Having a crawfish boil this weekend..cant wait.

I use a combo of "Swamp Dust" dry seasoning, zatarain's liquid crab boil, cayenne pepper, lemons and butter to my water. I boil them long enough that crawfish rise to the top then switch them to a soaking pot and leave them for about 15 min at 140 degrees. Once I remove them from the soaking pot I sprinkle some "Slap Ya Momma" seasoning on them.

Just curious as to how others cook their crawfish? I love mine, but Im also always looking for new ideas.

Add whole fresh mushrooms to the boil..Delicious.

I know that many, if not most people do the soaking thing. But I can't imagine that soaking them for 15 minutes at 140 degrees isn't the reason why they get so damn rubbery. I flat out REFUSE to soak them for any longer than it takes to cook them. I'm sure they come out less seasoned the way I do it... but I don't soak my shrimp/scallops/lobster/fish in hot anything as it continues to cook them, and all of that stuff comes out very yummy. I think if you coat them in dry seasoning once they hit the table, you get enough hot stuff on your fingers and then from your fingers to the meat.

sorry about the rant.





"If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective."
- Ted Nugent

personally, I don't like any seasoning added after they are cooked. It gets all over you and I think it means you didn't season the water right.

Other than that I do it similar to you...
season the water (I don't think I've ever done it the same way twice)
do a load of veggies
add more seasoning to water
I don't have a soak pot system available so I take them off the heat as soon as they come back to a boil and dump a bunch of ice in. Then I let them sit for about 10 minutes so soak.
Add about 1/3 as much seasoning as for the first load to make up for the new water from the ice for subsequent loads
start with new water every 3-4 loads.

To me the soaking is the key. Keeps them from over cooking but really imparts the flavor.

ddp

[This message has been edited by ccard257 (edited 4/23/2010 11:18a).]

Isle,

the rubbery textue comes from over cooking. They need to soak at a low enough temp. that they are not still cooking. I have no idea what that temp is, I just dump some ice in.

isle..if you have not tried "soaking" I recommend it..it where the real flavor comes from. At 140 degrees they can "soak" for hours before they are overcooked.

140 degrees is very much a cooking temp. Try it at home. Drop a raw shrimp into a pot of 140 degree water... it will be cooked in minutes. To soak in a temp that wouldn't cook them, you'd have to soak at a temp that cools them down. Then you'd be eating cold crawfish.



"If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective."
- Ted Nugent

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Having a crawfish boil this weekend..cant wait.

I use a combo of "Swamp Dust" dry seasoning, zatarain's liquid crab boil, cayenne pepper, lemons and butter to my water. I boil them long enough that crawfish rise to the top then switch them to a soaking pot and leave them for about 15 min at 140 degrees. Once I remove them from the soaking pot I sprinkle some "Slap Ya Momma" seasoning on them.

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This is almost to the T, how I do it. Instead of butter to the water though. After I drain the crawfish AFTER THE HAVE SOAKED for 5 min I put them in a cooler add dry seasoning and 3/4 of a bottle of butter put the top on the cooler shake it up and it's good to go! Just leave them in there and scoop them out whenever.

We did this last weekend in Monroe, LA and cooked about 300lbs.


[This message has been edited by CoastGuardAg00 (edited 4/23/2010 11:24a).]

[This message has been edited by CoastGuardAg00 (edited 4/23/2010 11:26a).]

Is Slap your Mama really good? Haven't used it before, ingredients are listed as "Salt, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Garlic"

slap your mama is great..very spicy.

Isle..a raw shrimp doesnt have a hard shell around it..of course that will cook faster.

Seasoning after cooking= Dumb things Texans do to ruin crawfish

stimulus...then what do you do?

I know many people in Louisiana that season after cooking.

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Seasoning after cooking= Dumb things Texans do to ruin crawfish

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We did this last weekend in Monroe, LA and cooked about 300lbs.

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Last I heard Monroe wasn't in Texas! Could be wrong though.

Hmmm, I'll have to try it. Which one do you use?



Oh okay (I suck) I just saw their Seafood Boil page...

[This message has been edited by Crown (edited 4/23/2010 12:16p).]

I have had a crawfish boil every year for the last ten years and the best method I have found is to cook them just as you do.

Then after you pull them out of the water put them in a large cooler and cover them with zatarans and let them steam in the cooler with the zatarans for about 15 minutes. That why they are out of the water not getting rubbery but they don't loose their heat either. With steaming in the zatarns they gain a little more spice and seasoning. With the steaming the zatarans basically melts away into a liquid and leaves no salt residue.

[This message has been edited by hoodlum98 (edited 4/23/2010 11:57a).]

Do not over cook them! Max 5-6 minutes of boil time (i actually go maybe 3 minutes), then cut off the heat and let them soak. As stated earlier...over cooking is what makes them rubbery not soaking.

I like Swamp Dust more than SlapYM. It's too salty for me.

yep, adding seasoning after they're boiled is so TEXAS. season the water properly before u boil and then eat when they're done. i second the motion on adding whole mushrooms to the boil. primo!

and abosultely NO cloves OR sausage. smoke cloves and eat sausage on a stick some other time.

