Crawfish Boil - Birthday Party

[immamac 42852]

My wife is throwing me a birthday party/crawfish boil - I'm wondering what the opinion is on boiling them ourselves vs hiring someone to come in and boil for us while we enjoy the festivities. 

What say ye?

[Dr Fear 1268]

My wife is throwing me a birthday party/crawfish boil - I'm wondering what the opinion is on boiling them ourselves vs hiring someone to come in and boil for us while we enjoy the festivities. 
What say ye?

How many people you expecting?

[immamac 42852]

around 60 so it'll be 3 sacks of crawfish

[BearCountry11 1234]

1 minute ago, Dr Fear said:

2 minutes ago, immamac said:

My wife is throwing me a birthday party/crawfish boil - I'm wondering what the opinion is on boiling them ourselves vs hiring someone to come in and boil for us while we enjoy the festivities. 
What say ye?

How many people you expecting?

This.  I throw a couple of boils every year and one of them usually falls on my birthday.  I typically boil them myself but I'm only doing about 70-80 lbs.  

[immamac 42852]

I did it myself last year and my wife told me I got too drunk and wasn't on top of it for back/back batches that were necessary. They came out cooked and tasting great, but I was partying pretty hard and obviously distracted and thats why she pitched hiring someone.

[BearCountry11 1234]

4 minutes ago, immamac said:

I did it myself last year and my wife told me I got too drunk and wasn't on top of it for back/back batches that were necessary. They came out cooked and tasting great, but I was partying pretty hard and obviously distracted and thats why she pitched hiring someone.

Drinking and boiling crawfish goes hand in hand IMO.  If you're just doing 3 sacks I'd say boil it yourself and see if you can get one or two guests to help out.  Catering a crawfish boil can get pretty pricey.  I got pretty shit faced last year on my birthday for the second batch but my BIL kept an eye on it for me.  

[immamac 42852]

The problem is I can't do a sack at a time in my current setup, it's more like 1/4 sack per batch 

[DanRydell 799]

Since this is an annual event, invest in a 100qt pot/burner kit so you can boil a whole bag.

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/outdoor-gourmet-100-qt-crawfish-kit

[CHIEF 5089]

Thats the one I have. It will hold two bags. Also 3 sacks for 60 people might be a little low. My annual birthday crawfish boil usually has about 45, with about 30% being really serious eaters, we go through 5 sacks like shit through a goose. 3 will be good if there aren't any coonasses, or 10-12 lb. eaters. We average about 4 lbs. per head count.

 

CHIEF

Edited March 1, 2019 by CHIEF

[BearCountry11 1234]

1 hour ago, immamac said:

The problem is I can't do a sack at a time in my current setup, it's more like 1/4 sack per batch 

Yeah that makes it a pain in the ass then.  Invest in a bigger pot (as suggested earlier) if you plan to do more boils in the future.  I've got an 80 qt that works perfectly.  

[luke duke 6413]

Since this is an annual event, invest in a 100qt pot/burner kit so you can boil a whole bag.
https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/outdoor-gourmet-100-qt-crawfish-kit

This is the correct answer or get 2-60qt pots if you soak post cook. Or just ask a friend or two if they don’t mind taking charge.

Also, I am having a hard time believing that there’s a woman out there that would marry you.

[utee94 15824]

I say hire it out and party your ass off with nary a care in the world.  Sounds like your history proves you don't enjoy the cooking as much as the partying so why cause yourself more grief?  

It's YOUR birthday.  YOLO and all that.

 

 

[CHIEF 5089]

I got a great idea, tell the Mrs. that you want a crawfish cooker for your birthday.

 

CHIEF

[CHIEF 5089]

1 minute ago, CHIEF said:

I got a great idea, tell the Mrs. that you want a crawfish cooker for your birthday. Be sure and get the double jet burner, it gets my 120 quart boiling in about 10 minutes, better have an extra bottle of propane, cause it eats it fast. Its also so loud the neighbors walked out the first time I used it., and started looking up in the sky for low flying jets.

 

CHIEF

 

[PantsTent 2002]

I voted immamac so we can get pictures.

