Originally Posted On: https://www.laweekly.com/more-than-just-lobster-at-maine-lobster-now-its-a-whole-maine-experience/

More Than Just Lobster: At Maine Lobster Now, It’s a Whole Maine Experience

Growing up on the shores of Maine and working at his family’s seafood business, Julian Klenda received a hands-on education in world-class seafood. Now, he wants to ensure that anyone can experience Maine, regardless of their location in the country. His company, Maine Lobster Now, overnights lobster tails, live lobster, Maine lobster rolls, scallops, and other seafood to customers nationwide.

“I think Maine seafood is unique compared to other seafood for a lot of reasons,” Klenda says. “First of all, they have independent fishermen, so no one company can own all the licenses or landings. I think that’s a good thing for our community.”

“Sometimes, larger companies will treat the seafood with tripolyphosphate, an FDA-approved chemical for extending shelf life,” he continues. “So that’s something we firmly stand against.”

Klenda’s family business distributed Maine seafood regionally, but he’s found a way to share it even with those thousands of miles away. With Maine Lobster Now, customers can order live or frozen lobster and other seafood in minutes. The business model might sound simple, but it took years of trial and error to master.

“You don’t just call and say, ‘Okay, overnight them for tomorrow,’” Klenda says of the lobsters his company delivers. “Everybody’s having a party in two weeks, and they can’t just order lobsters and have us hold them. You can’t store them for that long, and they only live 24 hours once you get them out of the water. So it’s a very perishable item.”

One might wonder how Maine Lobster Now manages to keep its lobsters fresh as they’re shipped across the country. We bring our lobsters down to 38 degrees before shipment and cover them with seaweed so they stay damp in transit. For frozen items: High-quality seafood calls for high-quality freezing, so the company has invested in a cutting-edge nitrogen freezing tunnel. Nitrogen allows for rapid freezing to extremely low temperatures, even as low as -160°F.

Nitrogen freezing does more than just keep lobster tails, scallops, and steaks cool as they journey to customers. It also preserves flavor and texture in a way that slower freezing methods simply can’t.

If someone were to take a lobster tail and put it in their freezer, large crystals of ice would begin to form in and around it. These crystals would alter the texture of the meat, so when it thawed, it wouldn’t be the same. Slow freezing also dehydrates meat and increases the risk of freezer burn.

When Klenda and his team flash-freeze lobster tails and other meats with nitrogen, they ensure that the flavor, texture, and nutritional value are all preserved. Unlike the larger ice crystals that form in the average freezer, nitrogen forms tiny crystals that leave the cellular structure of the meat intact.

The freezing process is so fast that there’s no time for the meat to dehydrate. When a customer thaws it out and prepares it, it’s just as fresh and juicy as it would be if they’d caught it themselves the same day.

For those who want to experience Maine, there’s no need to book a flight or plan a cross-country road trip. With Maine Lobster Now, it only takes a few clicks to discover the taste that made Maine famous.