I know there is a food board but a crawfish boil is outdoors and yall know more than the food board. I'm planning on doing my first crawfish boil in a couple of weeks and I had a few questions. I'm planning on about 10 people so how many pounds of crawfish should I get? Also, what is a good price per pound? To help yall out I'm located in Katy.

I grew up in San Antonio so crawfish has never really been a big deal to me. Since I've moved to Houston I am kind of upset that I never got to have it growing up.

Pounds per person depends on the type of people - if it's good southern folk that dig crawfish, 4-5 lbs live per person. If it's folks that really don't know much about crawfish and are more or less unfamiliar with them, 3 lbs live per person.

I haven't kept up with prices in a while, but the Houston board has a thread with prices on there. I've seen them anyhere from $1.99/lb up to $4.99/lb, but that's generally cooked at a restaraunt. $3.99/lb seems to be the prevailing price for good sized bugs.

How are you planning on boiling them?

I did a big boil for about 50 people 2 weeks ago. I got by with 3 lbs./person but I included corn, potato, sausage and mushrooms in the pots. without the extras, 4-5 lbs./person would have been needed. I bought from Dup's Cajun Warehouse in Humble at $2.70/lb.

http://dupscajunwarehouse.com/

I called alot of places and couldn't find a better price. Completely happy with the size as well.

One sack will feed ten people easily.

Im definitely planning on potatoes, corn, sausage, and other veges so it looks like 3 lbs per person will do.

I've been reading some other threads and what i've gathered is boil the extras for ~10 mins and then set aside. Add the crawfish once it starts to boil again and boil for ~10 mins. Turn off the burner and let it soak for ~20 mins. The only thing i haven't decided on is the spices. There seems to be a few different opinions.

I went through a 30lb sack with two friends last weekend...we also had potatoes and corn. We were stuffed to say the least!

HEB has them for about $3 a pound and I'd say 5lbs is satisfying per person.

That is an interesting method of cooking, one that I've never heard of.

The way we cooked them was putting each batch in the sink, picking out the dead ones, filling it with water and a few spoons of salt to purge them.

Then transfer to the boiling water after a few minutes, cook for 25 minutes with the potatoes and corn and seasoning and then serve.

We'd have another batch purging while the other was cooking. Once we took one batch out, we'd keep the water boiling and toss the next in with some more seasoning and fixins.

Did one last weekend for 50 people and boiled 200 lbs with sides. Bought mine @ 2.69/lb from L&L Seafood. Great size and few dead.

No need to salt the water to purge them. Water from the garden hose has enough chemicals in it to purge the crawfish.

Don't boil them long. Only 5 minutes and then put them in an old cooler, hit em with seasoning, close the cooler for another 5-10 minutes (steaming).

Pour them out on a big table covered with newspaper and dig in. Anything longer and you're cooking them way too long and they'll get tough on you. Think about how tough shrimp would be if you boiled them 20 minutes or more.

4-5 lbs per person is what I do, however, whatever is left over I still shuck and freeze the meat for etouffee...


I drop potatoes and whole garlic bulbs in 12-15 mins (can't remember) prior to bugs.
The corn 7-10 mins before bugs.

I purge the bugs for about 2-3 minutes...

After dropping the bugs, I boil them for 7 mins. Dump them in a cooler and add Tony Chacheres on top. I've always let them hang out in the cooler for a while before serving them... Had a many a happy camper after the handful of boils I've done.

Note- I always add more seasoning, garlic bulbs, a little butter between batches...

[This message has been edited by lglidewell (edited 3/29/2012 2:09p).]

Use liquid seasoning in the boil water - and use 2x whatever the recommended amount for your volume of water is on the manufacturer's package.

Get the boil water to a good roling boil, then dump your crawfish in. Boil until about 1/2 of the crawfish are floating (5-10 mins generally). Remove the crawfish from your boil and put in an ice chest immediately to allow them to steam. This is when you add any powdered seasoning if you want. I generally do, because the steam liquefies some of the powdered seasoning and because you get that good seasoning on your fingers while you are peeling the crawfish. Some folks also add a dollip of butter here. I'm iffy on it personally - somtimes yes, sometimes no.

Let steam in the ice chest for about 10 minutes or so, then serve.

I always put the sausage, mushrooms, new potatoes, onions and corn in with each batch. It's good to pre-cook them a little bit, especially if you have a good burner and can boil the crawfish quick enough that you don't get a good cook on your veggies and add ons.

A lot of folks will add garlic bulbs to the boil water - if you do this, make sure your seasonings (liquid and powder) are light on the garlic content. Otherwise I've found that you end up with too much garlic and it overpowers everything else (this coming from somebody that likes garlic)

No need to purge. Some folks still do it, but it's a holdover from the old days and not really required anymore. Most folks I know over in south LA and across cajun country don't bother with it anymore. It won't hurt anything though. Just soak in some good tap water for about 10 minutes prior to tossing in the boil water.

[This message has been edited by schmellba99 (edited 3/29/2012 2:22p).]

I've always used the rule of thumbe that they're done when most of them turn bright red and float.

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put them in an old cooler, hit em with seasoning, close the cooler for another 5-10 minutes

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This is a must that many people leave out and end up with bland bugs.

