re: I thought I’ve Seen It All Boiling Crawfish Until Yesterday

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Why would vinegar make them “peel better”? And peel better than what?

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You ever boiled or steamed crabs before? Vinegar adds flavor to the crabs, but it also helps soften the shells and makes them easier to pick. The meat slides out easier. That’s fact. I’d have to think the same principle would apply to crawfish and steaming shrimp. One of the posters on here, I believe it was Otis, once mentioned about 3-4 years ago in a thread about Chackbay seasoning, that every now and then he adds a little vinegar to his crawfish boils. Adding vinegar to boil or steam crabs is extremely common. I’ve seen it done in Louisiana, on the east coast, west coast, and in my travels purchasing lumber in Asia. It’s a fact that it makes the crabs easier to shell.

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Cooking crawfish the right amount of time makes them peel fine. That seems obvious to me.

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Late season crawfish with hard shells aren’t always easy to peel at times. I don’t care how properly they’ve been boiled. By adding a little vinegar or canola oil those hard shell crawfish will without doubt shell easier.