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Crawfish Season 2021

Storm the Field

By Storm the Field
in Food and Travel

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horn4life

horn4life 3,783

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2 hours ago, TonyTexas said:

That’s twice horn4life has suggested an ice bath for boiled crawfish. I’ve never seen it, would never do it and renders all opinions he has about boiling crawfish laughable.  

The fact "you have never seen it".... reminds me of the pussy stories I told you in high school. 😉

If you are even in Monroe Louisiana try this place out.  Then you will not only learn something, you will have seen something... If your bullshit is good enough to let you into the back and see the process up close.  https://cormiersrestaurant.com/   I had never seen ANYONE do the ice bath before, but since it's all they do, and they only do it in season, and the guys from Duck Dynasty go there... I probably have no fucking idea what I am talking about. 😉

Amazingly even I haven't seen everything. But I was never dumb enough to assume because I hadn't seen it, I should dismiss an idea.  

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HornOnTheBayou

HornOnTheBayou 8,946

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On 1/28/2021 at 7:00 PM, horn4life said:

The fact "you have never seen it".... reminds me of the pussy stories I told you in high school. 😉

If you are even in Monroe Louisiana try this place out.  Then you will not only learn something, you will have seen something... If your bullshit is good enough to let you into the back and see the process up close.  https://cormiersrestaurant.com/   I had never seen ANYONE do the ice bath before, but since it's all they do, and they only do it in season, and the guys from Duck Dynasty go there... I probably have no fucking idea what I am talking about. 😉

Amazingly even I haven't seen everything. But I was never dumb enough to assume because I hadn't seen it, I should dismiss an idea.  

Why would I go to Southern Arkansas to learn about crawfish?

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horn4life

horn4life 3,783

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9 hours ago, Brisketexan said:


Seriously. Until not very long ago (last 20 years or so) crawfish weren’t much of a thing in north La.

Go anywhere within 50 miles of New Iberia, and you’ll get crawfish down right. Do what they do.

Yep or so I'm told. I had never eaten ANY crawfish in the Northern half of Louisiana until a few years ago.  My kid got a full ride to ULM (University of Louisiana - Monroe) and we would go out to visit and when in season Cormiers was the place to go.  I personally could not get over how darn easy the things were to peel and how delicious they were.  I had never seen the ice water bath before.  As has been said a few times here, other folks are trying to get a similar effect by tossing in frozen corn to more rapidly bring the temp down more quickly.

As for the Arkansas references, I was raised in West Houston. I may have even known some of your moms...

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5,095

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I remember the first time I ever ate crawfish. It was my Dad's first foray into the oil business. It was in Monroe, LA in 1982. It rained so much we were stuck on a drilling rig for four days, and some guy in an S-10 blazer that was built out like Big Foot with monster tires off of a fertilizer truck came out and picked us up, that bastard would even float, the tires were so big. He took us straight to Frank and Janie's where they brought out your crawfish in five gallon buckets. We had been eating cheese and crackers, and air for those four days, I ate two buckets worth, and almost made it through my third. I was about 14, thought I had died and gone to heaven. Couldn't wait to tell my friends.

CHIEF

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 77,421

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On 1/27/2021 at 12:48 PM, Brisketexan said:

A shitload of places do the "put them in a plastic bag with melted butter" thing.  As I understand, that's kind of a viet-cajun thing.  I've had it from time to time, and it's okay.  But I guess I'm just a traditionalist at heart -- been eating them since long before the "season the outside" and "cover them in butter" things existed.

 

when done right, this is very very good

 

 

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 77,421

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On 1/26/2021 at 11:08 PM, Brisketexan said:


Floyd’s in Beaumont doesn’t do a bad job. But shit, any of the drive thru joints in south La. are top notch.

In Austin....I kinda got nuthin. Never found a place that does them really well. Pappadeaux is fine, I guess. I recall that Pacific Star did a decent job back in the day. But if I want them done right, I do them myself, or go to a friend’s boil.

 

floyd's -  your first batch is damn good. then it always seems to drop off 

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horn4life

horn4life 3,783

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1 hour ago, Storm the Field said:

Last week gonna put a dent in supply for a while, but good news is weather looks pretty mild the next few weeks. I imagine things should be much improved by mid-March.

https://www.katc.com/news/around-acadiana/winter-weather-freezes-crawfish-production

Good info. I figured they were alive and buried deep. Which is better than the fate of many Redfish.  I also never thought about the farmer's appeal to buy the tails and eat those simply to keep the supply chain moving.  Think I am going to have to do my grilled oyster idea in the front yard and invite some of the folks that battled the cold for a minor survival celebration.  As I would imagine most of the early supply is not going to get too far from the farm before somebody grabs them.

