Crawfish Boil Tips

[huckleberry77459]

I want to do a crawfish boil this weekend and need tips,It will be my first time doing it so any tips or recipes would be greatly appreciated.


THANK 2COOLERS,

[Mrsailfish]

I beleive one of the most common mistakes made when doing crawfish is that people always over cook them. I always get the water boiling and put the crawfish in the pot and cook them for a few minutes and test one, if it comes out of the shell good then they are done, if you cook them to long they are very difficult to get out of the shells.

Mr.Sailfish

[Old Whaler]

Vey good advice. Add pieces of sausage. The oil in the sausage will help soften the shell and make it easier to peelI beleive one of the most common mistakes made when doing crawfish is that people always over cook them. I always get the water boiling and put the crawfish in the pot and cook them for a few minutes and test one, if it comes out of the shell good then they are done, if you cook them to long they are very difficult to get out of the shells.

Mr.Sailfish

[anton]

Boiling crawfish aint hard at all, you can use sausage or you can throw in some sticks of butter that will help to peel them also

[DEG]

Another trick is to dump about 6 inches of ice on top of them as soon as you shut off the fire...this causes the critters to soak up the spices inside instead of what most folks do and all the spice is on the outside. Let them soak for 15 to 20 minutes then enjoy. I was taught this by a friend in the catering business in Norco, LA which is just outside Nawlins. Best crawfish you could ever hope for.

[mr.robo57]

We allways purged them in a heavy salt water bath while they'r still alive ,makes for much cleaner tails!!!!

[Domin0]

i have purged mine also....or you can atleast wash them off....
take a big cooler....dump your sack of craw dads in....them fill the cooler with some water till the crawdads are covered....and mix in salt....this will purge them out. slosh them around a bit and you will see the water turn dark brown. dump the water out. and reapeat. if u purge them out pretty good water should stay clear. now if you dont have a big cooler....just do it a little at a time. you dont want to boil dead crawfish. they will taste funky! while your purging them in the saltwater your can see if any are dead. just take em out and chuck em.

when i boil i boil my big pot of water with lousiana crawfish boil. you can get it at the grocery store. comes ina yellow and white bag. with loisiana in red letters. depends on how much crawfish you are cooking but read the bag and it will tell you how much you need to put in the boiling water. if you like them a little extra spicy i add a lil more than whats called for. I also add soem lemons and butter in the water while i bring it to a boil. when the water starts to boil, add your crawefish. shouldnt take long, when they are about done they will start to float and have a dark red color. pop one out n mkae sure. throw em down on a picnic table covered with foil or newspaper. If ya want take some left over spice from your back and slightly sprinkle over the top of your crawfish that you pour out onto the table.

i do that for the first batch because usually we boil alot of crawfish. before i do a second batch of crawfish i throw those small red pototatoes and some fresh corn on the cob. and boil those till they are done. then i repeat what i did for the first batch of crawfish.

while they are boilng. you can tell if you threw some dead crawfish in. When they all float to the top. the crawfish that still have straight tails are the ones that were dead before you boiled them.(the other tails will be curled up)
just take them out. hope this helps ya out a lil.

[Whitey]

I like to add whole mushrooms, quartered cabbage and cauliflower to the boil. The mushrooms get extremely spicy.

[steverino]

I had my first crawfish boiled by a real cajun named Legeaux. He put cut onions, celery and lemon wedges in with the bags of crawfish boil. He then put in red potatoes, then corn on the cob and last and the secret was a couple of packages of hot dogs (yes wieners/franks). There is something used in making them (a cinnamon like flavor?) that adds a secret taste to the boil. Just do not overcook (including the crawfish, corn, potatoes and wieners), purge them and rinse them well and serve them with a good, spicey homemade red sauce! C'EST SI BON!!!!!

