Crawfish & shrimp boil tips

[Gumbo Man]

Being from south Louisiana I've consumed a lot of crawfish. I've had it cooked by at least a hundred different people. NEVER have I heard of adding ketchup.

I'm so curious about it, I may have to drive over there to try it.

However, I must be honest. My in-laws eat ketchup on everything (from eggs to gumbo to bacon wrapped deer backstrap). They have ruined ketchup for me.

Maybe one day you'll have an opportunity to make me a believer. I'll be sure to introduce myself to you if I come by. [emoji1787]

I appreciate your attitude and response. You would never know that ketchup was added to the boil. But it gives a flavor that I like and the customers come from far and wide to buy our bugs. A huge part of cooking is knowing how to marry up spices and ingredients to achieve a certain taste. Would enjoy meeting you one day.

[twistedmidnite]

100% do the cooler slurry method. Please please do not boil your crawfish and shrimp and thrown in a cooler to steam.

[scott1022]

I appreciate your attitude and response. You would never know that ketchup was added to the boil. But it gives a flavor that I like and the customers come from far and wide to buy our bugs. A huge part of cooking is knowing how to marry up spices and ingredients to achieve a certain taste. Would enjoy meeting you one day.

I have a brother in league city. I'll just convince him that we need to go on a road trip. I'll tell him he buys the gas and I'll buy the food... Pretty sure I'll come out better. [emoji1787]

[SaintBlaise]

Cajun boil restaurant in weatherford, boils dang good seafood. Show up with a cooler and claim them as your own.

This is your best bet. Call them a few days in advance so they can be ready.

If you do boil, keep it basic don't add a bunch of junk like ketchup, etc. You can follow the instructions on a seasoning bag and do just fine. The only problem cooking for a spectrum of guest is the spice level. A 10 year old won't like it as spicy as you, so you need to cook half of your batches mild.

Corn and potatoes always before crawfish, and very little seasoning...they are like sponges.

[TexasBob]

100% do the cooler slurry method. Please please do not boil your crawfish and shrimp and thrown in a cooler to steam.

This. It has become my method and seems fairly foolproof for us. What I do:

Boil 10 gallons of water with 6-10 lemons (halved and squeezed) , 4 or so onions (peeled and quartered), 6 or so heads of garlic (top cut off), and 4lb of powdered seasoning (I use swamp dust available on Amazon).

Let that come to a rolling boil to combine the flavors etc. Into that put whatever veggies you want. we do potatoes and sausage, add brussels sprouts when potatoes are 3/4 done. when Potatoes are 98% done, put all veggies into a small cooler and pour your boil water into another cooler

Bring a pot of plain water to a boil. Add crawfish in batches. Timing will depend on your pot size and burner capability. When they start floating, they are done or close. Test one to work out your timeline. Put cooked crawfish into your seasoned water ice chest and let them sit. They get better the longer you wait and will stay ready to eat hot for several hours.

Adjust your seasoning level as needed. This makes them warm/flavorful but nobody complains they are too hot.

I haven't done shrimp this way but if i was cooking, I would take some seasoned water and separate into another cooler, add a stick or two of butter, and cool it down further to the point where you could comfortably put your hand into it. Boil shrimp for a minute or so in plain water until done and put them into the love bath.