[immamac 42852]

Quality seafood sacks are usually 30lb not 20lb so it would be ~90lb of pre cooked crawfish

[tx 3 putt 76972]

get the bigger pot for sure

[EE2B 1565]

This is the correct answer or get 2-60qt pots if you soak post cook. Or just ask a friend or two if they don’t mind taking charge.

Also, I am having a hard time believing that there’s a woman out there that would marry you.

He said wife, not that it was a woman.

[Covri 6249]

If you can afford to pay someone to do it then go that route. Now you’re having fun and supporting a local business/creating jobs. 

[Paco 1934]

There's no way I could hire someone to come over and boil my crawfish.

[NoRagrets 1125]

I’d spend that money on a mariachi cover band

[billfromlaketravis 11485]

@immamac, I've seen your cooking man. If you care at all for the safety and well being of your guests, please hire a Cajun for your crawfish boil. 

[Mac8111 2107]

Will your sister be there ?

[solamente73 1132]

Is this going to happen at your home?  Because no one but me would be cooking for a party at my home.  Wife (no pics) may assist with setting out stuff, but outdoor cooking is my domain.

1.  Buy proper gear (see suggestions above)

2.  Get quality bugs

3.  Drink

4.  Boil

5.  Drink

6.  Eat

7.  Drink

8.  ?????

9.  Profit

If your wife is insistent, tell her you will have to trade in your man card of you have it catered, but you are willing to consider it for a bj w/ swallow on the front end.  After receipt, proceed to step 1 above.

Edited March 2, 2019 by solamente73

[tx 3 putt 76972]

3 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

I’d spend that money on a mariachi cover band

 

this sounds pretty awesome 

[tx 3 putt 76972]

1 hour ago, Mac8111 said:

Will your sister be there ?

we are past due for a sister update

and congrats on getting married 

[luke duke 6413]

I’d spend that money on a mariachi cover band

[CHIEF 5089]

19 hours ago, luke duke said:

 

 

 

Love the hook's at 3:29. Somebody tweet CDC and see if they could be one of the stadium concerts this year.

 

CHIEF

[Dr Fear 1268]

What are you guys using in the boil these days?  I am doing one this weekend and my wife is bitching that they were not hot enough last year.

[immamac 42852]

I forgot to update this thread. Will post pics of the success.

@Dr Fear for 100qt boil (30lbs at a time) I used:

• 50qt of water
• 2 spice pouches of zatarains boil in a bag (it's whole spice kernels and stuff) https://www.mccormick.com/zatarains/products/spices-and-seasonings/seafood-boils/crawfish-shrimp-and-crab-boil-in-a-bag
• 1 "sack pack" of SwampFire boil mix https://oakgrovemix.webs.com/products.htm
• 1/4 gallon of your favorite boil concentrate (they are all basically the same)
• 1/4 lb of 100k heat unit cayenne (only add this if you want it to be cajun level spicy) 
• 30lbs of mudbugs
• 5lbs of sausage
• 5lbs of mushrooms
• 5lbs of corn
• 5lbs of red potatoes quartered
• 3 lemons squeezed
• 3 heads of garlic halved
• 2 sticks of butter

Brought to rolling boil, squeezed in lemons, threw in everything but the mudbugs, then wait for it to start rolling again put in 30lbs of rinsed/purged/strained crawfish - 15 minutes boiling then kill heat add butter and cool it off using 10lb bag of ice or hosing down the outside and stirring as fast as you can to as close to 150 and let it soak for 15 (soak phase is key to spice)

repeat as many times as you need to to get through all the crawfish - we did 106lbs in 3 batches and it was some good shit. Blacklabs daughter probably killed 10lbs herself 

 

 

 

[immamac 42852]

Shout out to quality seafood for the crawfish, although it was really high prices for early season the quality was amazing. We had virtually no loss (less than 5% for sure) and all were commercially purged before, not a single dookie vein in any of the crawfish. Really good size as well.

[elfenix 34248]

looks  good.  love dipping crawfish tails into the lemons.

[luke duke 6413]

[Dr Fear 1268]

22 hours ago, immamac said:

I forgot to update this thread. Will post pics of the success.

