re: Going to try crawfish... help.

The beer is fine. Many people do that. I don’t think it adds anything but I’ve done it before.

I was talking about boiling longer, adding seasoning after they are boiled, adding garlic and onion at the end, etc

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Done it a thousand times and this isn't true at all.

When you boil chicken for jambalaya or gumbo, do you throw the water out or use it? Plus, when you boil stuff, it kills off everything in the boil. Just like when you have to boil water before you drink it.

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Wrong. I'm allergic to shellfish, and you cannot boil chicken in the same water. When you are allergic to shellfish the real allergy is usually iodine, which will bleed into the chicken. They may not be that sensitive to it, but you are completely wrong boiling does not kill off iodine.

I go to boils and usually just bring my own food and just hang out and drink, but I know a guy that couldn't even go or he would have a reaction. Please don't feed people food out of the same pot of water if they are allergic to shellfish.

ETA: also why would I want to eat boiled chicken anyway?

I was referring to the raw chicken reference, not killing off what makes people allergic to shellfish. The friends I have that say they're allergic to crawfish can eat the other stuff we put into boil. If you say otherwise, that's fine. Like you say, maybe they're just not as sensitive.

The chicken comes out delicious just like the sausage, hot dogs, corn and just about anything else you put in crab boil. shite, I know people that put in cauliflower and eat it too.

There are a million ways to cook good crawfish. I'm glad everyone likes their way. Happy eating.

I have had this recipe on my store for years, nothing fancy, but you'll have to adjust quantities.

NOT on the link, I usually use an old crawfish bag and place my onions, potatoes and corn in it to boil for about 15 minutes before I throw in the crawfish
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Troy, the reason I ask the size of your pot or the amount of people have is that will have an impact on the portions.

I have a pretty large pot: 125 quarts, that I can easily put an entire 35-40 pound sack in.

I fill the pot halfway up with water and kick on the jets.

I then add 6-8 yellow onions cut in half, 7-8 cloves of garlic, 6-8 lemons, cut in half and squeezed into the water, and I put in 3 oranges cut in half and squeezed into the water.

I use a bag and a half of Louisiana seasoning and a 8oz liquid crab boil.

I throw in my bag of potatoes as well.

Put the lid on. When the water comes to a boil, I put in my crawfish.

Some people at this point will do one of two things:

a) Immediately shut off the jets once the water has started to even foam a little, put ice in the water, your frozen corn and sausage and whatever else you want in there, hose off the outside of the pot and let the crawfish soak for 20-30 until they are all sunk to the bottom

or

b) Put the crawfish in, and let the pot come back up to a boil, and then immediately cut off and do all of the other steps in a.

In the past, I would let it come back to a boil before shutting it off. Recently I have only had the jets on very briefly before shutting off the jets and bringing the temperature down. Its something that is debated on.

There are other things you can do. Some people like to add frozen orange juice concentrate when they put the ice in. Some people like to add things like celery salt and bay leaves in the initial seasoning.

I would go with the very basics before you start getting wild.


If you're doing a second batch, don't dump the water:

same amount of onions, garlic etc, same amount of liquid crab boil, but HALF the seasoning, or an entire bag instead of a bag and half (depending on how hot the first batch was).


Make sure you wash the crawfish out thoroughly before you put them in the pot, and do NOT do the old purging thing covering them in salt, that is bullshite.

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Make sure you wash the crawfish out thoroughly before you put them in the pot, and do NOT do the old purging thing covering them in salt, that is bullshite.

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Exactly

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If you're doing a second batch, don't dump the water: 

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It's unbelievable how many arguments I've had with people telling me that you had to dump the water.

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It's unbelievable how many arguments I've had with people telling me that you had to dump the water.

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I've literally never heard of anyone dumping the water for the 2nd batch.

Now the 3rd batch...let's just say some people are lazy.

Just don't ever use a wooden paddle to remove the basket, I have a friend that got 3rd degree burns on his leg when the paddle broke.

My momma burnt the top of her foot (cooking barefoot) with hot roux when I was a kid, she was in sandles a few months.