Help a novice boil crawfish

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What about purging?

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always purge

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Do you let them soak afterwards? How long?

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always let them soak, we usually do between 20-30 minutes

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What do you put in (corn, etc)

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corn
celery
potato
onion
garlic
lemon

i consider those a must when i eat

we sometimes will add in some different stuff

sausage/hot dogs
take a can of green beans and poke holes in it and drain, than just drop the whole can in the boil
oysters

Let's start there. How do you purge them?

I would go no smaller than a 100 qt pot, and if you can get the 120. I would also see if you can find one with an expanded metal basket, I really dislike the baskets that are essentially a second pot with holes punched in them. I find they take too long to drain, and you still have hot liquid coming out even if you thinkg you drained it well.

Around my parts I'm considered an expert, here is my best guide from start to finish:
Wash them in a tub or ice chest, make sure you don't put too much water in that you drown them. I usually put enough in so that it barely covers them......let them soak and change the water out about five minutes later. Do this 2 or 3 times depending on how dirty your water is. (I choose not to purge, but thats your decision).

Next I fill the pot with water, I believe I use about 10 gallongs (Helpful hint - if you get your own pot, measure the first time and mark your level with a sharp object to take the guesswork out next time)

Then I add:

5-6 nice size lemons quartered and squeezed into the pot

5-6 nice size onions quartered

3-4 garlic, cut the bottoms off

1 whole stalk of celery

Handful of Bay Leaves

Couple of pinches of cayenne season to taste

Couple of pinches of Chinese Pepper (season to taste, put too much and your crawfish will be atomic hot)

3/4 jar of Zatarains granulated powder

Couple splashes of Zatarains liquid boil

2-3 bags of their solid crab boil

Stir in good, bring your pot to a rolling boil, put in your crawfish, stir, put the cover back on, bring back to a boil......cut the fire and stir. Let them soak about 10 minutes and from their test one every couple minutes to test for doneness and seasoning (Helpful Hint - Test one that is representative of the size of your sack.....if you try a large or small one and most are medium your assessment may be inaccurate)

As for the extra goodies, if you want to put in potatoes add them as your putting in the crawfish....

For the rest mushrooms, artichokes, okra, green beans,corn etc. I find it's ok to add when you start soaking.

(Helpful Hint - Use a bag with holes in it that you would carry dirty laundry in to put your extra goodies in, it helps keep them together and easier to take out)

If you want to add sausage I would honestly wait until after the crawfish are out.......I find it gives the crawfish an oily aftertaste.

Extras, are

I went to a boil today, the guy boiling them boiled the crawfish for 7 minutes, and let them soak for 5 minutes after. He said he got the tip from the seafood guy across from Riverdale HS in Jefferson. It was the best I think I've ever eaten. Real easy to peel and full of juice.

Anyone ever did this way before?

I usual do the whole boil 3 minutes and soak for 30. But I may implement this way after this.

Congrats on making it through 5 years successfully.

I bought a "Bayou Cooker KAB6" a couple of years ago and like it. It is big, sturdy and has a nice heat distribution. I know people who make their own that have much nicer ones than I have, but for the money, it's nice.

As others have said, I don't think the pot you are looking at is big enough. You can look at places like cajungrocer.com, lacrawfish.com, etc. and see what's out there.

I purge in simple wash basins, changing the water a couple of times through the afternoon.

I'll let the others provide recipes -- there are millions, but I like mine just fine.

LSU Article

Here is an article from the LSU Ag school that is helpful. Washing them off to get rid of mud & debris is important, but purging, washing in salt water accomplishes nothing. Straight tails on boiled does not indicate they were dead before cooking and unsuitable to eat.

:rimshot:

Love me some mushrooms

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If you properly cook the crawfish and they're not end of the season hard crawfish they're not going to stick to the shells...No need for a buttery oily aftertaste.

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This. That oil or butter trick is a myth. Crawfish stick when they are overcooked. Bring your super seasoned water to a boil... TASTE the water, it should be very spicy and salty... add the cleaned and purged crawfish... bring back to a boil and TURN IT OFF immediately or after 5 mins at the most.

Allow to soak for 20 min or so, you can add frozen jugs of water at the end of this if you like. When the crawfish sink, it means they've soaked up the spicy water.

I think corn and mushrooms and the like can go in with the crawfish... but potatoes take longer to cook unless you have the baby ones, so you might want to par boil them ahead of time or cook them separately altogether.