Seersucker Ag 2011 said:
Here's how I like to do my boils:
1. Wash your crawfish, pulling out any dead or crushed ones that may be inside the sack. Hose down 3-4 times in the cooler, draining each time. Don't "purge" with salt.
2. Fill the pot about halfway with water
3. Add roughly one bag of boil (I prefer Cajun Land) and 2 butter sticks
4. Light burner, wait for water to boil
5. After the water comes to a rapid boil, add any veggies besides potatoes and corn. Boil for 5 minutes. Then add potatoes. Boil for 5 more minutes. Then add corn. 15 total minutes at a rapid boil.
6. Next, add crawfish to the rapidly boiling water, cover with lid, and wait for them to return to a rapid boil.
7. Once they come back to a boil, let them boil for 2 minutes. People will claim that they should boil for 5-10 minutes. I think these people are crazy.
10. After they have boiled for 2 minutes, cut the heat and add 2 bags ice into the pot, mix it around, then and recover the pot
11. Start testing the crawfish after about 20 minutes and let them soak until seasoning is satisfactory.
There are many different ways to boil crawfish. I always do it this way and have great results IMO. Good luck!
Edit: I like to cook the sausage separately (grill or oven) so it doesn't grease up the pot. As far as other vegetables, onions and garlic are a must and sometimes mushroom, artichokes, or brussel sprouts.
You and I are probably related because
your timing is almost dead on with how I do it but....the ice man. I do not ice them and I don't understand why people do this.
You get them out when they are steamy and let them soak in the coolers (I usually line them with foil, this probably does nothing, but I started doing it this way so I'll never change. Plus I have a mental picture of the foil somehow helping trap the heat.)
Then I add them in layers, barely sprinkling a little bit of left over boil on each layer (two person job, usually kids can help with that). Shake the coolers a little, make sure they are air tight.
The longer the soak the spicier will they will be. This is one of the crucial things that is often overlooked and the most important part IMO.Open the cooler for some red hot crawfish but quickly shut it and you can eat them hot for hours upon hours. It's ok to get creative with the veggies. My go to is: corn, potatoes, and mushrooms, but will be trying asparagus.
Chop up a lot of 2 full onions, 3 lemons, 1 garlic clove, add a little bit of cayenne and dump it in there first thing and let it boil. If you have a laundry sack of some sort you can use this like a tea bag for a second batch, otherwise double up on the veggies seasoning above.
Seriously though. The timing posted above is dead on. Follow that to the T. Not a minute less (it is ok if you go a couple minutes over but not much more).
Remember to waiting for the (I call it Rolling boil) raging boil and THEN start the timer. Remember to wait for the boil before timing on both the veggies and the crawfish.
The purge is important but don't add salt (this is a myth) it'll just kill a few but does nothing.
If you are wondering how to do it mild for children or old folks...I'm sorry I can't help you. Cook hot dogs for them.
Enjoy.
