Hi, I’m Randy with BBQGuys.com. We’re on the the bayou today, and we are going to
show you how we boil Crawfish down here in Louisiana. It’s Crawfish season, so it’s
a good time to get a boil in, let’s cook some bugs!
I picked up a sack of some nice size crawfish, you don’t want too large, they will be hard
to peel. I have about 36 Lbs. here. The first step is to give them a bath to remove any
remaining mud & debris. An ice chest works well for rinsing because you can easily drain
the water & rinse again if needed. Crawfish will survive best in a cool place, so set
them in the shade with a little ice over them after rinsing.
Now for the boil I have a 120 quart pot, I have found this to be the perfect size for
a sack of crawfish with all the fixings. I’ll fill the pot about ¾ of the way to the top,
and if you are lucky to be using a family pot, you’ll see the previous boil line on
the side. Once you have enough water in the pot to cover
the crawfish, light your burner to start working your way to boiling temperatures.
This is a good time to add your seasonings, I’ll go ahead and add about ¼ cup of salt
Now pour in a 4.5 lb. bag of dry crab boil... When those spices make your eyes water, you
know you are off to a good start. Next, I’ll pour 16 ounces of liquid crab
boil. Some people boil with all liquid or dry boil, but I like the combination of both
best. Finish off the spice mix with a generous handful
of cayenne pepper… the spicier the better in my opinion! Stir everything well, and let
the water finish coming up to a boil while we prep the veggies.
Now corn and potatoes are the most classic vegetables to boil with crawfish, but I really
love how mushrooms soak up the flavor of the boil too.
Some good local sausage is another great addition, my favorite flavor to boil is garlic.
I’ll throw in a sack’s worth of red potatoes, since these are on the larger side I’ll
cut them in half to reduce the boil time. Next, I’ll add about 8 heads of sweet corn
on the cob…. Last, but not least I have 2 heads of elephant
garlic, just separate the cloves & add them to the mix.
Let the vegetables and sausage boil for somewhere around 20 minutes, really just until the potatoes
are tender. Alright, let’s see if these sides are ready!
An easy way to check doneness is with a butter knife, when the potato slides off, they are
done! The crawfish will only take a few minutes
to cook, so just keep the sides in the pot so everything stays hot. At this point, the
crawfish might be looking a little nervous, pour them into the strainer & it’s time
to boil! After the crawfish are submerged, keep an
eye on the water, you want to start timing the cook after the water comes back up to
a boil. Since the crawfish I have today are medium to large size, I’ll let them boil
around 6 minutes. The finishing touch for these mudbugs will
be some fresh squeezed lemons. I wait until now to slice them so none of that fresh flavor
goes to waste. Aside from timing, you will know your crawfish
are done when they float to the top of the water. These are smelling amazing, it’s
time to cut the fire off to start the soaking process.
Squeeze the lemons straight into the pot, and toss in the rind as well. When eating,
the lemon halves are perfect for smashing a garlic clove inside of for dipping the crawfish
tails. The last step of boiling crawfish is one of
the most crucial. This is when you add a bag of ice to the pot & let them soak. This will
drop the temperature of the water enough to keep them from overcooking & help the spices
finish absorbing. Let the crawfish soak for about 20 minutes, they will be worth the wait.
So it’s tradition to take a test right out the pot. Oh yeah!
These bugs are ready for the table, just let them strain off over the pot for a couple
minutes to cool off a little bit. Thanks for watching ya’ll, and remember…
at BBQGuys.com.. we smoke.. the competition!