# Crawfish Boil!!!!



## indaswamp (May 23, 2022)

Went to a crawfish boil with my fishing buddy and his wife this past Saturday. The host bought 4 sacks of crawfish, but only boiled 2; gave me a sack to take home. It was a fair trade as I left a lot of salumi for him to enjoy. As it just so happened, we had a pool party planned Sunday so that turned into a crawfish boil too! Friends bought the stuff for a boil, I brought the bugs...






Was only 6 adults and a bunch of kids. I ended up with about 2# of peeled seasoned tails, a gallon bag of seasoned corn on the cob, and some potatoes.

Will be making a river road crawfish stew later this week and a shrimp and corn soup with the corn....


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## SmokinEdge (May 23, 2022)

Nice bug feast. Looks delicious.


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## indaswamp (May 23, 2022)

Good size for this late in the year. You really don't want large crawfish in May as they can have very hard shells which make peeling difficult. The medium sized ones still have soft shells. I did not do the boil. Neighbor of my firefighter friend did the boil....first time I've seen oranges in a boil. It was very good... I like it better than lemon.


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## indaswamp (May 23, 2022)

Bugs were easy to peel and perfectly seasoned at both boils. First go around was traditional....Second boil on Sunday had the oranges...I like them with the oranges better.


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## indaswamp (May 23, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> Nice bug feast. Looks delicious.


Thanks SE! They were delicious!


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## pineywoods (May 23, 2022)

Looks awesome and bet it tasted great


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## TNJAKE (May 23, 2022)

Probably my favorite food on the planet. We went to a boil in February for my birthday and another at the very end of April. Love em spicy. I can eat 5-7lb no problem. We have a guy. Has a restaurant and 2 trucks does live sacks or already boiled. Brings them up 3x a week from baton rouge. Called Louisiana seafood company. He carries all the gulf goodies year round depending on what's in season. Thanks for posting


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## checkdude (May 23, 2022)

Looks like a great feast.unfortunately I'm way way up north and can't emagine how to get the ingredients here. Hope to make it back down south sometimes soon and will make sure to look for it. Is it something that a restaurant would offer?


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## indaswamp (May 23, 2022)

checkdude said:


> Is it something that a restaurant would offer?


Yes, a lot of restaurants do boiled crawfish. Some are better at it than others.


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## civilsmoker (May 23, 2022)

Oh man that is a beautiful site!  That is how a celebration of flavor!


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## WaterinHoleBrew (May 23, 2022)

That is just phenomenal!


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## sawhorseray (May 23, 2022)

Man alive does that ever look great! Where's the newspaper? RAY


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## indaswamp (May 23, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> Nice bug feast. Looks delicious.


Thanks SE!


pineywoods said:


> Looks awesome and bet it tasted great


Thanks piney! They sure were good!


TNJAKE said:


> Probably my favorite food on the planet. We went to a boil in February for my birthday and another at the very end of April. Love em spicy. I can eat 5-7lb no problem. We have a guy. Has a restaurant and 2 trucks does live sacks or already boiled. Brings them up 3x a week from baton rouge. Called Louisiana seafood company. He carries all the gulf goodies year round depending on what's in season. Thanks for posting


Thanks Jake! Glad you can get the good stuff fresh up there!


civilsmoker said:


> Oh man that is a beautiful site!  That is how a celebration of flavor!


Thanks civilsmoker! 'Twas mighty fine eating...


WaterinHoleBrew said:


> That is just phenomenal!


Thanks WHB!


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## indaswamp (May 23, 2022)

sawhorseray said:


> Man alive does that ever look great! Where's the newspaper? RAY


Thanks Ray. Old plastic folding table....just spray with bleach water, let sit and rinse...done.


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## Steve H (May 24, 2022)

Wow! That is one delicious looking bed of bugs!!


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## BGKYSmoker (May 24, 2022)

Nice

I really like bugs.


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## clifish (May 24, 2022)

I have never seen crayfish on a menu around here in NY,  Th only ones I ever had where swimming in my fish tanks.  They look very appetizing but I will never have a chance to try them due to my shellfish allergy.


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## Steve H (May 24, 2022)

clifish said:


> I have never seen crayfish on a menu around here in NY,  Th only ones I ever had where swimming in my fish tanks.  They look very appetizing but I will never have a chance to try them due to my shellfish allergy.


I have a couple times in Rochester. But the price was ridiculous. I have bought them frozen. But they aren't the same as fresh though.


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## WI Smoker77 (May 24, 2022)

Awesome looking spread.  Crawfish are delicious.  Still wondering if can do one up here in Wisconsin. I was reading on a site they will ship them live to here 'overnight'.  Just wondering if they would make it and still be fine to cook??
Thanks for sharing the pics!!


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## indaswamp (May 24, 2022)

Steve H said:


> Wow! That is one delicious looking bed of bugs!!


Thanks Steve! They were good!


BGKYSmoker said:


> Nice
> 
> I really like bugs.


Thanks Rick. I am still disappointed I could not find you less than a sack of crawfish when you passed through town a couple years ago. They just don't sell them live by the pound here, gotta buy a whole sack. Now already boiled-no problem; they sell those by the pound.


clifish said:


> I have never seen crayfish on a menu around here in NY,  Th only ones I ever had where swimming in my fish tanks.  They look very appetizing but I will never have a chance to try them due to my shellfish allergy.


