well, spring break is upon the LSU campus and I have been given the dubius honor of being the "head chef" if you will for the three days we are at the camp. A crawfish boil is on the menu along with your standard bar-b-que but, I have never boiled crawfish from start to finish. i would help my grandpa out by purging the crawfish or by getting the fire right to get the water to boil but i never did any of the seasoning or cooking. I know the basics like boiling the crawfish for about 10 minutes and letting them soak for a bit longer but, as far a seasoning goes, do y'all just buy the bag of seasoning or what. I'm at least ballpark with the boiling time, right? So, if you could tell me how y'all boil your crawfish, it would be great.
You can't go wrong if you: Don't overcook the bugs. Don't undersalt the first batch. Use liquid, powdered, and bag seasonings, what the hell. I like Zatarians liquid and bag and Slap Ya Mama powdered. Lots of garlic bulbs, onions, potatoes and corn. Some cook them separately. I like lots of halved lemons.
The reason you want to soak crawfish is b/c when the water is boiling so is the liquid in the tail making it impossible to soak up any seasoning. Some add ice after each batch to cool the tails and help them soak up the seasoning. If you are going to put large potatoes put them in when you crank up the fire, they will take a while to cook through and through. I like to add smoked sausage (unless its a Friday in lent) as well as onion and garlic. Good luck and may "the Boudreaux" be with you ! P S Its almost impossible to please everyone at a crawfish boil. Don't try. Invite those who insist they can do it better to host the next boil.
I find that instead of adding ice, just add the frozen corn, assuming you will let soak for a good 25 minutes. The corn still cooks and it serves the same purpose as the ice.
The best way we've found around here is after they're boiled, slowly pour them in an ice chest while someone is sprinking zatarin's crawfish boil seasoning. After you're finished, close the lid, shake 'em up and let 'em steam for 5-10 minutes. Two things with this: 1/ Don't boil them long cause they'll continue cooking in the ice chest. 2/ Use an old or styrofoam ice chest cause the heat will buckle an igloo like Tyson's uppercut did to opponents' knees. People would never believe how good they are like this and most of the seasoning gets on the meat from your fingers when you peel them anyway....If you don't believe that, after you've eaten some, wash your hands with soap and pass 'em in your eye and see how much is still on them. Sometimes your hands may feel warm from the seasoning well after you're finished eating b/c of that. Be careful where you put your hands, mom might get an unexpected surprise.
Seasoning for 1 sack... 1 - 4 lb bag of crawfish boil ... Louisiana Fish Fry 1 - 16 oz liquid crawfish boil ... Zatarain's 6 lemons, halved. Optional: onions, garlic, and oranges ... halved. For spicy crawdads, add a 1/2 can (whole for me) of Chinese Red Pepper. Cooking time ... Add crawfish to boiling water. Cover and bring back to a hard boil. Turn off heat and add a bag (2 small or 1 big) of ice. With the lid off, let soak for about 45 minutes. There are a million different ways to season them. Just don't overcook them.
One other thing. Get yourself a few of those small laundry bags for your potatoes, corn, onions, sausage, mushrooms, etc. Beats having to fish them out of the crawfish. You can wash and reuse them many times. I get mine at the dollar general store for a buck. Looks something like this, but mine has a zipper. View attachment 8667
That's a great idea TigerWins. We're having a crawfish boil this Saturday and I've taken off Friday to: 1.) Pick-up the crawfish from my friend in Vicksburg. He's bringing them up from Crowley. 2.) Purchase, chop, prepare all the fixings 3.) Clean up and set up We typically throw in mushrooms (the best:thumb: ), corn, onions, potatoes and lemons. Occasionally pork tenderloin and deer sausage if we have them. Whew!
Batgirl, tell the guy bringing them to keep them covered and wet. We use a burlap sack, soaked with water. It's amazing how fast it will dry out- it's like a blow dryer is on it while it's in back of a truck. He may have to stop and pour water on them. :thumb:
