Crawfish Boil Advice for Non-Cajuns

For folks familiar with eating crawfish, it is a general rule of thumb to have 5 lbs. per adult and just a couple lbs. per kid.

Men and teenage boys eat more than that, but women and girls generally don't even eat 5 lbs. so it works out in the end.

I'd say that falls off a bit if most of the eaters are first timers, so adjust according to that fact. I've seem many first timers have a hard time with getting the hang of eating them so they tend to quit after a few lbs.

Your 3 lbs. per person seems logical for a bunch of first time crawfish eaters.

A 100 qt. pot can hold about 1 1/2 sacks of crawfish per boil, so you are looking at making about 3 boils to do 120 lbs. of crawfish.

Even with 3 lbs per person, you will likely have leftovers. Many first timers are easily frustrated by peeling, or grossed out by it, or don’t like the taste—and some who dislike the flavor will also not want the corn or potatoes. So it’s a good idea to have an alternative main course so they aren’t hungry. Something filling & inexpensive like red beans and rice, easily made ahead and reheated/kept warm in a chafer/crock pot.

120 lbs for 40 first timers will be overkill most likely. Remember, they probably don’t even know how to peel and will get tired of doing it fast. I wouldn’t do any more than 3 sacks. If you do a 4th sack, you will be peeling it all by yourself.

I just did 4.5 sacks for 50 people, mostly Texans and mostly not first timers. No leftovers but it was enough as most people tapped out after 3 sacks (2 batches). The last 45 lbs were eaten by about 8 -10 people.

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Definitely have some sweets for afterwards

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Having a lot of various types of ice cream bars is a good idea and a fun one. Helps with the spice for first timers. We do this quite often and people really enjoy it.