i thought PETA was against all eating of animals? Why would they invite this man out there? Unless...it was a trap to zap him with his own machine! DUN DUN DUNNNNNN

"A company in the United Kingdom is about to lift the lid on a device that zaps lobster with electricity to kill them, and the inventor said Wednesday his humane alternative to boiling is about to give the entire industry a jolt."

Hasn't this been done before? or is it just familiar because it's been in the press lately?

oi_piss_me_off: i thought PETA was against all eating of animals?



I guess lobsters are not cute enough.

Lobsters are giant cockroaches of the sea. Not really an animal, now is it?

People eating tasty animals...

Aside from the headline completely being wrong and PETA not killing any lobster, I suppose it would be a bit funny.

gay

crustacean tesla coils.

Darth_Lukecash: Lobsters are giant cockroaches of the sea. Not really an animal, now is it?

QFT. they taste good sure but I never understood why people get so worked up about lobster. they are unnecessarily overpriced like farking what and they taste pretty average (there are better and tastier sea creatures out there.)

Lumber Jack Off: Darth_Lukecash: Lobsters are giant cockroaches of the sea. Not really an animal, now is it?

QFT. they taste good sure but I never understood why people get so worked up about lobster. they are unnecessarily overpriced like farking what and they taste pretty average (there are better and tastier sea creatures out there.)

I've never been a fan of sea food, but I suppose it's like diamonds. Lots of marketing funds to try to put on the image that it's some expensive tradition.

I am just not a big fan of lobster.

Crab is where it's at.

oi_piss_me_off: i thought PETA was against all eating of animals? Why would they invite this man out there? Unless...it was a trap to zap him with his own machine! DUN DUN DUNNNNNN

If they actually adopted a "Hey, we're going to stop being militant assholes about what you eat, and just wish you'd adopt humane killing methods" stance, I'd stop wishing Rape By Rabid Bears on them.

Don't tase me bro!



/Yes, I know he's Mr. Krabs, no Mr. Lobs

Part of it is supply and demand. When the settlers first came to America, lobsters were so plentiful, that they washed up on shore in piles as high as two feet. It was a poor man's food, the rich would not touch them.

They also were much bigger than they are now. 44 pounds.

Eventually it became a rich mans food, fishermen went at it full swing and as a result we almost hunted them into extinction within 20 years. [citation] (new window)

Unobtanium: /Yes, I know he's Mr. Krabs, no Mr. Lobs



Larry would like to have a word with you.

PINCHY!

Somaticasual: Hasn't this been done before? or is it just familiar because it's been in the press lately?

Its been in the press before. Oddly enough about 2 years ago or so I heard a talk from a biochemist that works in PEI at the lobster centre talking about different issues with lobster, he's a big proponent of humane treatment, etc. This was one of the devices he talked about, as well as the larger commercial versions being made in PEI mentioned in the article. He mostly works on Lobster blight though.

Oh yeah and those "catch your own lobster" claw-type arcade games are evil. Stressing the shiat out of lobster before they are eaten (the tanks themselves are more stressful than the traditional ones apparently, more crowded) isn't good for the taste.

crab66: I am just not a big fan of lobster.

Crab is where it's at.

Never would've guessed.

We zap animals before slaughtering them for food, am I to understand that if we zap animals prior to skinning their pelts, PETA would "look the other way" on that, too?

Also, is lobster really the most practical way to feed hundreds of hungry supporters?

Furthermore, this whole story is awesome.

Why not just throw a hairdryer in the pot?

$3,500??
The damn things can boil.

Darth_Lukecash:
Part of it is supply and demand. When the settlers first came to America, lobsters were so plentiful, that they washed up on shore in piles as high as two feet. It was a poor man's food, the rich would not touch them.

My dad remembers being ashamed of his lobster sandwiches at school (in Shelburne, Nova Scotia), because it pegged him as the son of a poor fisherman, instead of the rich townies who could afford baloney.

Also, why don't people just stick a knife in the lobster's head? I'm pretty sure that would destroy what passes for their brain, without damaging the meat. Boiling them alive is awful.

I am SO having sushi for lunch !

Lobster is okay in a pinch, but blue crab is what heaven tastes like.

During colonial times, up until about 1840 lobsters were considered a "poor man's" food because they would just wash up on the shores. Eventually, as the fishing industries grew a demand for lobsters started to increase and this "poor man's chicken" became a rich man's delight.

/who gives a fark how they are killed/cooked- they're just big sea bugs. Tasty, tasty, sea bugs.

What ever happens, food is a result of animal death, and as long as it's tasty and safe to eat, then I have no care how it was killed.

