Crawfish Boiling

[chickendog!]

So some friends are coming over for the first Friday of the tournament, and doing our first boil of the season. We're planning on piling in the usual suspects: corn, potatoes, mushrooms, sausage, garlic, onions, and artichokes (and of course a keg).

We don't do anything out of the ordinary as far as preparation; we do purge 'em,and we have a favorite seasoning for the boil and post boil. Typically we boil them, lay 'em out, dust them, and eat.

I was wondering if anyone had any interesting suggestions, favorite sides or preparation tricks they'd like to share.

Thanks.

 

[El Sapo]

We'll need your address, first, before posting any tips.

Thanks.

 

[NCAAFBALLROX]

'Chokes on the side or in the pot?

 

[scottsins]

do not boil, then eat.

boil. soak. eat.

that is the key.

also, once your water and spices are boiling, keep boiling for a while before adding bugs.

 

[Brisketexan]

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[scottsins]

if you soak, there is no reason to dust.

the reasons most restaurants dust is because soaking them is impractical in that situation.

 

[AustinTejasFan]

I think this dusting thing is an affectation adopted from New England crab boils.

Not necessary on crabs or crawfish boiled in properly seasoned water/beer.

 

[AlamoHeightsHorn]

dusting a batch of mudbugs is equal to communism... any coon-*** from La. can tell you that.

 

[Tex Pete]

I am also no fan of dusting. As mentioned above, it doesn't have an effect on the meat, it just burns your lips.

 

[pescado_rojo]

what Brisket said.

 

[midtown]

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[chickendog!]

1} 'chokes in the boil. They're freaking awesome.

2) On dusting, I agree with the anti-dusting proponents, but I do it b/c I'm lazy. We do season the water heavily, just don't take the time to soak 'em.

In addition to the hoops, we're also playing cards all day and with a big no limit tournament in the evening, so time away from the table or tv sucks and with all the scotch and beer being consume by the chef, it's easiest to keep the process simple.

3) And yes, with this as our 2nd annual NCAA Crawpoker Fest, this has now become my favorite day of the year.

 

[Orange Salad Ranch]

So what's the story with "shocking" the water while soaking?

We always soak, but I've read where people put ice in the water which supposedly causes the crawfish to soak in the spiced water more. Does this work or is it even worth it? It seems to me like it's just going to make it take longer to get the water boiling again for the next batch.

 

[hullabelew]

Brisket's above rant may be one of my favorites of all time. Outstanding job sir.

 

[scottsins]

shocking is good, because it brings down the temp quick and thus, stops the cooking process while soaking.

also, chickendog asked for tips and suggestions and then just tels us he will not be soaking them?

 

[ERhine]

No on dusting.

 

[AlamoHeightsHorn]

False Midtown false.... the term mudbugs is the prefered nomenclature of the two biggest coon-asses I know...especially at their LSU tailgates.

Their crawfish pie is worth the trip to Baton Rouge alone.

 

[midtown]

Well the 40 something coons I know get pissed when they hear it.

 

[chickendog!]

Didn't mean to discount any suggestions, just explaining the dusting/no soaking reasoning....

 

[GM Platter]

Help me out here - you boil them for how long and then soak them (in same pot?) for how long?

 

[Uninformed]

I'm not an expert and I am sure I will be thrashed but I pretty much do the following:

25 lbs. crawfish
10 lemons, cut in half
10 med. onions, cut in half
2 boxes salt
2 cans cayenne pepper
2 boxes crab boil (I use Zataran's)
12-15 small new potatoes and 5 halved ears of corn

I wash and purge the crawfish and in a 10 gallon pot, bring about 4 gallons of water to boil with seasonings. I let boil for a few minutes and then add the crawfish and potatoes and corn and bring to a boil. I'll cook for approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Then I turn off the heat and let soak for about 5 minutes, try a few, and if not seasoned enough, let soak an additional 5 minutes.

Good to go.

 

[kevwun]

What prices have you guys seen? My friend checked a week or two ago and they were around $3.50 per pound. That's over 2 dollars more per than when we had our boil last year.

 

[chickendog!]

