Smoked Lobster Tails
Smoked lobster tails are about as easy as high-end cuisine comes. Slice the shells, lift the meat up and over the shell, sprinkle them with lemon pepper, and let the tails sit proud on the smoker while you baste them with garlic herb butter. Tender, smokey, buttery, and done in under an hour.
See how it’s done
Author’s Notes
Don’t Go Big on the Lobster
Make sure you buy medium lobster tails as well. Don’t go big on the lobster. More often than not bigger lobster tails equals tougher meat. 6 to 8 ounces is ideal.
Hope you enjoy! This is a perfect seafood dinner for any seafood lover.
Lemon pepper is just an awesome all around seafood seasoning so it easily earns its place on these smoked lobster tails.
Miguel
How Long to Smoke Lobster Tails at 250
Medium tails at 250 will take anywhere under an hour, but that’s a guess until you insert a thermometer. Pull them at 145 in the center of the meat. Size of the tails changes the timeline more than anything. Six ounce lobster tails will finish way before a tray of 8 ounce lobster tails, they do not all come off at the same time.
Running your cook lower at 225 will give you more time to work with to baste and a little more smoke flavor. Running hotter at 275 or 300 will get you to temp quicker and shorten the window where lobster goes from perfect to rubber bands. There’s a happy middle at 250 that I like to stay at.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Notes |
|---|---|
| Lobster tails | Four medium tails, each tail 6 to 8 ounces. I cooked seven when filming this so you can easily scale up if cooking for more people. |
| Lemon pepper seasoning | This is the only dry seasoning on the lobster meat. |
| Unsalted butter | 8 ounces of butter, which is equal to two sticks. It’s easier to believe you need too much butter than realize you need two more sticks. |
| Garlic, lemon paste, Italian seasoning | Minced garlic, lemon paste, and Italian seasoning all go into the butter. About four cloves of garlic, one teaspoon of lemon paste, and a couple shakes of Italian seasoning. |
| Fresh lemon | Optional squeeze of fresh lemon when serving. |
Find the exact amounts in the recipe card below.
Steps for These Smoked Lobster Tails
Here’s the cook. I keep these recipe cards simple so all the temperatures and step by step instructions are in the card down below.
- I sliced down through the top of each lobster shell with kitchen shears cutting from the opening of the tail towards the shell. Be careful. The shells are sharp and so are the shears.
- Lift the meat up out of the shell, leave it attached at the tail and lay it across the shell so it sits up on top like a crown.
- Sprinkle lobster meat with lemon pepper seasoning. That’s it for prep.
- Pull out your smoker temp so it’s at temp when the lobster is ready to cook. While the smoker heats up melt butter in a small saucepan with minced garlic, lemon paste, and Italian seasoning. Let that simmer over low heat while the lobster tails cook to mingle all those flavors together.
- Place lobster tails on the smoker and baste with the garlic herb butter every 10 minutes or so. Pull them when they reach 145 degrees F internal temp in the thickest part of the lobster meat.
- Once they reach temp let them rest for a few minutes on the counter, then serve with extra butter for dipping and a squeeze of lemon on top.
Buy Medium Sized Lobster Tails
Steer clear of the big boys. The biggest tails come off lobsters that are bigger and older than you want, and those tails have coarser meat before you even cook them. Six to 8 ounce lobster tails are perfect, and if you have to choose between buying four jumbo tails and seven medium tails with your lobster budget, get the seven.
Frozen tails work great, most grocery stores sell frozen tails. Thaw them overnight in the fridge, not under running water. A quick thaw floods the meat with water and it steams on the smoker instead of absorbing smoke.
Basting = Recipe
Pulling the tails every 10 minutes to baste is not busy work. Meat is sitting up on the shell doing nothing but resting. Since it’s elevated and resting on the shell it has no layer of shell to protect it, so each time you pull it and add butter with the brush you’re putting another layer of garlic butter on top before the last layer cooks off. Baste with the butter every time and the lobster tastes like garlic butter all the way through. Skip it and you’ve got smoked lobster.
That raised position on top of the shell is also why these lobster tails absorb smoke so well. No barrier.
Make-Ahead, and Butter Side Note
Make ahead = garlic herb butter can be done ahead of time. Make it, then cover and refrigerate until an hour before you cook. Reheat in a small sauce pan until the butter is melted, then baste away. Save whatever you don’t use basting and pour it into serving dishes for dipping at the table. You never hear anyone complain there’s too much garlic butter.
Leftover smoked lobster tails doesn’t usually happen here, but if you end up with any chop the cold lobster meat and make lobster rolls instead of reheating the meat.
Miguel’s Tips
- Buy sharp kitchen shears. Cutting through that shell with dull shears is a pain.
- Pull at 145, don’t go past that or the meat gets tough.
- Don’t waste your time with sweet rubs on these. Keep it simple with lemon pepper and butter.
Smoked Lobster Tails FAQ
What temp do you smoke lobster tails?
Smoke lobster tails at 250 degrees F until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the lobster meat reaches 145 degrees F.
How long does it take to smoke lobster tails at 225?
Smoke lobster tails at 225 until they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. Since you’re cooking at a lower temp than 250 it will take longer, but for reference sake medium sized tails at 250 usually take under an hour.
Can I make these if I don’t have a smoker?
Yes! Any cooking device that allows you to cook at 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit will work. Sure you won’t have much smoke on the lobster but butter solves all the problems.
Related Recipes
More seafood off the fire: my Cajun Honey Grilled Lobster Tails take the tails hot and sweet instead, the Butter Lemon Pepper Shrimp runs this same flavor combo on a faster cook, the Smoked Garlic Butter Shrimp brings the smoke and the butter together too, and the Hot Honey Lobster Rolls are where leftover lobster wants to end up.
Smoked Lobster Tails with Garlic Herb Butter
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Using kitchen shears, carefully cut through the top of each lobster shell from the opening toward the tail. Be careful, the shell edges can be sharp.
- Gently pull the shell apart and lift the lobster meat up and out while keeping it attached at the tail. Drape the meat over the top of the shell so it sits on top.
- Season the lobster meat generously with lemon pepper seasoning.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the minced garlic, lemon paste, and Italian seasoning. Stir together and let it gently warm so the garlic and herbs infuse. Use right away, or refrigerate and warm back up until melted before serving.
- Preheat your smoker to 250°F.
- Place the lobster tails on the smoker with the meat sitting on top of the shell. Cook low and slow, basting with the garlic herb butter about every 10 minutes.
- Continue cooking until the thickest part of the meat reaches an internal temperature of 145°F. Go by the thermometer rather than the clock, since lobster overcooks quickly. Smaller tails finish well ahead of larger ones, so check them individually rather than pulling the whole tray at once.
- Remove from the smoker and let the tails rest for a few minutes. Serve with your favorite sides, plenty of garlic herb butter for dipping, and a squeeze of fresh lemon over the top if you like.
Notes
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My Gear
This is where I keep all my most-used smokers, knives, and favorite cooking tools: Shop My Gear Collection
Explore More Recipes
Beef | Pork | Chicken | Turkey | Seafood | Appetizers
Find more recipes at CWFeats.com
