CrustaStun

The CrustaStun is a device designed to administer a lethal electric shock to shellfish (such as lobsters, crabs, and crayfish) before cooking. This is marketed as a more humane alternative to boiling a live shellfish. The CrustaStun design consists of a stainless-steel box approximately the size of a domestic microwave oven containing a tray with a wet sponge and an electrode. The shellfish is placed in the box and, upon the lid's closure, the wet sponge conducts the current which electrocutes the animal with a 120 volt, 2–5 amp current. It is claimed that the CrustaStun renders the shellfish unconscious in 0.3 seconds and kills the animal in 5 to 10 seconds, compared to claims made that it takes the 3 minutes it takes to kill a lobster via boiling or the 4.5 minutes for a crab. However, the source for the claim states that death occurs much more quickly during boiling; in crabs, by about 10 seconds. Movements detected after this period were attributed to heat's effect on the muscles or escape of air from the branchial chambers, not voluntary movements.

The inventor, Simon Buckhaven, spent two years developing the device with scientists from the University of Bristol. The device was manufactured in England at an estimated cost of £2,500, in 2009.

Major supermarkets in the United Kingdom have insisted that all shellfish products supplied to them be killed using this method, as there are claims that shellfish killed with the CrustaStun taste better than those killed by boiling.