In most cases, lobsters don't go directly from the trap into a pot. Once you get lobsters home, you'll need to store them until you're ready to cook and eat them. Read on learn how to store a live lobster until you're ready for dinner!

• If you've taken the trouble to purchase fresh live lobsters, you'll want to make sure you care for them properly so they'll still be alive when you're ready to boil, steam, or grill them.

Keep live lobsters chilled until you cook them. (Creative Commons photo by Bethany King)

• Lobsters should ideally be cooked as soon as possible after you bring them home, but they can live for up to 36-48 hours if properly cared for. How long you can hold them depends on how fresh they were when you purchased them. The best place to buy a lobster is at a fish market who receives them fresh off the boat daily. Supermarket lobsters may already be past their prime.

• Lobster's gills need to be kept moist, which can be done by packing the lobsters in damp seaweed or newspapers. They should be kept in a brown paper bag that breathes. Covering the lobster in water, or packing it on ice in a plastic bag, will cause it to suffocate and die.

Lobsters need to stay chilled to stay fresh. Keeping them cold lowers their metabolism, reducing their need for food and reduces the amount of waste they produce.http://www.lobsters.org/ldoc/ldocpage.php?did=428 Placing them in a paper bag, properly wrapped as described in step 2, is ideal. You can also keep them on a bed of ice in a cooler that has ventilation holes, or in a cardboard box with ice. Do not put the lobster directly on the ice--use a newspaper of thick towel placed under the lobster.

Leftover lobster can be safely refrigerated for two days. You can also freeze it, by covering the meat in a salt water solution (2 tsp salt to one cup of water). Allow it to thaw in the solution for 15-18 hours in the refrigerator.http://www.rilobstermen.com/howto.htm