re: What's your crawfish boiling recipe?

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you just end up with spice on your hands and that's all you end up tasting. The flavors should marry in the pot.

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If you did a decent job of boiling them you don't need shite on the shells.

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Holy shite. This is our exact recipe. It's an old Time Picayune recipe. I've used it for the past 20 years

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Ingredients Needed:

·1 sack live crawfish
·1 box salt for purging
·Water
·6 bags of old school Zatarain's crab boil
·1/2 cup Italian seasoning
·2 cups of Cayenne
·1/2 cup granulated garlic
(or subsitute Zatarain’s Pro Boil Seasoning for italian/cayenne/garlic, add more)
·12 lemons, sliced in half
·12 Onions
·6 large heads of garlic, split in half exposing pods
·6 Bay Leaves
·Lots and lots of beer

Equipment Needed:
·One large boiling pot
·Outdoor high-pressure propane cooker
·Large tub or two ice chests (depending on the amount of live crawfish)
·A large paddle for stirring the crawfish (old pirogue paddle will do)
·A large table with plenty of newspapers to cover it, several rolls of paper towels, and a large garbage can
·bullshite stories to tell anyone who will listen while you are doing all of the work


Preparation:
Handling:
·Drink a beer
·You must keep the live Crawfish fresh and healthy. Keep them in a cool place and out of the heat. Your garage is the perfect spot until you're ready to boil. Begin boiling as soon as possible.
·When you get your sack of crawfish, hose them down. Do not take the crawfish out of the sack, leave them in the sack and hose the entire sack with fresh water.
·Drink a beer
· Place them back in an ice chest (if they are going to be in there for a while cover with a bag of ice). If you use ice, be sure to drain them frequently. DO NOT let them sit in cold water for a long time or they will die!

Purging Crawfish:
·Drink a beer
·The cardinal rule is to purge and thoroughly wash the crawfish before boiling them. Pour the sack of live crawfish in a large ice chest. Pour one box salt over the top of the crawfish. Add water to just cover the crawfish. Gently stir with a large paddle to mix the salt and the water, then rinse crawfish thoroughly. Be careful not to let them purge too long. You do not want them to be dead when you add them to the boil. Throw away all crawfish that have already died (the dead crawfish should float to the top). You do not; I repeat, DO NOT want to add dead crawfish to the pot.
· Tell a bullshite story.
·After purging and cleaning, don’t leave the crawfish covered with water, as they need air to stay alive. Keep the crawfish in a cool or shaded area until you’re ready to start cooking.
·You finished cleaning the crap out of them, drink two beers and make your wife listen to a bullshite story.

Boiling Crawfish:
·If you have not already done so, drink a cold beer.
·In a large pot, add enough water.
·Squeeze out the juice out of the lemon halves into the water and throw the lemon halves into the water.
·Add the onions cut in quarters.
·Drink a beer.
·Add other seasoning ingredients.
·Tell your wife to drink a beer.
·Cover pot, turn on the burner full blast, and bring water to a boil; boil 2 to 3 minutes to allow the spices to mix well.
· Tell a bullshite story about your brother.
·Use the beer bottle to cool your forehead
·Add crawfish to the wire basket strainer. Boil 5 minutes. Regulate the burner so the rolling boil is maintained, but where the pot does not boil over.
·Get your wife to wipe the sweat off of your brow.
·Turn the burner off, keep the pot covered, and let the crawfish soak for 25 minutes. Start testing at 20 minutes to make sure that crawfish do not stick to shell and that they are picking up the seasoning. You can throw some ice on top as some idiots say this helps the crawfish to become better seasoned.
·Drinking beer is a good activity to do while you are letting the crawfish soak.
·Remove wire basket strainer from pot and rest it on the top of the pot using two boards laid on the top of the pot as a rack. Let the crawfish drain.
·Pour them out on the table and spread out so they don’t continue to cook.
·Run cool water over your burned hands cause you forgot to use the oven mitts you should have bought at Wal-Mart for this task dummy.
·Pinch the tails, suck the heads, and drink a beer with a cheer for good old Dad.

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Squeeze your lemons in after you shut fire off and don't throw all the rinds in. They just soak up your seasonings.

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If you did a decent job of boiling them you don't need shite on the shells.

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first thing I do is get drunker than shite

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SHOPPING LIST:

(per sack 30-40lbs)

Boil:
—Seasoning: One 4.5 lbs bag of dry powered boil per sack of crawfish + 1 tablespoon liquid boil per 10 lbs crawfish (read directions on seasoning by brand and adjust)
—Corn: 6 full ears, frozen (or 12 1/2 ears)
—Potatoes: 3-5lbs
—Mushrooms: 1/2 lb
—Garlic: 5-8 bulbs
—Lemons: 6 lemons
—Celery: 1 head—Onions: 5 onions
—Sausage: 1 lbs, cooked
Other:
—Propane + pot, cover, basket & paddle
—Newspaper to cover the table
—Dipping sauce: 2 bottles of remoulade; 1 bottle of cocktail sauce
—Paper towels: 5 rolls

PREPARATION:

—Break corn cobs in half
—Cut lemons in half
—Cut up head of celery
—Slice garlic bulbs in half, with top and root ends intact holding pieces together
—Cut onions in half
—Cut sausage into bite-size slices
—Make dipping sauce: Mix ketchup, mayo, Worcestershire and Tony's to taste

BOILING:

1) Bring water and seasonings to boil (15-20 minutes).

2) Add potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, lemons, celery and onions; cover and bring back to hard, rolling boil (15-20 minutes).

3) Add crawfish, stir several times, cover.

4) kill flame when there’s lots of bubbles on the surface but short of hard, rolling boil.

5) Let sit for four minutes; add corn.

6) Soak 40 minutes, more or less, checking at 20 and then 30 minutes. Stir well when checking. If texture is rubbery, tail meat is not not done; if falling apart, it’s overcooked.

7) Pull basket and drain.

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·The cardinal rule is to purge and thoroughly wash the crawfish before boiling them. Pour the sack of live crawfish in a large ice chest. Pour one box salt over the top of the crawfish. Add water to just cover the crawfish. Gently stir with a large paddle to mix the salt and the water, then rinse crawfish thoroughly. Be careful not to let them purge too long. You do not want them to be dead when you add them to the boil. Throw away all crawfish that have already died (the dead crawfish should float to the top). You do not; I repeat, DO NOT want to add dead crawfish to the pot.

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He said one of the myths involves using salt to clean or purge crawfish before boiling. “Research at the LSU AgCenter has shown that the addition of salt to the wash water provides no significant advantage in cleansing crawfish despite the numerous claims to the contrary.”

Washing crawfish for as little as 10 minutes in water helps remove mud and debris but does little to eliminate intestinal wastes, he said, and salt appears to be of no benefit.

“The only way to significantly reduce size and content of the intestinal tract is with a 12- to 24-hour freshwater purge, which is difficult and impractical for homeowners to do.”

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This is wrong, imho. Purge crabs; wash crawfish.

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