They're alright... I much prefer making an etouffee or a stew with the tail meat though.


Steve H said:


> I have a couple times in Rochester. But the price was ridiculous. I have bought them frozen. But they aren't the same as fresh though.


Yeah, get too far outside of a days drive from Louisiana and the price gets ridiculous!


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## indaswamp (May 24, 2022)

WI Smoker77 said:


> Awesome looking spread.  Crawfish are delicious.  Still wondering if can do one up here in Wisconsin. I was reading on a site they will ship them live to here 'overnight'.  Just wondering if they would make it and still be fine to cook??
> Thanks for sharing the pics!!


Yes, they will be fine shipped overnight. But I don't recommend holding them for very long...you better be ready to cook them when they arrive.

*edit to add:
just be prepared....the shipping will probably cost more than the mudbugs!


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## radioguy (May 24, 2022)

Oh I reaaly like a good crawfish boil!  Great way to start the summer.

RG


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## PulledPorkSandwich (May 24, 2022)

That's a great-looking crawfish boil!  We had one a month or so ago with andouille sausage, potatoes, and corn with a couple packs of store-bought seasoning.  Turned out really good.

My question:  Has anyone figured out how to eat more than just the tail meat?


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## GonnaSmoke (May 24, 2022)

indaswamp said:


> ...first time I've seen oranges in a boil. It was very good...


I might just have to try this next time...


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## BGKYSmoker (May 24, 2022)

No problem my friend.

I did order 10lbs before we left S, FL.


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## tx smoker (May 24, 2022)

Now dats wut I'm talkin' 'bout!! Some serious eats going on there buddy. You're living really well these days...and eating pretty darned good too   

Robert


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## indaswamp (May 24, 2022)

TNJAKE said:


> Probably my favorite food on the planet. We went to a boil in February for my birthday and another at the very end of April. Love em spicy. I can eat 5-7lb no problem. We have a guy. Has a restaurant and 2 trucks does live sacks or already boiled. Brings them up 3x a week from baton rouge. Called Louisiana seafood company. He carries all the gulf goodies year round depending on what's in season. Thanks for posting


Jake, When I was in High School, we lived on a 48 acre property that backed up to a little landlocked swamp. We ran crawfish traps 3-4 times a week and would catch 4-10 sacks every trip depending on rain...less mudbugs if it rained becasue the water only had one small canal to drain so it backed up into the fields and that spread the crawfish out. But it also pulled more bugs out of the ground...so when the water fell once again, we'd start really catching again. We sold a bunch, and ate a bunch. Ate so much crawfish I got burnt out on them.....got realllllllly good at boiling them though!! LOL!!! Back then I remember the lowest price I saw was $0.27/# live...(1) 36# sack for less than $10 bucks. We still made a pile of cash. We got our bait for free...caught mullet in the bayou. Also used fish heads when we had them.


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## BigW. (May 24, 2022)

Do you boil them first in clean water, then let them seep in spice mixture?  I ran across this double boil method the other day on YouTube and had not seen it before.  Helps clean them out supposedly.


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## TNJAKE (May 24, 2022)

indaswamp said:


> Jake, When I was in High School, we lived on a 48 acre property that backed up to a little landlocked swamp. We ran crawfish traps 3-4 times a week and would catch 4-10 sacks every trip depending on rain...less mudbugs if it rained becasue the water only had one small canal to drain so it backed up into the fields and that spread the crawfish out. But it also pulled more bugs out of the ground...so when the water fell once again, we'd start really catching again. We sold a bunch, and ate a bunch. Ate so much crawfish I got burnt out on them.....got realllllllly good at boiling them though!! LOL!!! Back then I remember the lowest price I saw was $0.27/# live...(1) 36# sack for less than $10 bucks. We still made a pile of cash. We got our bait for free...caught mullet in the bayou. Also used fish heads when we had them.


Very nice. When I moved from Alaska to Mississippi we could catch a good bit. Nothing like south Mississippi or Louisiana though. I do remember after a good rain you could look across the yard and would be covered with mounds where the crawdads crawled out. We used to stick a blade of grass in, wait for the tug then pull em out fast. Where I get mine around here they are about $3ish/lb at start of season and they get closer to $5 and over the closer to may/June you get. That's for live. Already cooked are slightly more expensive. But like I said it's probably my favorite thing to eat. I'd pay a premium if I had to lol


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## indaswamp (May 24, 2022)

BigW. said:


> Do you boil them first in clean water, then let them seep in spice mixture?  I ran across this double boil method the other day on YouTube and had not seen it before.  Helps clean them out supposedly.


Nope. Everything all in one pot. Now I have seen people boil them and then sprinkle the seasoning on the outside....i really don't like the results. Restaurants started this fad to cut costs on seasonings to crank crawfish out fast. Not the same as the way we do it here in south Louisiana....


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## indaswamp (May 24, 2022)

TNJAKE said:


> Where I get mine around here they are about $3ish/lb at start of season and they get closer to $5 and over the closer to may/June you get.


Weird....prices start high here and drop like a rock later in the season as the shells harden and the crawfish become difficult to peel. After this weekend, prices will really fall.


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