I found a picture of a human(e) lobster. They have a device to kill him?

Holy shiat. Is there a follow-up picture post-lobster-eating-baby?

Did anybody else notice that this thing is prohibitively expensive? This is crazy. Boiling your lobster, or stabbing it between the eyes with a sharp kitchen knife is FREE.

FTA:
"They cost about US$3,500 and sit in a kitchen like a microwave."
"...an industrial version of the CrustaStun system is currently under development ... These custom-built models can cost about $100,000 or more."

cantsleep: $3,500??
The damn things can boil.

That's for the industrial restaurant version. I'm sure all you need at home is a an extension cord and a pot of cold water.

entropic_existence: Oh yeah and those "catch your own lobster" claw-type arcade games are evil. Stressing the shiat out of lobster before they are eaten (the tanks themselves are more stressful than the traditional ones apparently, more crowded) isn't good for the taste.

You had me going...I didn't think you'd end that sentence with "taste".

Wonder if this affects the flavor.

Darth_Lukecash: cantsleep: $3,500??
The damn things can boil.

That's for the industrial restaurant version. I'm sure all you need at home is a an extension cord and a pot of cold water.

No. The industrial version is 100k.

Looks something like this:



Yes, that is an array of tasers.

The pain makes them taste better. Lobsters tossed live into boiling water release myriad delicious chemicals directly into their claws as the scalding water forces its way under their hard shell. The secret is to keep the water at JUST the boiling point - not a "roiling boil" else they die to quickly. Ideally, eight to ten seconds of intense, thrashing, screaming lobster agony is all you need to add that extra zing of lobstery goodness.
Plus, of course, it's fun to watch.

/fark PETA

already got the home model...


/hot like tazered crustacean

tatum: The pain makes them taste better. Lobsters tossed live into boiling water release myriad delicious chemicals directly into their claws as the scalding water forces its way under their hard shell. The secret is to keep the water at JUST the boiling point - not a "roiling boil" else they die to quickly. Ideally, eight to ten seconds of intense, thrashing, screaming lobster agony is all you need to add that extra zing of lobstery goodness.
Plus, of course, it's fun to watch.

/fark PETA

I want to party with you, cowboy.

dorothyatforty: Holy shiat. Is there a follow-up picture post-lobster-eating-baby?

Lobsters don't eat people, lobsters rape people

FTA:But he said the animal rights movement in Europe and the United States is gaining traction by protesting the traditional method of killing a lobster in boiling water, prior to serving it with melted lemon or garlic butter.

Mmm...melted lemon.

tbyte: Aside from the headline completely being wrong and PETA not killing any lobster, I suppose it would be a bit funny.

FTFA: "Unfortunately, the courier service lost the two machines and the animal rights people had to look the other way as volunteers killed hundreds of lobster in boiling water for hungry supporters of the resource centre."

So am I reading that wrong or did you not read the article?

Go with the classics. "Did I say three wishes, shoot, FOUR wishesh."

AgentOrangeDrink: tbyte: Aside from the headline completely being wrong and PETA not killing any lobster, I suppose it would be a bit funny.

FTFA: "Unfortunately, the courier service lost the two machines and the animal rights people had to look the other way as volunteers killed hundreds of lobster in boiling water for hungry supporters of the resource centre."

So am I reading that wrong or did you not read the article?

I'm reading it as the volunteers for the Child and Family Resource Centre's event boiled the lobsters, not PETA themselves. But I could be wrong.

/I usually am

Electrically stunned lobster is still alive when you put it in the pot anyway. You think they're gonna shoot the lobbies up with morphine so they don't feel the sudden and lingering pain from a high power frying? It doesn't destroy the lobster so much as simply torture it to death and rupture a great deal of the very things that you BOIL them to keep from harming.

The way you kill cold water fish in a fish tank is to dump a gout of hot water directly over them, its called thermal shock and it works so goddamned fast you'd think they were standing in front of a shop wall in Hiroshima. Lobsters don't have fat, they don't have any delay of the 212° shock instantly vaporizing the chemicals used as neurotransmitters. They die FASTER in the hot water than from any kind of electric current short of slapping them up in place of a fuse on a service pole.

We boil lobsters to kill them because it works.
If you're not gonna toss em in the hot pot then don't eat em.

Shakespeare's Monkey: Go with the classics. "Did I say three wishes, shoot, FOUR wishesh."

*sigh*

Only reminds me how much I miss The Far Side.

Who the hell would eat that much lobster at home to need a $3500 lobster zapper next to the microwave?

$3500 and it only kills one at a time?

So it's like the electric chair for lobsters. How necessary!