BUTTER! Add a stick to the pot, and it helps them slide right out if the shell. I boil the potatoes for 10 minutes, corn for 5, then bugs till they float, and into the ice chest to steam for 15-20.

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I'm planning on about 10 people so how many pounds of crawfish should I get?

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Is everyone eating bugs? A 30lb bag should do if so, but if all ten were anything like my rib, then you'd need a lot more. She is a pretty small girl and I've watched her put away 10-15lbs. On the other hand last time I boiled I did 60lbs and 15-20 people couldn't finish it.

So I forced everyone there to peel all of the mudbugs left, put them in freezer bags, and used it a few weeks later for Crawfish Etouffee!

^ I went to a good friends' graduation party and she bought WAYYYY too many bugs. We ate until we couldn't eat any more and then spent the rest of the night boiling and peeling bugs. We finished peeling about 2 or 3AM.

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^ I went to a good friends' graduation party and she bought WAYYYY too many bugs. We ate until we couldn't eat any more and then spent the rest of the night boiling and peeling bugs. We finished peeling about 2 or 3AM.

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Maybe you were one of the drunks I forced to peel bugs. There were people I didn't know there.

Possibly. I was not drunk, however.

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No need to purge. Some folks still do it, but it's a holdover from the old days and not really required anymore. Most folks I know over in south LA and across cajun country don't bother with it anymore. It won't hurt anything though. Just soak in some good tap water for about 10 minutes prior to tossing in the boil water.

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I've been boiling every year for a decade. We use a small kiddie swimming pool and dump all the bugs in at one time, then pour about a quart of salt on the bugs. Every time, the water turns muddy with bug ***t.

If you like grit and crawfish tails with loaded poop-shoots, then don't purge because I find it to be necessary!

+1 on purging. Or buy crawfish that are already purged.

BCS Seafood? sells them to Shipwreck and a few other places in town. They are much better once purged IMHO.

One of you guys (AC, I think) said several years ago that you had crawfish boiled in Velveeta cheese. Anyone got a recipe for this?

Get a fresh pair of panty hose. Stuff full of mushrooms, hang over side. keeps them whole for ya.

Fresh garlic is a must.

only boil the bugs for 5 minutes, then kill the heat. let them soak for another 15 to really get the full benefit of the juice. if you're only doing on sack you can even throw a bag of ice in after killing the heat. it will keep them from overcooking but the bugs will still be hot.

Crawfish boil list
Taters
Onions
Mushroom
Garlic
Lemons
Sausage
Corn
Boil spices
Bag of zatarans spice bag (crab boil bag yellow box).

I use Nates Turbo from addison, but find a dust/liquid boil that you like. The key is soaking after.. 30 minutes to soak up the flavor. I tend to do my veggies separate and dust them to personal pref.

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Get a fresh pair of panty hose.

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Do they have to be new and clean? or can they be used for extra flavor?

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I've been boiling every year for a decade. We use a small kiddie swimming pool and dump all the bugs in at one time, then pour about a quart of salt on the bugs. Every time, the water turns muddy with bug ***t.

If you like grit and crawfish tails with loaded poop-shoots, then don't purge because I find it to be necessary!

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Let me rephrase:

Salt is not necessary for the purge if you are using tap water.

I suppose if you are using raw well water, adding salt would be necessary, but with regular tap water, they will purge just the same. Nothing wrong with purging with salt, it's just not all that necessary and to big a deal is made of it being a requirement.

here's the best tips i can give you:

1. leave the sausage OUT! it's a texas thing and dominates the taste.

2. plan for 5lb/head and enjoy the left-overs

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I suppose if you are using raw well water, adding salt would be necessary

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Not around here.

Good point - the Shotgun Shack i lived in in CS had enough salt in the water that nothing extra would be required. Crapola, that was near brine water that came out of the well.

As this is a Texas A&M board you all should know that Aggie scientists developed the process of purging crawfish which has been adopted by some producers/processors as well as restaurants (Hawks outside of Rayne, La for example).

True purging is evacuation of the crawfish gut which can only be accomplished by holding crawfish in water without feed for at least 24 hours. Simply placing crawfish in a container for a short period of time (with or without salt) does not eliminate the gut contents. It does however help clean the outside of the crawfish, thereby producing dirty water in the container.

Was watching Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern just the other day and they were in New Orleans. A guy was doing crawfish boils for some of his clients and they would add ice to the pots at the end of the boil to make the crawfish absorb more of the seasoning from the water. Fisrt time I had seen that, but I may have to give it a try.

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only boil the bugs for 5 minutes, then kill the heat. let them soak for another 15 to really get the full benefit of the juice. if you're only doing on sack you can even throw a bag of ice in after killing the heat. it will keep them from overcooking but the bugs will still be hot.

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This.

Spice should be in the crawfish, not sprinkled on the outside.

FIFY...

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plan for 5lb/head and enjoy spending hours peeling bugs for one small bowl of etouffe

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Spice should be in the crawfish, not sprinkled on the outside.

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That's where you're wrong, my friend. I do both. I let them sit and dust.

To each their own Mule