Lazy South Louisiana Saturday Afternoon Crawfish Boil...

[indaswamp]

I've eaten so much boiled crawfish since I was a child...I'm at the point now that I actually rather peeled tails in a stew or etouffee'. BUT, my cousin is friends with a guy that is hands down the BEST crawfish boilin' guy I know.... this guy boils in competitions across the state and has won a lot of them. And is always in the top three! I think he even won a 4 wheeler at one of them. Anyways, he always has a crawfish boil for his daughter's B-day. Well, he injured his back and can't do any heavy lifting. He was going to order crawfish already boiled but my cousin told him in no uncertain terms would he allow him to let his daughter down like that. So I get a phone call to be the muscle lifting the bugs out of the pot and carrying the bags and such. "No problem Brah, I'm there!", I said.

The mudbugs...pond crawfish mixed run of medium to large with no select pulled out. live price was running $3.19/lb. but I believe he got a better deal on these.

Mudbugs cleaned and ready to go...

Of course, the kids had to have to obligatory crawfish race...

But it's hard to keep them going in a straight line without a crawfish race track (which is a 4X8 sheet of plywood on a slight incline with trim nailed every 6" to make 8 foot lanes. A PVC line with holes drilled every 6" places a stream of water down each lane and the crawfish will crawl in the direction of the moving water thinking it will crawl to deep water).

They crawl in every direction...

Meanwhile, we prep the seasoning veggies and get the water boiling...and drink another beer...

 

[indaswamp]

We squeeze the lemon juice in the pot and put the peels on the crawfish...they go in the pot with the bugs...

The seasoning table...

(more on the little aluminum hook in a bit)

Yep....That whole jar of cayenne pepper....

Inda pot...

I can't giveaway his secrets...but damn were these bugs GOOD!!!! Time for another beer!!

Yep, that is smoked sausage inda pot... Remember that little aluminum hook? Here is what it is for...

and once you have the strainer drained, you can set the strainer down on the pot with the hook to keep it from falling..

 

[indaswamp]

First bag did not last long!!!

There were some real studs in the bags too!!!

OK, second bag is ready! "HEY, grab me another beer!!"

 

[indaswamp]

It was a relaxing day. Sea breeze blowing from the south out ahead of that cold front and the temps soared to the lower 80's...everyone wore shorts...

I had not had boiled bugs in a while...and I'd eat those again tomorrow! They were that good! Now I know why this guy wins all those competitions!!!!!!!! He has it down!

 

[gmc2003]

Man that looks good. Good Job.

Point for sure.
Chris

 

[chilerelleno]

Hell Yeah!

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Man that sure looks good. I do miss the bugs.

Great job.

 

[one eyed jack]

Looks like a lot of fun for both the cooks and the eaters.

How old you reckon that Grandaddy is? Are the ponds that these came from farm ponds, (Commercial Crawfish ponds)?

Like!

 

[SmokinAl]

What a great birthday that was!
I just love those things, but they are hard to get around here.
Last time I was in Louisiana, I ate a ton of them!!
Al

 

[HalfSmoked]

Great looking deal there. Friends helping friends a great way in life.

Warren

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Man that looks great! Love doing crawfish boils but we can’t get anything that looks that good around here. And a whole jar of cayenne pepper...guy isn’t playing around but I bet they were amazing. Points on the cook!

 

[indaswamp]

Looks like a lot of fun for both the cooks and the eaters.

How old you reckon that Grandaddy is? Are the ponds that these came from farm ponds, (Commercial Crawfish ponds)?

Like!

No idea on the age of that crawdad. Yes, commercial farm ponds.

 

[indaswamp]

Man that looks great! Love doing crawfish boils but we can’t get anything that looks that good around here. And a whole jar of cayenne pepper...guy isn’t playing around but I bet they were amazing. Points on the cook!

Not as hot as one would think....they were perfectly cooked, and extremely easy to peel.

 

[indaswamp]

Man that looks good. Good Job.

Point for sure.
Chris

Thanks gmc!

Hell Yeah!

Thanks Chilerelleno!

Man that sure looks good. I do miss the bugs.

Great job.

Next time Rick.....<wink>

What a great birthday that was!
I just love those things, but they are hard to get around here.
Last time I was in Louisiana, I ate a ton of them!!
Al

Great B-day indeed. I forgot about the cake and ice cream...both homemade by the B-day girl's grandmother. OMG trip down memory lane! That coconut cake was to die for! Just like my grandmother use to make!

Great looking deal there. Friends helping friends a great way in life.

Warren

<thumbs up> I was glad to help out...

Man that looks great! Love doing crawfish boils but we can’t get anything that looks that good around here. And a whole jar of cayenne pepper...guy isn’t playing around but I bet they were amazing. Points on the cook!

This guy is a serious boiler! If he ever opened a catering business, I'd help fund him.....no joke...he is that good at it.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Not as hot as one would think....they were perfectly cooked, and extremely easy to peel.

I know you can’t give away his secrets but appreciate the cayenne tip. Budweiser/Yuengling lemons old bay zatarains usually does the trick around here but will try the cayenne next time

 

[indaswamp]

Only crawfish I have had that matched how good these bugs were was from my late great uncle Pan who lived in Pierre Part, Louisiana which is the spillway crawfish mecca of Louisiana right on the levee of the Atchafalaya River....Wish we could still get live bugs for $0.25/lb.
Right now it's cheaper to just go catch them yourself....

 

[Steve H]

I do miss the fresh bugs. Up here you can get the frozen ones. Which I don't really care for because they come pre-seasoned.

 

[indaswamp]

I do miss the fresh bugs. Up here you can get the frozen ones. Which I don't really care for because they come pre-seasoned.

I rather buy tail meat. It's more economical because it takes about 9 pounds of live crawfish to yield 1 pound of tail meat. At 3.29/lb. live, you are paying almost $30 dollars for the tail meat...
I like catching the tail meat on sale here when it's $9~10/lb....usually the sales start in may once the processors have caught up with the big orders from restaurants and distributors. Right now, a pound of Louisiana tail meat is $12~15/lb. Which isn't bad considering the price of live.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Man I've never paid for any tail meat. Oh crawfish tail meat.

Never seen just the tail meat here.

Warren

 

[Steve H]

I rather buy tail meat. It's more economical because it takes about 9 pounds of live crawfish to yield 1 pound of tail meat. At 3.29/lb. live, you are paying almost $30 dollars for the tail meat...
I like catching the tail meat on sale here when it's $9~10/lb....usually the sales start in may once the processors have caught up with the big orders from restaurants and distributors. Right now, a pound of Louisiana tail meat is $12~15/lb. Which isn't bad considering the price of live.

I agree, but the seasoning they use doesn't appeal to me. Awhile back I could get them unseasoned.