I need to call tomorrow and reserve a sack from my guy, so i'll post an update, but I think for 2 sacks last year at 40 lbs each, plus 15ish for the seasoning,... i think it was 220. So 2.50/lb last year.

For NE Houston folks, I'll throw out a plug for Crawfish Connection on 1960. It's like they only sell sacks of lobsters.

 

[CaptainEd]

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[Comfortably_Numb]

I know I have a low post count so some here will blow me off as being uninformed or an amature. However; that does not make it so.
I have a strong cajun background. My mother speaks french (cajuns do not speak "cajun french". To cajuns it is simply French.). All of my grandparents spoke french. Half of my great grandparents couldn't speak english.
I have a cousin named Tee-Will. When I was baptised, I was held by my Parrain. I often ate pain perdu for breakfast. (I didn't know what French toast was until first grade) I have been eating crawfish as long as I can remember.
Back to the point, I hate to ruin the "experts" claims here but, there is no exclusively Cajun way to boil crawfish. Just like most other foods, the techniques have varied to suit the likes and dislikes of the one doing the cooking. I like tomatoes. My brother, who has the same parents and was raised in the same house as I, does not like tomatoes. When I cook a hamburger, I put tomatoes on it. When my bro prepares a hamburger he does so sans the tomatoe. We are both fixing hamburgers, just preparing them differently.
If you asked 1000 cajuns how they prepare their crawfish I bet you would get over 900 different responses. (And yes, quite a few of those responses will include dusting.)
Last Easter, I was boiling crawfish for my family and the topic came up about different methods. Out of roughly 15 cajuns who participated in the conversation(mostly cousins and uncles but all from my family), no two methods were exact.
Some used store bought seasoning, while others made their own. Some put butter in the water, others did not. Some pre-season the water, some do not. Some boil the veggies seperate from the bugs, while others prefer to mix it all together. Some soak in pot and others steam in chest. The point being that there are many different ways discussed to cook crawfish and most turn out tasting pretty darn good.

chickendog,
The trick I use takes time and patience but I will share it with you. First off I put a stick of butter or parkay in my water while it is heating up. I only do this once before I start. Do not add any butter going forward. I put one pound of Luisiana brand seasoning in an 80qt pot and bring water to a boil. Drop the bugs into boiling water and cover. When steam steadily pours out of the hole or side of the pot, remove and dump in ice chest. Liberally sprinkle seasoning of choice over the top of the crawfish. Then, using a 5 qt pot I take some of the boiling waterover the crawfish in the chest. Close the lid and shake by lifting the ice chest up and down spreading the seasoned water on the bugs inside. This method allows the crawfish to steam in the seasoned water and prevents them from being overcooked. It is very important to shake the chest everytime you add bugs and seasoning.
The only downfall to this method is that you really need to let the bugs steam awhile before they are ready to eat. If you have the patience for this, I bet they will turn out as good as you will ever eat.

Another note, we always cook the veggies on the side to better control the amount of "heat" from the seasoning.

 

[jbroussard]

I am a coon-*** (see name).

1.Dusting is stupid and no Cajun would ever do that

2. Crawfish is the correct term, mudbugs is mildly acceptable. Crayfish is grounds for murder.

 

[chickendog!]

Update

I demo'ed the cooler method with the first batch, and it was used repeatedly throughout the day.

Thanks for all the tips.

 

[hullabelew]

I thinking about doing a boil for a buddy and just not sure how many lbs of crawfish I need.

What ratio of lbs of crawfish to people do you buy? Also same info on the veggies please?

 

[Brisketexan]

The standard ratio is 2 lbs per person. NOTE -- that assumes that many of your folks won't eat much, if any (which is often the case). In my experience, there are some of us who eat 8 lbs (like me), some who eat maybe 1-2 lbs, and many who eat none. I did a 35 lb sack for about 12 people last year, and we had a good 8-10 lbs leftover to peel for etouffee, so the 2 lbs per person deal worked even with that small a group (in other words, we only ate about 24 lbs at the time, divided by 12 people).

I am looking to do a boil in mid-May - I need to call around and make sure places will still have them available.

 

[baboso]

hulla, if you invite me, you'd better budget at least 5 lbs. for me alone. 3 taters and 2 corn, por favor. Give those artichokes a try also.