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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5,302

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I've noticed that almost every single bar in Houston now offers crawfish for something ridiculous like $9/lb, at least FRI-SUN. Don't even have to be cooked all that great and people will still fork over a small fortune for a few lbs. 

Buddy of mine has a friend that wholesales from LA that told me he doesn't really bother selling to anyone but Houston bars/restaurants now. Even with transport costs, still makes far more profit than he would selling in LA. 

The days of cheap crawfish are long gone.

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5,095

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10 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

I've noticed that almost every single bar in Houston now offers crawfish for something ridiculous like $9/lb, at least FRI-SUN. Don't even have to be cooked all that great and people will still fork over a small fortune for a few lbs. 

Buddy of mine has a friend that wholesales from LA that told me he doesn't really bother selling to anyone but Houston bars/restaurants now. Even with transport costs, still makes far more profit than he would selling in LA. 

The days of cheap crawfish are long gone.

It's early in the season, and the profit margin is probably 40% to the restaurants/bars. They make their money off the pussies that only eat a couple of pounds. One of our favorite Mexican food restaurants had live music and a boil last Saturday, they were $10/lb. The tab for my family of three would have been $350 if we would have went. If I'm going to smell like a minnow bucket, I'm gonna eat enough to make it worth it.

CHIEF

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105,335

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26 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

It's early in the season, and the profit margin is probably 40% to the restaurants/bars. They make their money off the pussies that only eat a couple of pounds. One of our favorite Mexican food restaurants had live music and a boil last Saturday, they were $10/lb. The tab for my family of three would have been $350 if we would have went. If I'm going to smell like a minnow bucket, I'm gonna eat enough to make it worth it.

CHIEF

yeah, at those prices, you're paying for the novelty/cool factor of eating crawfish....you ain't an eater.

When I'm serving eaters, I plan on 5-7 lbs per person.  Some folks will eat 10, some will eat 5, I average it out.  But still, I count on a 30-40 lb sack feeding 6-8 people...if they're eaters.

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5,095

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2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

yeah, at those prices, you're paying for the novelty/cool factor of eating crawfish....you ain't an eater.

When I'm serving eaters, I plan on 5-7 lbs per person.  Some folks will eat 10, some will eat 5, I average it out.  But still, I count on a 30-40 lb sack feeding 6-8 people...if they're eaters.

Yep, that is a good average. I have a buddy whose wife wouldn't even touch them the first boil we ever had, now, I have to account for her eating 10 pounds, and she's a skinny little thing. I have to account for a whole sack for my son, I have to beg him not to fire up the cooker before 10 on Sunday for round two. I have a few "outliers" to account for, but 6-8 per sack works. I'm lucky that I have a few oilfield buddies that I can count on to buy a sack and put it on their expense account, since technically I still have an "oil company". Instead of footing the bill for 2-3 big boils. I can foot a quarter of 6-8 boils.

CHIEF

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Dilligas

Dilligas 666

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Buddy is having a half sack boil today. Got them from HEB, $5 lb.

Been to the Boil Shack in West Henly a couple times this year and they are $10 lb. which seems to be pretty typical for restaurants.

This is another event I try to hit yearly and was cancelled last year, https://llanocrawfishopen.com/. We get there around noon on Friday so it’s free to enter.

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Anastasis

Anastasis 23,485

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Dropped into WF to pick up some fish for dinner and asked the guy working the seafood case if they ever got any sacks in, or did special orders.  He said something about them not carrying anything live due to the inhumane farming. I laughed and told him to give me all the blue points and wellfleets he had in the case, about a dozen total. I am not sure if the irony landed with him. 

 

So cross WF off the fn list. 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105,335

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47 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Many HEBs carry crawfish.  Fiesta did too, last time I checked.  $5/lb doesn't surprise me right now, should get cheaper over time of course.

 

 

Fiesta is often cheaper per lb.....but when you cull out the dead ones, you almost always do better with HEB.  Neither seem to have them regularly now, and certainly not at a good price.  It's still early in the season.

