Seafood boil advice

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bigbuck

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Nov 6, 2013
104
43
central ohio
So im not a seafood guy but wife wanted to do a boil for her birthday dinner, so i have shrimp,corn on the cob potatoes, lobster tails, crawfish, snow crab clusters and king crab, i am seasoning water with a cajun seasoning called slap your mama lol, my question is can anyone tell me how long each item should cook in boil after i get it boiling? I dont want to over cook anything, thanks for any help!
 
I have never done one, but I would suspect the potatoes and corn go in first till nearly done then the seafood for just 2-5 minutes depending on the size. Like maybe lobster tails fist then all the rest.

this looks like a good recipe to work from.
 
I do potatoes and sausage, pull and dump in cooler to stay hot, corn, same, all staying hot in warm cooler. Then shrimp and crawfish. I dump them in, count to ten and turn-off. They are done quick. Or do them separate, then add to cooler in rows. I like to have some butter melted with old bay that I then Drizzle over the top. I just serve out of the cooler :emoji_laughing:
never done it with crab.
 
Seafood Boil, Lowcountry Boil, Beaufort Stew, Frogmore Stew (as many locals here call it), or whatever you want to call it is customizable to whatever your tastes are and whatever is available in your area. It is a very common dish around here and here is a thread of one I did, may give you some ideas https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/frogmore-stew.306684/.

I put the seasoning, sausage if you include it, potatoes in the pot and bring to a boil. Just before the potatoes are tender, add the corn and bring back to a boil. Add all of the seafood, put the lid on, turn off the heat. Let it sit for a few minutes until your seafood is heated through. All of your seafood is already cooked so it only needs to be heated up. Check potatoes for doneness, drain and serve...
 
Depending on the size of the potatoes, which usually take the longest - 20 to 25 minutes for them, if they are smaller then 15 minutes. The seafood all depends if it's fresh or frozen - the shrimp will take 3 minutes and are the very last thing to add - you can also add sausage and eggs - if the seafood is frozen and thawed then it's already cooked and you just need to heat it for 5 to 10 minutes.


here's a post I did awhile back
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/low-country-boil.310068/
 
The trick is to know which protein is cooked and which is not. I've never seen crab legs that weren't cooked. If the lobster tail is brown it's raw. Redish is cooked. Red mudbug shells means cooked. Shrimp is the one to look at. Reddish/pink shrimp shells along with white-ish flesh is cooked - just like you've eaten before.
 
Getting er ready!
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My only humble addition is that we hate overcooked mushy corn. So after the spuds are cooked and in the cooler, we give the corn 1 minute or less and then into the cooler with the cooked spuds they go. Sometimes we bypass the boiled water and just put them nest the cooked spuds in the cooler. By the time all the other ingredients are done the corn is perfectly warm and al dente.
 
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Seafood Boil, Lowcountry Boil, Beaufort Stew, Frogmore Stew (as many locals here call it), or whatever you want to call it is customizable to whatever your tastes are and whatever is available in your area. It is a very common dish around here and here is a thread of one I did, may give you some ideas https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/frogmore-stew.306684/.

I put the seasoning, sausage if you include it, potatoes in the pot and bring to a boil. Just before the potatoes are tender, add the corn and bring back to a boil. Add all of the seafood, put the lid on, turn off the heat. Let it sit for a few minutes until your seafood is heated through. All of your seafood is already cooked so it only needs to be heated up. Check potatoes for doneness, drain and serve...
Yep, that's the way to do it.
 
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