Crawfish boil first timer - a couple questions - please help!

That’s a lot of sausage. 3 lbs is way enough.

That’s a lot of shrimp, but not crazy if only getting 30 lbs crawfish.

Cooking shrimp with crawfish is easy, crabs not so much. I’d just do the crawfish and throw shrimp in when crawfish begin to soak.

Yes, all that will fit in a 100qt pot.

Thanks for the great feedback! I've seen folks using snow crab legs on Youtube. Would something like that be better? Didn't realize the other crabs would complicate things so much. Just want to cover myself in case some of the folks don't love the crawfish. Thanks again!

Yes. Frozen is the way to go. Google has good results on why and when to add. Basically it stays together better.

I always figure 5 lbs. per person for crawfish, but everybody that comes to eat are from La. and can eat 5 lbs. of crawfish on average.

As for shrimp, I only figure 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. per person since there is so little waste with shrimp. The amount of sides is more than sufficient but like already mentioned, cut back on the sausage a bit.

The good thing is, whatever is left over makes for some great omelets, potato salad and the best of all---------

Google "Cajun Ninja's After The Boil Soup" and follow his instructions. Thank me later............

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3-5lbs is average for people who eat crawfish IMO. People who don’t and kinds are usually a pound or 1.5 (and will usually eat more corn, potatoes sausage and mushrooms to fill themselves up)

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I made the mistake of planning on 3-4 pounds per person the first time I boiled outside of Louisiana, had a ton left over. I now plan on 1-2 pounds per person and have either burger and hot dogs or some chicken grilled and ready for those that shy away.

Thanks for the info and I will definitely check that out!

Great idea with the backups - thanks!

1 sack would be enough, people who never ate crawfish will just eat them for the novelty.

Most people eat shrimp so 15 lbs would be a solid backup. My family eats shrimp, and loves them. When I boil them for a mid week meal, I use a 2lb pack of headless shrimp out of my freezer, along with 1lb of sausage, 4-5 potatos and 4-5 ears of corn and I typically have a few shrimp left over to make an omelet the next morning.

I think you will be fine with what you have and that should all fit in one pot. Also, fresh corn is great in a boil. It doesnt fall apart.

If you want to do crabs as a backup I'd maybe do some snow crabs.

That's plenty of food for non-Louisiana folk. I boiled crawfish yesterday and had about that many people over and two sacks was perfect, but these were Louisiana people and we didn't do shrimp also. I would even grill some of the sausage and put it out sliced as an appetizer with brown mustard and toothpicks.

The only thing that made me respond at all is that shrimp cook so quickly that I would never boil them at the same time as the crawfish. Also I pour melted butter and some spice mix over my shrimp and mix it in right after I take them out.

What you will have to really map out is your time. I would boil vegetables first for about 8-10 minutes (fresh corn, b-size potatoes, onions, heads of garlic, brussels sprouts, carrots) and put them in an ice chest to steam and store. I find that folks appreciate how clean the vegetables come out if they are boiled by themselves in the first drop in the spicy water and then dropped into an ice chest. They also season the water. You can dust them with spice mix in the ice chest, but I usually don't.

Then boil crawfish and sausage (if you are boiling sausage), returning to boil after the drop for no more than 5 minutes, then strain and put them in an ice chest dusted and mixed with spice mix to steam and store. They will be ready to serve in about 15 minutes in the ice chest.

Then boil the shrimp for just a minute returning to boil after the drop, then toss with spice mix and butter. When the shrimp are done you can serve everything at once.

I'm not a "soak the crawfish after they boil" guy. In my experience that overcooks them and makes them rubbery. It also ties up the pot for an extra half hour, time you could use on other things.

The key to getting the timing done and serving everything right with three separate drops is the double jet burner. That allows you to control the water in the pot as easily as controlling a pot on the stove, if you have a good regulator.

With only one sack, you don't actually need a 100 quart pot. I use an 82 quart stainless pot and it is perfect for one sack each drop.

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Can't wait to hear the responses to your post

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He's got to be trolling with some of that advice.