[Greg Hebert]

Put About 6 Inches Of Water In Pot.add Zatarain's Liquid Crab Boil Mix
About 1 Cup Alone With Zatarains Crawfish And Shrimp Mix Dry Powder About 1 Cup.throw In Oinions,garlic,corn On The Cob,potatoes,sausage,lemons.boil Until Oinions Are Soft.take Out
And Put In Icechest.add A Little Tony Chachere's Seasoning Over
All.shut Lid To Icechest.
Purge Crawfish Put Crawfish In Large Icechest And Put One Box
Of Salt And Cover With Water.let Soak For 10 Minutes The Drain
Water.rinse Several Times Until Clean.crawfish Ready For Pot
Now For The Crawfish Use The Same Water You Had The Potatoes Came Out Of. It Should Be At Least 6 Inches. Add 2 To 3 Cups Of Zatarains Liquid Crab Boil And Zatarains Crawfish And Shrimp
Crab Boil Power.crank Up Burner As High It Will Go.add Crawfish
And Cover Pot.when You See Steam Out Of Pot Cook 9 Minutes.take Out Put In Icechest Add Tony Seasoning Over All Crawfish.enjoy!!
You Can Get 1 Gallon Zatarains Liquid Crab Boil And Zatarains Crab And Shrimp Mix 73 Oz At Sam's Club.

[floundergigging]

Be sure to purge you crawfish even if the are said to be purged. Get yourself a cooler and place the crawfish in it. Fill it with water and dump the water out. Keep doing this until the water runs clear. Don't Don't Don't let the crawfish stay in the water submerged for too long. They will tend to die from drowning. Sounds crazy esp since they live underwater but trust me on this one. Once the water runs clear fill cooler with water sprinkle approx 1 cup of salt and let soak for about 5 min. Again rinse until clear. Now they will be ready for the pot. The sure fire way to screw up a crawfish boil is to serve them with grit and that is what can happen if they are not clean. Just as the others said add sausage and don't overcook. Just follow the directions on the crab/crawfish boil and enjoy. Good Luck

[firemitch2]

Ice is the key... prep your spice in the water like you like it. Bring it to a boil, place mud bugs in to water bring back to boil. As soon as water boils again shut off burner & let soak for 3 to 5 min then dump about one sack of ice on top of crawfish and let soak about 10 to 15 min. They will be the best ya ever had.

[Drifter]

Above but, for the spices use this this stuff called Swamp Fire. Don't let the name scare you. This is some good stuff and "DON'T BE SKREEED) to use a little extra then what is called for. Capt Henry's has this and is located on Lawrence Rd in the Kemah/League City area.

Good Luck on the boil,

Drifter :texasflag

[metal man]

Butter and a little viniger in the water will help on the peeling. #1 rule do not over cook. Take a couple of cans of green beans(whole) and poke holes with an old school bottle opener, pull of the lable and drop'm in. Good stuff.

[Bill Fisher]

i'm not gonna read every post leading up to this point cuz i'm sure you've already got a lotta good advice, but as-far-as tricks, here's some o'what i know

of course the sausage thingy or a little oil

and if you have to boil a coupla batches, (small pot, bucha people, buncha bugs,... whatever reason), throw in a double handfulla crushed ice to kill-the-boil when a batch is done......... this will infuse the spices immediatly into the crawfish so you don't have to wait on 'soak time' (don't worry, the water'll return to a boil plenty fast)

also i like to layer the cooked crawfish into a styro box sprinkling'em with lemon juice and the powered crab boil as i do........ that'll give you some wonderful hand-to-mouth flavoring

i have a cousin who steams'em insteada boiling and just uses the powder and lets it steam into bugs....... but i'll never do it even tho he swears by it

best o'luck...... i'm sure you'll enjoy'em, just don't overcook'em... I shut off the fire the minute the water returns to a rolling boil and let'em soak covered for 15 to 20 minutes

oops!..... almost forgot........

perging'em's a messy waste o'time unless you wanna try and eat'em with the vein still in'em (bleah!) and they still won't be clean enough....... washing'em's good enough

[Bill Fisher]

hope some mentioned ice-cold beer!

[aggie82josh]

Be careful not to over cook them!!! Over cooked = tuff & hard to peel. My rule of thumb is bring water to a boil, place crawfish, and cook them until the water starts to boil or 8 minutes. Which ever comes first. Keep in mind that they are going to continue to cook when you put them in the icechest.

[TexasCanesFan]

I am a firm believer in the ice method once they are cooked. I think it really draws the juice and the seasoning into the head and the tail.

When do most of you guys put your butter in???

[aggie82josh]

It may sound like a lit of butter but, I put a stick in when i do corn, another when I do potatoes, and a stick with each batch of crawfish. Crawfish always peel easy and flawless. Last week I cooked 10 lbs for me and my girlfiend and put 2 sticks of butter in with the crawfish and it maded the tails just fall out of the shell

I am a firm believer in the ice method once they are cooked. I think it really draws the juice and the seasoning into the head and the tail.

When do most of you guys put your butter in???