Crawfish boil 101: Have questions? Expert boilers offer up some handy tips

We're in the season of Lent, rolling toward Easter. And in south Louisiana, this means backyard crawfish boils.

The basics of the boil are simple: A big pot and a way to heat it; water; seasoning; veggies; lively crustaceans and newspapers to dump the crawfish on.

Many people, however, have turned this into an art form. Others want to try it for the first time, or -- and this is a big group -- improve their skills.

And so, The Times-Picayune brings you: Crawfish Boiling 101.

There are as many variations of this recipe and process, but this one will get you a delicious mound of bright red crawfish with just enough s…

Two prize-winning staff photographers, John McCusker and Rusty Costanza, are experienced and expert boilers. One year, Costanza boiled more than 1,000 pounds. He has his own seasonings mixed at a custom blending company. (That's Crawfish Boiling 201.) His advice: Take notes about your results so you can tweak the next boil.

A week before Mardi Gras, McCusker shot a video on this subject in my back courtyard, and he and Costanza both shot still photos for this story and online at nola.com/food.

RUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Crawfish boiling in New Orleans on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

GETTING SET UP FOR THE BOIL

Glenn Taylor has been selling crawfish-boiling rigs for years at Baldwin-Taylor Hardware on Jefferson Highway, which is known for its array of all things related to boiling.

In general, he says, it's possible to get a good setup for under $100 if you already have a propane tank and gas.

While you can buy an entire package for as little as $69.95, it's better to buy a first-class jet burner, which is about $29, then add the other pieces you need, Taylor said. Package deals also usually include a hose that's only 4 1/2 feet. He likes longer ones, he said, so he can be farther from that big pot of boiling water.

For backyard use, he recommends a 50,000 BTU burner and a regulator, a safety device that goes between the tank and the burner that will stop the flow of propane if the line ruptures.

The height of the burner is important, too. It should not have a high center of gravity in case anybody bumps into it. Lower, shorter burners can be used either for frying turkeys or boiling crawfish. Tall burners should be used only for frying turkeys.

We're going back to basics and boiling mudbugs in true Louisiana fashion. How do you boil your crawfish?

A 120-quart pot will easily handle any size sack of crawfish plus the rest of the fixings. The main accessory is a paddle for stirring, such as wooden ones that are 36 to 48 inches.

A 36-inch-long strainer with an 8-inch bowl can be used as a paddle, too. And a lot of people like the "monster spoon, " a 35-inch stainless perforated spoon, Taylor said. Mesh bags are sold to separate vegetables from the rest of the boil.

Taylor has sold thousands of a $9 aluminum "Basket Buddy, " invented by a hairdresser in Houma, that hooks onto the side of the pot and helps lift and hang the heavy basket.

Almost all crawfish-boiling equipment was invented in the area, Taylor said, although much of the manufacturing has migrated to Asia.

RUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Seasoned water waiting for crawfish in New Orleans on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

"When I was a kid in the 1950s, the only people who ate crawfish were people who caught them. They cooked them in big galvanized washtubs, " Taylor said. "Then people started deciding to build things they could use to do the boiling.

"My mom used to cook shrimp in a granite pot, the speckled white blue and white pot. All these other things have been adaptations."

Like all people who boil crawfish, Taylor also has opinions on how to prepare them. He has seen crawfish boils with a minimal amount of seasoning in the pot.

"When they dump them on the table, they sprinkle cayenne and other things on there. I've seen that trick pulled in the Biloxi area and in Houston. That's OK if your audience doesn't know what to expect, " Taylor said. "They have no frame of reference."

I asked the questions, and they fired up the propane burner under the pot, with a huge whoosh.

"I love that sound, " Costanza said, with a grin.

There are many ways to do a crawfish boil. This is theirs.

HOW MUCH TO BUY: McCusker says 4 to 5 pounds per person is typical for a south Louisiana boil. People here can, and will, put them away. Outsiders, not so much. Figure 2 pounds for out-of-towners.

NO MUDDY BUGS: The advice for buying crawfish is the same as for buying any kind of fish or seafood: Find a reputable dealer.

"I've seen them with mud caked all inside here, " McCusker said as he showed the underside of the tail. "If they're muddy and funky, you don't want to go back to that dealer. These are nice and clean."

And all the crawfish were about the same size, which means they will all cook in about the same amount of time.

RUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Boiled crawfish in New Orleans on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

CHANCE OF SHOWERS: Don't purge crawfish. Soaking them in salt water will kill them.

"Purge crabs, wash crawfish, " Costanza said.

Put them in a big plastic basket-strainer, hose them down well and shake the basket to agitate it.

SEASONING: To start, McCusker and Costanza recommend a basic powdered boil seasoning. They use the 73-ounce size of Zatarain's, available in local supermarkets in regular or extra spicy. This 4-1/2-pound jar of seasoning is enough for 6 gallons of water.

Follow the basic label directions for how much seasoning to use, they suggest.

Almost all off-the-shelf seasonings already contain salt. You may or may not have to add extra.

"I've been backing off on salt lately, " Costanza said. "My taste has changed. I want the crawfish to taste like lemon and other flavors, like mustard and the bay leaf. And crawfish."

Nuance: Costanza added a cup of his secret ingredient -- powdered celery -- to the boil. He and McCusker also added about a tablespoon of liquid boil seasoning. Be careful not to add too much. It's potent, they agreed. (McCusker once got it in his eyes. Ouch.)

