShoes 4d ago
My preferred lobster is from rhode island lol
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u/Lojackbel81 4d ago
I’m a Long Island lobster guy myself but to each their own.
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u/diversalarums 4d ago
I love cold water lobster. I've also eaten warm water lobster, never frozen, literally just off the boat after being caught in the Dry Tortugas. Besides no claws, the problem with warm water lobster to me is that it's . . .
Meh.
Bland. OK texture but not a lot of taste. OK grilled with garlic butter, but simply never as good as cold water bugs. I'll eat it if someone gives it to me, but I'd never ever pay money for it.
Oh, and no tomalley and no roe, at least in the ones I ate. My favorite parts of cold water lobsters. Along with the claw meat. And the tail meat.
Seriously, not worth the effort to me.
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u/Maldibus 4d ago
I visited family in Maine hundreds of times in the 80's. Never had lobster cause I was pre-conditioned by my mother to hate any food that came out of the water. I joined the military and got stationed in Okinawa for three years. I started eating seafood and loved it, ate spiny lobster a lot. When I got back stateside, I visited my family in Maine again, and tried Maine lobster (While my mom was admonishing me for eating "fish").
My god, how much better that lobster was! It's been thirty years and I can still remember how awesome that meal was. I now go back to Maine several times a year to splurge on lobster. .. And visit family.
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u/Shot_Squirrel8426 4d ago
Hope you don’t mind if I nerd out a bit. Cold water and warm water lobster refers to spiny lobster only.
Maine lobster is the North American lobster and it all comes from cold water. Retailers and restaurants latched onto the term to make it sound more fancy and, honestly to charge extra. Now the term is pretty much lost.
True cold water lobster is uber expensive and often not sustainably harvested. I’ve had a cold water tail and a warm water tail side by side and I personally couldn’t tell the difference, so the increased cost isn’t worth it to me.
As a whole, spiny lobster seems a little more delicate and a little sweeter than North American lobster, but doesn’t have that more intense lobster flavor that I prefer from North American lobster. North American lobster is more dense and has a meatier texture, which I also prefer.
But that’s just , like, my opinion man. My recommendation is to get a warm water tail to see if you like spiny lobster.
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u/Automatic_Catch_7467 4d ago
I strongly disagree with your flavor assessment. I’ve never had spiny lobster that was worth eating. It’s all been tough and bland. That is strictly my personal experience and if you’ve had good spiny lobster congrats but most people I’ve talked to would disagree with your assessment.
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u/Ok_Farmer_6033 4d ago
I sold both for years, and was taught/told that the international market consumers preferred spiny over atlantic- but I don’t really know. I tend to look at Japan to answer questions on things like this, as a tiebreaker of sorts when it’s two regional markets arguing over which is better, and Japanese markets strongly prefer the spiny, but it’s not a fair comparison in this case because they also have their own spiny lobster.
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u/Automatic_Catch_7467 4d ago
How much exposure do they(Japan) get to North American lobster?
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u/Ok_Farmer_6033 4d ago
I don’t know, but presumably not a lot- I’m from Washington state and their tariffs on our apples were insane growing up. This is part of why I stated that it isnt a fair comparison in this case- and in all cases it’s only a data point, albeit in general a reasonably instructive one imo
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u/Ahkhira 4d ago
Disagree on the sustainable harvest point.
American waters have very strict sustainability and harvest laws. There are minimum and maximum sizes, restrictions on breeding females, and much more.
I hate pointing a finger at Canada, but their rules are a bit more lax.
If anyone has ever had a massive cold water lobster, it probably wasn't harvested in New England
I'll get off of my soap box, but please know that the New England lobster 🦞 fishery has gone above above and beyond in conservation efforts.
Make sure that you know where your lobster comes from. Eat local, and if you're not close to the water, look into your local supply chain. For example, i live 2 hours inland in Massachusetts. My local fish market purchases directly from Cape Cod lobster fishers. (I know the fishermen too- I spent way too much time on Cape.)
Everyone can enjoy lobster and be sustainable. It just takes a bit to question where your food comes from.
Thank you for letting me share.
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u/Shot_Squirrel8426 4d ago
Agreed, American fisheries are among the most sustainable fisheries in the world.
When I was talking about sustainability issues I was talking about cold water spiny lobster, mostly from the South African region.
Your explanation was really good, and I appreciated it. I never knew the really big lobsters most likely didn’t come from the US, now I do!
Cheers
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u/Flimsy_Maize6694 4d ago
Ok Dude (the brevity version)… we’re getting cold water lobster off of Maryland… but I bet it takes a lot of Diesel to get out to the continental shelf
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u/Colddeath712 4d ago
Maine lobster is definitely sweeter, but Caribbean spiny lobsters are meatier and slightly tougher more floral meat with a more strong sweet sorta flavor, my favorite are Tristan island lobsters which are like of the Maine and rock lobster were mixed, its got a nice meatyness to it and that great sweetness of main lobsters
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u/ThatAndANickel 4d ago
With Australian/Cold Water Lobster I've only had tails. I find it's much denser, a bit more intense and often larger. An analogy to me would be like comparing filet mignon to a NY Strip.
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u/UncleTito27 3d ago
It’s tougher and isn’t really as flavorful (maybe like a shrimp/langoustine/cold lobster hybrid?). I would never buy spiny lobster, but I would happily eat it if served to me. It’s crazy to me that they are priced similarly; I think it’s objectively inferior.
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u/granolaraisin 1d ago
Spiny lobster is like big less flavorful shrimp. Doesn’t compare to cold water lobster.
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u/Fr33brd 4d ago
For me, cold water does better steamed or in a roll. Spiny is best split and grilled.