Alright... I'm having another crawfish boil in a couple weekends and just wanted to run something by the braintrust here. I've done this before, but consider this consulting with the experts to tweak things to perfection.

Basically my question revolves around cook, soak and cooler time. After bringing the boil up to temp... do you drop in the mudbugs and immediately kill the fire and soak? Or do you actually boil it for some period of time? If so.. how long? And how long to soak after?

Also... after removing from the boil and dumping into the cooler... how long do you let them sit?

I'm set on how much boil I need... and yes, I typically dust after the boil (sacrilege for some, I know). And I typically boil the corn and taters ahead of time and remove. Not sure what the consensus is there though.

Anyway... thanks in advance

This is how I do mine, not that I'm an expert at it but never had complaints.

1.Bring pot to a boil
2.Drop in crawfish
3.Leave the fire on and boiling/cooking the crawfish, usually until about half are floating
4.Dump in cooler and sprinkle with additional seasoning
5.start eating as soon as able without burning your fingers

And of course must have a beer in your hand during the entire process

[This message has been edited by AgySkeet06 (edited 5/19/2014 9:17a).]

The dump and boil 5 minutes is a pretty good time frame. It then varies about how long to let sit after but generally 20 minutes is a good rule of thumb. On a side note, a buddy of mine dumps a 10# bag of ice in the mix after the 5 minute boil. This seems to drop the temp enough to keep the water hot but drop it well below boiling and prevent the crawfish from overcooking during the 20 minute soak, which essentially is just a seasoning period anyway so near boiling temps are unnecessary. I hate mushy, overcooked crawfish and have never had that experience with the ones done his way.

Don't overcrowd the boiling pot. You should be able to drop in the basket and never loose boil. Boil for ~5 mins, remove to a soaking pot at 140F or so. Soak for 20-30mins depending on how spicy you want them. From soak, they go into a cooler for consumption. No need to sprinkle with seasoning.

Boil with just a little seasoning, then put crawfish in a soaker pot with cool water which has all the seasonings in it. Let soak for 20 min and then dump in cooler. You will never do crawfish the old way again

Bring water to good rolling boil, then cut the heat add bugs. Then re-light and let it go again till it is at a good rolling boil again then cut heat and let soak 30-45 minutes. place in Ice chest and begin eating immediately. Zero dusting ever. Yes I do, do corn and potatoes as well as mushrooms and garlic before the bugs.

We have a very good jet burner so it only takes 3-5 minutes for water to be back at boil. If you don't have a good burner I wouldn't cut the heat.

[This message has been edited by cledus6150 (edited 5/19/2014 10:00a).]

are you guys using huge boiling pots???

I use the same pot I fry my turkey with and have to divide a bag of crawfish into 2 or 3 loads with fixings. (like max says dont overcrowd). If i cook for 5 then turn off for them to soak 20+ min I'd be there all day and people would be standing around waiting on crawfish the whole time.

I have a 15.5 gal keg that I cut the top out of that I use for large boils like this.

quote:

---

are you guys using huge boiling pots???

I use the same pot I fry my turkey with and have to divide a bag of crawfish into 2 or 3 loads with fixings. (like max says dont overcrowd). If i cook for 5 then turn off for them to soak 20+ min I'd be there all day and people would be standing around waiting on crawfish the whole time.

---

This is why a cooler is so handy

quote:

---

I drop them in boiling and immediately put the cover on with the fire still going. Once it really begins to steam again (5 mins or so) I cut the fire and soak for 15 mins. That is about perfect for me.

I am not one to criticize another man's method, but I disagree with sprinkling any seasoning on the bugs. The seasoning should soak into the bugs and not be sprinkled onto the shells. All that does is burn your lips when trying to eat and doesn't actually flavor the meat.

---

I do the exact same method as Sasappis

Rogue, do you use any liquid crab and shrimp boil? Without getting into a dick measuring contest on who has the best recipe for crawfish; I think using liquid crab and shrimp boil, as well as powdered seasonings, makes all the difference in kicking out well flavored crawfish.


[This message has been edited by Ramrod (edited 5/19/2014 12:21p).]

Boil the water and seasoning
Drop in crawfish when it boils.
When it starts boiling again, turn it off.

Boil til they float, soak until they sink.

Ice chest them.

Its the Coon ass way

[This message has been edited by ageofease08 (edited 5/19/2014 12:17p).]

On adding ice...have a friend who freezes water in milk jugs and drops in. No diluting the spices that way.

Huge boiling pots? You could say that. Can do 1000lbs at a time in 2 different pots

Yeah a very large pot made in Louisiana that can easily fit 30+ pound bag of bugs plus corn and potatoes all at once.

We use a 120 quart pot. I also recommend a jet burner. This pot can accommodate a full sack of crawfish, potatoes, corn, onion, brussel sprouts, broccoli, sausage and mushrooms. If your pot or stirrer does not have a water level marked in some method, I recommend placing the sack of crawfish in the pot with water to determine the level prior to heating the water. Seen too many overflows when the crawfish are added. Usually my overflows.

Season the boil by adding enough crawfish boil and cayenne to make you gag. I start with a full jar of the powdered seasoning and a large can of cayenne. I cannot taste the difference between the powdered and liquid boil. If you boil more than one sack, you will need to add a half jar of boil for every sack of crawfish. Sasappis stated a good point about seasoning, but I do not mind telling people if you have to add seasoning after the boil you are doing it wrong. My analogy is squirting hot sauce on an oyster shell prior to eating the oyster. My old Cajun neighbors and friends think this is hilarious when I tell them some of the restaurants do this in Houston. I do not eat crawfish at those restaurants anymore.

We first boil the potatoes, onion and garlic for 20 minutes. Then we dump everything else in. I used to boil the crawfish for 5 minutes. Someone on here recommended a 3 minute boil. Tried it two weeks ago and like it better. Hate over cooked crawfish. When we soak, we turn off the burner and place milk jugs with frozen water in the boil and spray water on the outside of the pot. I like milk jugs with screw on tops to keep from diluting the boil. We usually boil more than one sack. Placing the pot in a wash tub also helps reduce the temperature. We target 140 degrees F and soak for 20 minutes. We do not put in an ice chest but dump out on tables, but if you put in an ice chest, ensure the crawfish are below 140 or they will keep cooking.

Once the potatoes go in the boil, do not stir. Just use your paddle to push down the contents to ensure an even cooking. Former neighbor literally dissolved the freaking potatoes. We hid my paddle from him after the first sack.

Another good point stated above is you gots to have your beer near by.

I've been meaning up upgrade my pot size to something respectable.



Also, if you dust the bugs...you're a lip burning jerk.

Here is our little rig. Did 10,000 lbs a couple weeks ago.

Now it's officially a dick measuring contest.

the worst mistake you can make is overcooking and soaking. most of these tips are overdone. IMHO making them difficult to peal.

quote:

---

the worst mistake you can make is overcooking and soaking. most of these tips are overdone. IMHO making them difficult to peal.

---

Not if the soak pot is 120 degrees when you dump the crawfish in. It won't overcook them