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Stuffed Lobster
Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Mary Catherine Muir

The yield from a lobster can vary greatly by season. If you average out the year, you’ll get about 20% of the shell-on weight…so a 1- pound lobster will yield about 3 ¼ ounces of meat.

Summer Maine lobsters, which have soft shells, yield less. You can see this as soon as you crack it open—there’s lots of space between the shell and the meat. You might get abut 3 ounces from a one-pounder. The meat of winter (hard-shelled) lobsters really fills the shell—you could get as much as 3.75 ounces.

For more information see our collection of Lobster Recipes and watch our video on How to Prepare Lobster.