Easter bunnies sure get around. You see those rascals everywhere this time of year. But in Louisiana, we have something else that signals the …

PERFECT VEGETABLES: Along with a bag of halved lemons, bulbs of garlic sliced in half to expose the cloves and onions sliced in half through the equator (so the top and root ends hold them together), they added a cut-up head of celery to the boil at the beginning, along with a bag of small red potatoes.

The potatoes need more time to cook, they explained. Larger potatoes can be cut in half, but they will absorb more seasoning and may fall apart faster.

RUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Celery for crawfish boil in New Orleans on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

The trick is in the timing: The vegetables need to cook, but not so long that they start to disintegrate.

Frozen corn is added later to cool down the boil. Corn takes little time to cook, and won't get mushy or overspiced.

Nuance: Frozen versus fresh: "If you've got great fresh corn, why are you using it in a crawfish boil?" Costanza asked.

TIMING: "Boil" is the most overused word at a crawfish boil, McCusker said. The secret to great crawfish is not boiling the crustaceans, but instead poaching them in hot water, allowing them to soak up seasonings as they finish cooking.

Costanza and McCusker brought the covered pot of water and seasonings to a hard rolling boil, which took 15 to 20 minutes. Then they dumped in the crawfish and stirred it all around several times with a wooden paddle. They covered it with the lid, checking periodically to see when it was coming back to a boil.

When it showed a lot of bubbles over most of the surface but was still short of a hard, rolling boil, they cut off the flame.

"I let mine sit a couple of minutes, or three to five minutes for large (size), and then add the frozen corn. That will start cooling the water down, " Costanza said.

"And it keeps the corn intact. Otherwise you draw out a corncob pipe, " McCusker added.

"Once you add the corn, start stirring and checking, " Costanza said. "When the crawfish sink, they've absorbed all the flavor they'll absorb. The trick is to make sure they're not overdone by the time they sink."

When two large packages of frozen mini-cobettes were added, the crawfish were all floating high in the pot.

Sure enough, 20 or so minutes later, they had sunk considerably. The soak takes roughly 40 minutes, more or less.

RUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Crawfish boiling in New Orleans on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

TESTING, STIRRING, MORE TESTING: Stirring the pot released heat, so Costanza would stir well, then pull up a few crawfish to test. Breaking one apart, he sucked the head to see how juicy it was, and peeled the tail to feel and bite to see how firm it was.

If the texture is rubbery, the tail meat is not done enough. If it's falling apart, it's overcooked. They want firm, right between those two extremes.

It was obvious that more time in the soak made the heads juicier.

To cool the mixture further, you can add ice or even hose down the outside of the boiling pot, but our experts didn't use these techniques.

When they decided the crawfish had soaked long enough, the two pulled out the basket of orangey-pink crawfish, balanced it on the lip of the pot for a little while to drain, then set it on the ground.

John McCusker/The Times-Picayune Crawfish Boil 101 with Judy Walker, John McCusker and Rusty Costanza. Tuesday, March 1, 2011

SUCKING AND PEELING: Break the crawfish at the natural spot in the middle, then put your lips on the opening to the body and draw in the juices.

McCusker peels off the first segment of the shell around the tail, then pinches the end to make the rest of the tailmeat pop right out.

Nuance: Loud noises are OK in polite company when sucking crawfish heads.

TO SAUSAGE OR NOT TO SAUSAGE: Sausage is a popular protein addition to many boils, but these two experts don't like to put the sausage directly in the boil with the crawfish.

Grease from the sausage coats the crawfish and makes them funky, Costanza said. He's been to a boil in winter, he said, when the cold weather made the fat congeal immediately on the crawfish.

But they do use sausage. Cut fully-cooked link sausage into smaller portions. To heat, they transferred the cooked crawfish to a plastic basket, then put the metal one back in the big pot of water and added the cut-up sausage. Because it's fully cooked, the sausage just needs to heat through in the still-hot water, 15 to 20 minutes.

TO SERVE: This part is pretty foolproof. Spread a thin disposable table cover (to aid in cleanup) then a thick layer of newspapers over a large outdoor table. Pour the crawfish in the middle. Add beer and a roll of paper towels. Dig in.

LEFTOVERS AND REHEATING: "If you have really good friends, they'll stay and help you peel the leftover crawfish to make etouffe the next day, " McCusker said.

Scoop leftovers into gallon-size plastic bags or large containers and promptly refrigerate. Cooked crawfish are, of course, fantastic in dozens of dishes, starting with a simple salad with a remoulade dressing. (Type "crawfish" into the recipe finder on nola.com/food to see dozens of recipes.)

Leftover boiled potatoes make fantastic potato salad. Consider throwing an extra bag in the boil for this purpose.

To reheat whole, unpeeled crawfish and vegetables the next day: Put them in a metal colander or steamer over a big pot of boiling water until just heated through.

Notes: Other popular boiling vegetables: Artichokes, cauliflower, edamame, mushrooms, and so on. Add sturdier vegetables with the potatoes or softer ones with the frozen corn.

. . . . . . . .

What other vegetables do you add? Do you have crawfish boil tips and tricks? Comment below or e-mail [email protected].

Follow Where NOLA Eats on Instagram at @wherenolaeats, join the Where NOLA Eats Facebook group and subscribe to the free Where NOLA Eats weekly newsletter here.