CRAWFISH BOIL RECIPE

Crawfish Boil Recipe image

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Provided by Kathleen Riemer

Number Of Ingredients 13

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Ingredients

crawfish
for every 43 pound sack of crawfish
1 whole stalk of celery
4 heads of garlic (tops removed)
12 lemons, sliced or quartered
6 large onions
10 bay leaves
3-4 boxes salt
1/2 cup cayenne pepper
8 oz. liquid crab boil (or 6 bags dry crab boil)
10 ears of corn (cut in thirds)
30 "b" size creamer potatoes
3 lbs. smoked sausage

Steps:

1. The first thing you do is empty your crawfish in a No. 3 washtub and cover them completely with cold water. Makes no difference where your crawfish come from (farm pond or swamp), the only thing you must do is wash them. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PURGE CRAWFISH IN SALTWATER! That's an old wives tale. It isn't necessary and it doesn't work! All it does is kill the little critters! But it is necessary to wash them several times. I recommend you do at least 4 or 5 washings, dumping the old water after each filling of the tub.In short, you should wash until the water comes out clean. Then drain off the last rinse completely and get your boiler ready. In a large pot - 90 to 102 quart is suggested if you plan to boil the entire sack at once - put in enough water to completely cover the crawfish when they are added, and bring it to a rapid boil. Then, toss in all the ingredients except the corn, potatoes & sausage and boil them for about 15 minutes - you want the flavors to mix and create a seasoned "stock". Next, drop in the corn on the cob, potatoes and smoked sausage. You want to put them in before you put in the crawfish (because the crawfish cook quickly, and if you don't pre-cook the "lagniappe", the entire boil won't be finished at the same time). Let the lagniappe cook for 8 to 10 minutes. When all the "extras" are three-quarters done, add your crawfish and cover the pot. The water will stop boiling immediately.So here's how you figure cooking time.Just watch the pot, and when the water comes back to a full boil, time your crawfish for just about "2 minutes", shut off the fire, and remove it from the burner. Then drop some crushed ice on top of the crawfish, (which will make them sink), and soak the crawfish for about 25 minutes so that they pick up the seasonings.I do suggest you test the seasoning every 5 minutes or so to keep the crawfish from getting too spicy for your taste.