I have a lot of friends and family ask how I boil my crawfish. So I took some pics of the boil I did for my wife on Mother's day. Here are pics with instructions. I did not show the steps for cleaning them, but I can do that at some point. It is just a matter of putting them in an ice chest with a drain plug. Put them in, fill with water, stir around good and drain. Do this several times until the water runs clear out of the drain plug.
Start with a big pot half full of water on a large propane burner. I use an 82 quart pot (I think! I have had it so long I can't remember). Crank up the burner and add:
I entire carton of Zatarans Crab Boil, a small bottle of liquid boil and about a 1/3 box of salt. I add a little extra salt since the potatoes, and other veggies absorb a salt and seasoning.
Add Garlic, Onions and lemons:
Boil the veggies and seasoning for about 30 minutes (or more) to extract the flavor
Then depending on the size of the potatoes, add them and boil them for 10-20 minutes. If they are really small, then you can just add them when you put in the mudbugs.
Then pull out the basket and add small potatoes (I added a few extra taters since I wanted to make tater salad for munching on all week) and sausage
Pour live, washed crawfish on top.
Drop them in the boiling water.
Bring the water back to a boil and boil no more that 90 seconds to 2 mins. This is very important. By the time the water comes back to a boil the babies are cooked. NEVER BOIL FOR SE
VERAL MINUTES!! YOU RUN A GREAT RISK OF OVER COOKING THEM! Overcooked crawfish are punishable by jail time in Louisiana.
After 90 Seconds of boiling, cut the heat off. Then add fresh corn and mushrooms and stir with a large paddle to get the corn and shrooms submerged.
Notice that the crawfish are floating and pushing up. This is because they are hot and expanding with positive pressure in the body cavities. Put the lid on and let soak for 7-10 minutes. After 7-10 minutes stir with large paddle every 2 minutes or so to make sure all the crawfish spend some time submerged. It also helps to dissipate the heat. As the critters cool the will loose the positive pressure and begin to absorb the seasoned water (at this point it is actually a stock)
Notice they are sinking in the water:
After a total soak time of about 20 minutes and they are sufficiently sinking down and absorbed the stock, pull the basked and let it drain for a couple of minutes.
The next step is the best. Pour them out on some newspaper (it isn't a crawfish boil without a newspaper lined table) and eat!!
Start with a big pot half full of water on a large propane burner. I use an 82 quart pot (I think! I have had it so long I can't remember). Crank up the burner and add:
I entire carton of Zatarans Crab Boil, a small bottle of liquid boil and about a 1/3 box of salt. I add a little extra salt since the potatoes, and other veggies absorb a salt and seasoning.
Add Garlic, Onions and lemons:
Boil the veggies and seasoning for about 30 minutes (or more) to extract the flavor
Then depending on the size of the potatoes, add them and boil them for 10-20 minutes. If they are really small, then you can just add them when you put in the mudbugs.
Then pull out the basket and add small potatoes (I added a few extra taters since I wanted to make tater salad for munching on all week) and sausage
Pour live, washed crawfish on top.
Drop them in the boiling water.
Bring the water back to a boil and boil no more that 90 seconds to 2 mins. This is very important. By the time the water comes back to a boil the babies are cooked. NEVER BOIL FOR SE
VERAL MINUTES!! YOU RUN A GREAT RISK OF OVER COOKING THEM! Overcooked crawfish are punishable by jail time in Louisiana.
After 90 Seconds of boiling, cut the heat off. Then add fresh corn and mushrooms and stir with a large paddle to get the corn and shrooms submerged.
Notice that the crawfish are floating and pushing up. This is because they are hot and expanding with positive pressure in the body cavities. Put the lid on and let soak for 7-10 minutes. After 7-10 minutes stir with large paddle every 2 minutes or so to make sure all the crawfish spend some time submerged. It also helps to dissipate the heat. As the critters cool the will loose the positive pressure and begin to absorb the seasoned water (at this point it is actually a stock)
Notice they are sinking in the water:
After a total soak time of about 20 minutes and they are sufficiently sinking down and absorbed the stock, pull the basked and let it drain for a couple of minutes.
The next step is the best. Pour them out on some newspaper (it isn't a crawfish boil without a newspaper lined table) and eat!!
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