We do it same as hoodlum98. You have to have potatoes and onion in there and corn is good for burnin' your lips off. You can't have too much hot spice or too much cold beer. We just did one of these last weekend.

The host made cafe du monde beignets to finish us off. I don't know where they got the box mix but, it was good. My great, great, great grandparents moved to Texas from Louisiana. You wouldn't believe the looks we would get in Houston, Texas eating mud bugs thirty-five years ago. Now, everybody does it.

I had no idea how to spell beignet.

[This message has been edited by HECUBUS (edited 4/23/2010 12:44p).]

Here you go. If you want to impress...

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=cafe+du+monde+beignet+mix&tag=yahhyd-20&index=aps&hvadid=74591833511&ref=pd_sl_78ojklev8i_b

oh ****!

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cafe du monde beignet mix

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that is one of my favorite things in the world!

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Some parts of Cajun country are known to sprinkle Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning on top of their crawfish before eating, the same way they do with Old Bay seasoning on crabs in Maryland. We've said it before, there's no right or wrong way.

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From this article:
http://www.crawfish.com/how-to-season-a-crawfish-boil

So the people bashing me about seasoning afterwards and saying it's so TEXAS can STFU now!

And the Coon Asses I cook with in LOUSIANA would tell you otherwise as well.

any stores in Dallas that sell that beignet mix?

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over cooking is what makes them rubbery not soaking.

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Soaking in hot water is cooking. Let's take poaching an egg for example. You poach (read cook) an egg in water at a temp range of 160-180 for about two and a half minutes.

Like I said, bring a small pot of water up to the that temp range and drop one raw shrimp in. It will be cooked in minutes. If you leave it in there for twenty minutes it will be rubbery as all hell.

I don't have a good answer to the problem other than to put 10x as much seasoning into the cooking water. And I know I'm in the minority on this, and I'm sure I won't convince any of you. I'm just speaking my piece.



"If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective."
- Ted Nugent

This claims to be the recipe.

http://chefinformer.com/food-and-beverage/recipe-cafe-du-monde-shares-its-secrets-of-beignets/

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Homemade Mardi Gras Beignets
Recipe adapted from Paula Deen’s French Quarter Beignets
Makes approximately 6 dozen small beignets
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup evaporated milk
6 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup shortening
Nonstick spray
Cottonseed oil, for deep-frying
Powdered sugar
Directions
Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture into larger bowl with yeast mixture. Stir 3 cups of the flour into the egg and yeast mixture. Add shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
Preheat cottonseed oil in a deep frying pan to 370 degrees F. (Tip: Use the count test to determine if the cottonseed oil is hot enough. Drop a test beignet into the oil; if the beignet rises to the top of the oil within eight seconds, the oil is ready.)
Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into small squares. Use a pizza roller for straight lines, or cookie cutters for fun shapes. Deep-fry until they turn golden, flipping or basting to allow even cooking. After the beignets are fried, drain briefly on paper towels, then transfer to a tray and cover generously with sprinkled powdered sugar. Serve warm.
Visit www.cottonseedoiltour.com for beignet tips from the experts at Café du Monde.

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[This message has been edited by HECUBUS (edited 4/23/2010 1:18p).]

I'm from Lousisiana...the Cajun part, and for the record Monroe is in Arkansas. Season the water well, then season in the cooler after. IsleAg is exactly right on both points: much of the heat comes from the pepper you get on your fingers that is then transferred to the tails, and soaking or cooling down the crawfish makes them rubbery and cold.

It's like that well-done steak thread from the other day: sure everyone is entitled to a preference, but those who don't agree with me are wrong and that makes me angry.

i've come across a thousand boil:soak time ratios, but never come across anyone that doesn't soak at all.

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and for the record Monroe is in Arkansas.

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I have an atlas that would beg to differ!


[This message has been edited by CoastGuardAg00 (edited 4/23/2010 1:29p).]

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but those who don't agree with me are wrong and that makes me angry.

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You are wrong, Im not angry with you..I feel sorry for you bc you have never had good crawfish. I have family that live in Cajun Country in Louisiana and they would laugh at your last statement.

but seriously..you dont see the problem with relying on residue from your fingers for taste?

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you dont see the problem with relying on residue from your fingers for taste?

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I don't

Tony's and Crab bags in the water, with Lemon sausage potatos and corn. Butter in the water helps them slide out of the shells!!! Boil till they float the dumpthem in a styrophome (spelling) cooler with a stick of butter and a can of Tony's spinkled on top! Themn they steam for ten minutes or so and you are rolling in the mud bugs!

well let me rephrase that...the ONLY taste?
Without soaking your crawfish you are getting no taste in the meat. I love the spices after cooking..I use tons of slap yo momma..but thats not where all the flavor is coming from, the meat has alot of flavor. Plus w/o soaking do you get any flavor in the heads?

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Without soaking your crawfish you are getting no taste in the meat

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Eh, I'm not so sure about that. I think if you had some RIDICULOUSLY over seasoned water, and the bugs were only in the water for 3-5 minutes, you'd have plenty flavor.

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Butter in the water helps them slide out of the shells

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I've heard this before, and I'm not calling you out on it... but I don't buy this either.



"If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective."
- Ted Nugent