crawfish boil?

[southdeltan]

What size pot do you guys use when boiling crawfish? Aluminum or Stainless?

Favorite boil recipe? (I've watched it done plenty of times, just wondering what others do).

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Separately, where can you get live crawfish in Vicksburg or across the river?

[woundedduck]

100 quart stainless pot
fill a little over half full with water
5 big bottles la. hot sauce
1/2 big bag louisiana
1/2 big bag swamp fire (i like to mix them)
1 1/2 cups cayenne pepper
bag of small red potatoes
1 small bottle of concentrated liquid boil
10 squeezed lemons
12 garlic bulbs cut across the top
1 bunch of celery cut up
10 onions with the tops cut ff (leave the stem side alone, it holds it together)
a few big cartons of shrooms
as much sausage as you want
i also skin whole chickens and toss them in with the crawfish

put everything in except seasoning,sausage, and crawfish in cold water and bring to a boil. add seasoning and boil for 10 minutes. then add the crawfish and sausage and boil for 7 minutes and turn it off. leave the top on until the are all trying to float out and get ready to wait. take off the top and get out your boat paddle and start stirrin. i spray the sides down with a hose to help cool it down faster. or dip in a tub of cold water. what you are trying to do is bring down the temp so the crawfish will soak up the juice. when they have all sunk to the bottom and no floaters are left...they are done. takes about an hour. some on here might say that they will be overcooked. that is b/s, i have cooked them a thousand times this way.

[ntzhunter]

120 qt stainless steel Bayou Classic pot...I boil a sack at a time

I prefer Louisiana powder and liquid.....to each their own....

[the doctor]

aluminum pot dont know size, can cook a whole sack at a time

tony's blue label bought in bulk

I cook the crawfish in fresh water (may add some lemons from time to time), bring water to rolling boil, add all crawfish at one time, bring back to boil and let boil for about five minutes to establish heat

pour in layers into oversized ice chest sprinkling liverally with powder after each layer, close lid and let stand for about 20-30 minutes...coller should be propped up and drain open to allow excess water to drain

after 20-30 minutes give cooler a shake and I like to lightly dust again and serve

vegetables, sausage and the like are cooked in seperate pot with about 3-5 lbs of powder added to water

got lots of other recipes and methods that serve well, the one above ran a business for over 20 years

enjoy
the doc

[DUCKAHOLIC]

An 80 Qt pot will cook a whole sack............without all the extras.

[BAY KINGFISHER]

140 qt alum. (can do two sacks if needed)

Cajunland Dry Seasoning
Liquid Boil
Whole Garlic
Onion
Celery
Salt
Cayene for heat!!
Lemons

Boil them to they float, Soak them to they sink!! will peel right every time, no butter or oil needed, and if I was going to steam anything it would be a lobster!! I dont like the seasoning all over the top of my crawfish when Im eating them.

[kris Schaumburg]

yeah, you don't have to put butter on bread, potatoes, or biscuits either, but I would if I had it.

I fill the pot up and put a sack of quartered onions in, a sack of garlic cloves cut in half, a sack of lemons cut in half and one grapefruit cut in half. The citrus is my favorite part. I use the zatarains dry boil in what ever quanity is appropriate for the amount of water/crawfish. Put your potatoes in and bring to a boil and boil for ~10mins. Put the crawfish in and return the water to a boil, then cover and turn the heat off. When you kill the heat add your mushrooms and 2 sticks of butter. I am not doing this cause it makes them peel better, I am doing this because I like butter. Let them sit ~20 mins. consume. The best tip I can give you about crawfish is this. Don't rush it. if I need a sack to feed the amount of people I have, i'll split the sack in half. boil half, consume, drink some beers, then start the other half. it ain't a race. And I hate it when I got a big pile of crawfish getting cold. i like the sitting around drinking part.

you can get crazy with whatever else you want to put in. Popular items include: sausage, artichokes, mushrooms, celery, garlic, hot dogs, ham, etc.

[DUCKAHOLIC]

Yall gonna think this is crazy but brussel sprouts cook mighty fine in a crawfish boil believe it or not

[hillhunter03]

I like to poke holes in the big cans of green beans and corn and throw them over in there too. The holes pulls all that seasoning in the cans and it will be the best green beans you will ever eat.

[southdeltan]

Lots of good ideas in here. I figured this would start a bit of a debate, pleasantly surprised it's remained very civil lol.

What's the smallest pot anybody has used? I don't know that I need to do whole sacks at a time.

[ragon]

[ragon]

how much you planing on cooking at a time?

[southdeltan]

That's a good question... I'm not really sure. Just trying to figure out what size pot I need. I don't have extra cash to purchase a pot when I probably won't use it much each year. The turkey fryer sounds good - I can use it for multiple things. (Crawfish/Shrimp/Turkeys/Beer...maybe...)

Google has info on this - but it's always better to hear it from the "experts" lol.

[woundedduck]

i'm with you johnny. i've done that,too. also, tie a bunch of fresh asparagus together with butchers twine and toss her in with the crawfish. makes your piss smell like hell, but damn good!

[deltadukman]

PM Duckaholic....he can hook you up with pots, burners, and what not on the cheap cheap....cheaper than you think...I came in wanting one thing and we walked out with a 180qt pot and a double jet burner.....can get water boiling in 15 minutes from a hose and cooks 2 sacks perfectly.