Purge or not to purge

here i am.

you don't need to use salt. just rinse them off if they're muddy.

this thread is now complete.

good day.

 

My stupid butt just had a thought......I know....dangerous........but when my wife cooks spagatti the spagatti often "clumps" together. When I know she is cooking that and at home, I usually slip in and add a little olive oil. The pasta will be soft and not stuck in clumps. I wonder if that would help make the shell easier to peel.....Just a question...it doesn't change any flavor.

 

that might work on shrimp (but if the boiler knows what he's doing, they won't be hard to peel).
not sure about crawfish and crabs. shells are so tough on them things, I doubt we'll ever find anything that really makes peeling easier.

 

One thing I've always wondered about is why do the smaller crawfish have lots of juice when you suck the heads but the big red ones are practically dry ?

I have a feeling that the two types may either be different species and different permeabilities with regards to their shells; or they may be the same species but different year classes. Maybe more crab boil juice gets inside the smaller ones; maybe it just leaks out the larger ones. I have no clue.

Has anybody else noticed this and wondered?

:huh:.

As far as boiling goes, I think over cooking/soaking causes difficult peeling. When you're boiling anything and the water temp is increasing, flavor moves from inside the crabs, shrimp or crawfish into the water; while when the water temp is decreasing, the flavor moves from the water int the crab, shrimp or crawfish. That's why people add ice to the boil or hose down the outside of the pot.

In restaurants, most of the time we boil the shrimp or whatever in salt water only and then soak them in tepid, seasoned water. The drastic difference in temperatures reduces the soaking time and avoids overcooking them. I know this to be true but I have no Idea why. If any food scientists are out there, please enlighten me.

 

vinegar homie.

 

details?

so too cheap to even buy ice. i have a relative like you.

can you explain how this is done for crawfish. are they better/worse than using ice.

 

It only takes about 5 minutes of soaking but the time varies according to how strongly the water is seasoned. I just sample them after about 5 minutes, but now they're not piping hot from the boil out. You won't overcook them if you want to leave them in for a while.

As for seasoning the water, follow the directions on the crab boil and over season a little more. I like the powdered crab biol, but I used to use the zatarains packets before the powdered stuff came out. In a restaurant kitchen, I'm using stockpots cause I'm only cooking several orders at a time...not a whole sack.

experiment in small batces first with shrimp if you 're worried about ruining a whole sack, but you won't ruin anything.

 

so, you have to have a spare pot laying around somewhere to do this, correct?

while this method probably works, I think I'll just take your word for it.
My personal method has been developing since I was old enough to walk. I have it down pretty good for them to taste the way our family likes it, so I'd rather not change from it.

I'll tinker with it a bit here and there, but nothing drastic.

P.S. words of advice:

• If you happen to find yourself in possession of a seasoning kit called "Atchafalaya Gold", throw it away. Comes with a bag of seasoning (good for 40 pounds of Crawfish or Crabs), a small bag of "lemon/salt" and a bag of "spicy hott". Was only thing available to me once, so figured i'd try it. Well, it SUCKS!!! I boiled about 25 pounds of Crawfish with it, and it tasted like I did in in plain water. This was after using every granule from each of the 3 packets. Not even the celery or potatoes had any kind of flavor to it. had to start dumping straight cayenne pepper, salt, and even some Tony Chachere's just to give it something. Was a terrible experience, and I'll never waste my money on that stuff again.Next time I'm at the camp and have an impromptu boil, I will drive my happy @$$ across the entire state to get the good stuff before I ever use that one again.