Going to attempt my first crawfish boil this year. Recently got an 80qt stock pot and now looking to buy a burner. I am looking at the Bayou Classic SP-10 (Jet) or the Bayou Classic KAB4. (Banjo)
Creating this thread for any recommendations on recipes, cooking methods, and equipment.

be sure to make the puke first.


place all crawfish in a cooler fill with water add half of a container of salt, allow to set for 30min +/- drain water and rinse.  NO POOP THREAD (It gets them to shit)

Rinse the crawfish in the bag thoroughly then take them in batches and rinse with the sink sprayer in a collander 5 to 10 times until the water runs clear of you do not get any dirt in the sink and discard any dead crawfish and misc parts and debris.
You do not need to “purge” them with salt. Rinsing well will do the trick.

The boil:
I like Zatarans crab boil spice bags( they make an extra spicy version). One bag per 4 lbs of seafood. ( I don't care for Old Bay) Zatarans makes a liquid as well.
One pound of salt per 5 gallons of water
Several whole lemons halved squeezed and dropped in the pot
The best Andouille sausage in my area which is at most any local grocery is "Savoie's" brand. About a pound per 3 lbs of seafood.(some say any smoked sausage will do but it really needs to be Andouille regardless of brand)
Whole onions quartered, how many is your preference and taste
Several heads of garlic, peel the toes, drop them in whole, the more the better.(these are delicious eaten with the potatoes or mashed on a piece of crusty french bread)
I use the little Green Giant frozen Nibblers corn on the cob but if you have fresh corn on the cob, do 1 to 2 ears per guest, cut ear ear in half
Small red, or yellow/ Yukon gold potatoes, a few per guest.

Throw everything in the pot except the crawfish.
Bring it to a boil, turn it down to a steady simmer.
Simmer until the corn and potatoes are tender.
Bring the pot back to a rolling boil and drop your crawfish. (Some people will take out the corn potatoes and sausage at this point, I do due lack of space in the pot)
When the crawfish rise to the top they're done. Turn off the fire and let them soak for 5-10 min. The longer the soak the spicier the crawfish will be.

Usually a 5 min soak is just right, any longer and they get too spicy for some people, it just depends on your guests. (Also remember Savoie's Andouille is spicy and will add spice to the pot)

edit I see you are in Ohio, link to live crawfish https://www.cajuncrawfish.com/shop/crawfish/crawfish.html

I like to put the Andouille in at the start as another layer of seasoning. Lends smoke and spice to everything in the pot.
The spicy fat of the sausage renders out and some of the crawfish boil seasoning gets absorbed by the sausage. Unlike grilling Andouille
In the boil pot it won't dry out.

Sweet! Thanks for the info guys. Keep it coming! Any recommendations on burners? Jet or Banjo?

Thanks for info! Zatarans seems to be where its at. Thanks for tip on removing corn, potatoes and sausage...I'm not really sure what my 80qt will hold comfortably so the more room the better...I'm probably looking at somehwere around 40lbs of crawfish. I noticed there are a few sites that will ship crawfish, any big difference in "qualiy" seems like the crawfish are graded. How much water should I put in the pot?

Here's some estimates

http://eschete.com/boiledcrawfish.html

Also the link I gave you a few lines up for the live crawfish has recipes/cooking methods, ratios etc.

Google is your friend

Don't overcook the crawfish. It's the most common mistake. You only need to get them to about 140 degrees internal temperature. They are massively better when not overcooked. Start the boil. Toss in your spuds and whatnot. When they are almost tender, toss in the corn, and bring back to a simmer. Then, toss in the crawish, stir though, shut off the heat, put a lid on and wait 5 minutes. Eat.

Awesome info! Thanks again guys!

bear in mind alot of the info in this thread is coming from people who are not coonasses. that being said, when you turn off the fire, toss in a bag of ice. that slows down the cooking process and lets you soak them  a little longer.

Got it!

eh. I have a silver maple root system killing all my grass anyways. Gotta get that sucker down.

Fuck the Zatarains and Louisiana boils.  Order you some Swamp Dust and Swamp Fire.

Boil for 5 minutes and let soak for 20 minutes.
I dump them into a cooler, add a stick of butter and shake some seasoning on top.

Also, add a stick of butter to every batch.  I do mine in small batches.
That way everyone eats while they are hot, then as soon as they are done with that one
the next one is on the way.  

Get you some Wow Wee sauce too.

An article I got sent today about purging your crawfish.

A good read for all of us that cook them


http://www.crawfishprices.net/#!Why-You-Shouldnt-Purge-Your-Crawfish-With-Salt/a9zha/56fe76290cf2b279cdbb221e

Yep, and I'm pretty sure with the mudbugs metabolism their poop chutes are clean after a few hours soaked in fresh water.

Never cooked them, just eaten so my advice: Buy lots of napkins. Seriously...like a whole package just for yourself.

You've never heard of a garden hose?

As evidenced by the comments right below that article.  

I hate that.  

"look, here's science and facts!"

"But we always do it like this, so we'll continue to do it like this"

 

And make sure you add at least two packages of white mushrooms. They r so delicious.  Everyone eats them up. Crowd favorite