re: "Drop crawfish in and bring back to a boil...then boil for 1-5 minutes..."

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Our next boil I'm going to test the temp throughout it and report back. I'm curious as well to see the temps after boil, soak, cooling etc

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Interested to see. I am boiling this weekend and will do the same. I bet our numbers could differ completely. Which would show how you just cant have a definitive universal method. Everyone's equipment is different. For example, my pot is my dads that he handed down to me. It has seen the invention of disco, the fall of the Berlin wall, and Michael Jackson change skin colors. So it is impossible to compare my methods to someone with a brand new rocket pot

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If you guys do this, please note:

the size of your pot,
how much water you started with,
type of burner,
pounds of crawfish,
temp drop when crawfish added,
how long it takes to see bubbles again,
ambient temperature the day of boil

and anything else that might make a difference.

It could help me refine the Crawfish Boil Calculator into a more useful tool.

And if you really want to get scientific, I'd like to know how much the water rises in the pot when the bugs are added and the average size of the crawfish (small, medium, large).

Rat, this was last night's batch. Turned out very well.


90 quart pot
Single jet burner

45 quarts of water
1 gallon vinegar
1 bag Chackbay
1 cup red pepper
2 boxes of salt
4 lemons
1 cup lemon juice
2 heads of garlic
1 cup chopped garlic
3 lbs red potatoes
1 lb link sausage cut in one inch slices

Add the above to the pot and bring to a rolling boil. Took 20 minutes.


Taste the water. Should be spicy as hell. Add 39 lbs of medium, washed crawfish and a lb of fresh mushrooms. Lid and continue high heat. Stir after 5 minutes or so. As simmer begins, after @ two minutes, cut the fire and drop in 12 frozen mini ears of corn and @ 3-4 lbs of ice. Stir. Leave the lid off and drink two more beers. Begin tasting after 20 minutes. These were perfect after a 30 minute soak


Mods: I usually add 2-3 cups of Zat's liquid. I forgot...but the taste was excellent anyway. I also usually drop in a can of orange juice concentrate and two or three sticks of real butter. Didn't this time, but almost always do. For subsequent batches, I usually add at least 1/2 of the above seasonings...but you must taste the water. That is key. Hope this helps.

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It has seen the invention of disco, the fall of the Berlin wall, and Michael Jackson change skin colors.

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Boiled a couple of sacks this weekend and tested temps throughout the process. All I can say is that the 'results' were all over the place. And I guess in results I mean temperatures.
Fwiw the crawfish came out great so as long as you follow a standard boil method and dont seriously overcook the crawfish or undercook them, I think you will be alright. The range of temps throughout the soak/cooling process is pretty wide. I think as long as you make a decent effort on cooling down the pot, you will be good.

Here are some things I noticed. Oh, I was using an infrared temperature gun.

-The temp of the flame from the burners was around 700-800F.
-Boiling hovered around 200 or a few degrees above.
-When you cut the flame and add frozen corn, it does nothing. It cooks the corn but does nothing to the temps. You would have to add a serious amount of corn to probably make even a difference of 10 degrees.
-Spraying the outside of the pot helps a little
-Spraying the inside of the pot helps a little also
-Mixing the pot also helps. When I say mix, take the paddle and stick it to the bottom and pull up to the top. This seems to do a good job of releasing heat. After letting the pot sit for a few minutes I would get temps in the 150s. After a quick mix, I would see temps in the 170s.
-After doing these, I would get temps between 150 and 175.


I think as long as you cut the heat and make a legit attempt to cool, you are fine. This is assuming you boiled them correctly. I think the margin for error is very large once you get the pot off the heat and start your cooling processes.