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5,095

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1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

Dropped into WF to pick up some fish for dinner and asked the guy working the seafood case if they ever got any sacks in, or did special orders.  He said something about them not carrying anything live due to the inhumane farming. I laughed and told him to give me all the blue points and wellfleets he had in the case, about a dozen total. I am not sure if the irony landed with him. 

 

So cross WF off the fn list. 

Reminds me of a story of my Mom when she was in college. Vegetarianism and Vegan was just becoming a "thing". The professor was going off about all of the virtues. She raised her hand and inquired about his belt, and if he ate jello. 

CHIEF

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5,095

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Just ordered four sacks of field run for $3.40/lb. That is thirty-nine cents a pound cheaper than last year at this time. Bassham Foods Restaurant Supply in Ft. Worth. They have a retail storefront as well. It's where my oyster guy works.

CHIEF

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Kyrie Eleison

Kyrie Eleison 9,312

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That’s twice horn4life has suggested an ice bath for boiled crawfish. I’ve never seen it, would never do it and renders all opinions he has about boiling crawfish laughable.  

you speak from ignorance, if not blasphemy...i and damn near every coonass of good repute ice baths our boils. not only does it pull back from the shells it also sucks the seasoning into the shells and on the meat and in the head. it makes a good boil go to great.

but please...do go on and tell me how wrong i am.

pro tip...best potato salad you’ll ever make is from the potatoes left over from a crawfish boil.
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TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10,527

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18 minutes ago, Kyrie Eleison said:


you speak from ignorance, if not blasphemy...i and damn near every coonass of good repute ice baths our boils. not only does it pull back from the shells it also sucks the seasoning into the shells and on the meat and in the head. it makes a good boil go to great.

but please...do go on and tell me how wrong i am.

pro tip...best potato salad you’ll ever make is from the potatoes left over from a crawfish boil.

I understand the importance of the soak. But the way I understood horn4life was he was suggesting taking the crawfish out of the pot and shocking them with plain ice water. That would not only dilute the flavor but make the crawfish cold. Who wants that?  

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Kyrie Eleison

Kyrie Eleison 9,312

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I understand the importance of the soak. But the way I understood horn4life was he was suggesting taking the crawfish out of the pot and shocking them with plain ice water. That would not only dilute the flavor but make the crawfish cold. Who wants that?  

i took him to mean throwing ice into the boil itself once the burner is cut....same as myself.
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31,536

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My cousin's hub is a dyed-in-the-wool coonass from New Iberia.  Played football and went to flight college at ULM and lives there now.  He's hunting friends with the Robertsons.  Dude hunts or fishes probably 200 days a year, more if he wasn't a stunt pilot.

While N. La. is peckerwood redneck country, there's plenty of coonasses all over Louisiana.

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TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10,527

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18 minutes ago, Kyrie Eleison said:


i took him to mean throwing ice into the boil itself once the burner is cut....same as myself.

I think you and I are on the same page. But this is what horn4life said in his original post and had used the term “ice water bath” in multiple posts subsequently  

 

On 1/25/2021 at 7:15 PM, horn4life said:

Only secret I have is to take you hot mud bugs and give them a quick ice water bath. Then toss into cooler and season.  That 30-60 seconds in the ice bath makes the meat pull back slightly from the shell, and they peel smooth as silk!

 

 

 

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Scooter Monzingo

Scooter Monzingo 821

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17 hours ago, Kyrie Eleison said:


you speak from ignorance, if not blasphemy...i and damn near every coonass of good repute ice baths our boils. not only does it pull back from the shells it also sucks the seasoning into the shells and on the meat and in the head. it makes a good boil go to great.

but please...do go on and tell me how wrong i am.

pro tip...best potato salad you’ll ever make is from the potatoes left over from a crawfish boil.

After reading this thread it is obvious to me that I have never had the damn things properly prepared. And the potato idea is fantastic.

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smuggs

smuggs 9,353

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17 hours ago, TonyTexas said:

I understand the importance of the soak. But the way I understood horn4life was he was suggesting taking the crawfish out of the pot and shocking them with plain ice water. That would not only dilute the flavor but make the crawfish cold. Who wants that?  

We boil ~700 lbs. every Good Friday (20 and 21 skipped due to covid). We hold back a few sacks to ice down for rest of the weekend. 2 sacks of ice on top then liberally shake dry seasoning over the ice. They get even better as it melts. If you haven't saddled up to a cooler of iced crawfish in the morning and eaten/drank away a hangover then you really haven't ever lived. 

Iced crawfish > hot crawfish. Come at me.

 

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