Backyard Crawfish Boil

courtesy of Ken Lacassin

www.NolaFoodie.com

There’s more to boiling seafood than boiling water. There’s also the right seasoning, preparation and cooking time. To boil a sack of crawfish or a hamper of crabs you will need some basic hardware. A large pot (an 80 quart one works well) with a removable basket, a burner with a high-pressure regulator and a full tank of propane.

INGREDIENTS

• sack of CRAWFISH (35 pounds)
• 1 container of commercial seafood boil (a container sold to do a sack of crawfish or hamper of crabs contains all seasonings you need for a basic boil and depending on the brand will be about 4 lbs) I like Cajun Land complete Crab-Shrimp-Crawfish Boil but Zatarains also makes a good one)
• 2 ONIONS cut in half
• 2 LEMONS cut in half
• 2 heads of GARLIC cut in half
• Optional: 3 lbs small red creamer potatoes, small ears frozen corn and smoked sausage cut into 2 inch pieces.

METHOD

1.     Start off by washing the crawfish well with water until the water runs clear. You can do this using the pot you will boil the crawfish in. After they are cleaned place them in the basket along with the onion, lemon and garlic and set aside.

2.     Add water to the pot to a level half way up the pot and place the pot on the burner.

3.     Place the potatoes in the water and light the burner. Bring to a boil. Boil potatoes until they are almost done then remove from the water and set aside. Add the commercial seafood seasoning to the pot and boil for 5 minutes to let flavors blend.

4.     At this point carefully lower the basket into the water and cover. When you add the seafood the water will stop boiling. Turn up the heat and wait for the water to come back to a rolling boil. Add the potatoes, corn and sausage when it starts to boil. When it comes to a rolling boil start the timer. Boil the crawfish 2-4 minutes (2 minutes for small and 4 minutes for large) then remove the cover and turn off the heat. Crabs would be 8-12 minutes.

5.     You will notice that boiled seafood will tend to float because of air trapped under their shells. Add enough ice to change the temperature and stop the cooking and the seafood will sink. This also allows the seasonings to soak in. Allow the crawfish to soak for 20 to 30 minutes. Test after 15 minutes and remove when they are spicy enough. To remove just lift the basket enough to drain. You can place 2 flat sticks on the basket and place the pot on the sticks so the water will drain into the pot and not on the ground.