@Dr Fear for 100qt boil (30lbs at a time) I used:

• 50qt of water
• 2 spice pouches of zatarains boil in a bag (it's whole spice kernels and stuff) https://www.mccormick.com/zatarains/products/spices-and-seasonings/seafood-boils/crawfish-shrimp-and-crab-boil-in-a-bag
• 1 "sack pack" of SwampFire boil mix https://oakgrovemix.webs.com/products.htm
• 1/4 gallon of your favorite boil concentrate (they are all basically the same)
• 1/4 lb of 100k heat unit cayenne (only add this if you want it to be cajun level spicy) 
• 30lbs of mudbugs
• 5lbs of sausage
• 5lbs of mushrooms
• 5lbs of corn
• 5lbs of red potatoes quartered
• 3 lemons squeezed
• 3 heads of garlic halved
• 2 sticks of butter

Brought to rolling boil, squeezed in lemons, threw in everything but the mudbugs, then wait for it to start rolling again put in 30lbs of rinsed/purged/strained crawfish - 15 minutes boiling then kill heat add butter and cool it off using 10lb bag of ice or hosing down the outside and stirring as fast as you can to as close to 150 and let it soak for 15 (soak phase is key to spice)

repeat as many times as you need to to get through all the crawfish - we did 106lbs in 3 batches and it was some good shit. Blacklabs daughter probably killed 10lbs herself 

 

 

 

We are looking at 40-50ish people, how many lbs you think we need ?  The current plan is 60 lbs.

[immamac 42852]

are all of them eating crawfish? We had 50ish and went through 106lbs like nothing (over 200lbs of food total).

2lb per person is usually about right.

[Dewey 3286]

4lbs per

[TonyTexas 10515]

I've given this tip before but bears repeating. When boiling multiple batches. use two setups. One will be your boiling pot and the other be used for soaking. This way you don't have to wait for your pot to get back up to boil to start your next batch. You don't even really need to  put seasoning in your boiling pot. The soak will impart the flavor.

[immamac 42852]

9 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

I've given this tip before but bears repeating. When boiling multiple batches. use two setups. One will be your boiling pot and the other be used for soaking. This way you don't have to wait for your pot to get back up to boil to start your next batch. You don't even really need to  put seasoning in your boiling pot. The soak will impart the flavor.

If you have 2 pots this is obviously the ideal setup, it's all about the soak - the crawfish is actually usually cooked in about 8-12 minutes you just do 15 to make sure because getting sick sucks.

[mushroomface 62]

2 hours ago, immamac said:

2lb per person is usually about right.

Who the fuck only eats 2lbs of crawfish?

[Braff Zacklin 13577]

8 minutes ago, mushroomface said:

Who the fuck only eats 2lbs of crawfish?

Someone with a shellfish allergy?

[immamac 42852]

A lot of people like to eat potatoes sausage corn etc. If you don't have a bunch of coonass friends or native Texas/Louisiana friends 2lbs is about all people have before their mouth is on fire or they are full from the other shit and snacks. 

I'd never recommend less than 4lb per person for a party of all crawfish eaters and for real coonass parties it's more like 6lb per person 

[LaunchPad 10]

I would like to tag along with the subject and get recommendations for a Shrimp Boil.  Looking to do 25lbs for a small gathering.  Any recommendations would be appreciated.

[luke duke 6413]

Get small shrimp with the shell on so you can slow down the people who’s primary mission is to stuff their face with the most expensive food as fast as possible. 

[LaunchPad 10]

24 minutes ago, luke duke said:

Get small shrimp with the shell on so you can slow down the people who’s primary mission is to stuff their face with the most expensive food as fast as possible. 

Great advice.  Any good playbooks on a list of ingredients(Sausage, Corn, Seasoning, etc.) and the timing of each?

[CooterBrown 18014]

Great advice.  Any good playbooks on a list of ingredients(Sausage, Corn, Seasoning, etc.) and the timing of each?

Same as crawfish but with shrimp.

[luke duke 6413]

I add the shrimp during the soaking phase. Don't cook them too long or they'll be rubbery.

[Llano Estacado 1257]

Be sure to say “hey [guest], the ocean called they’re running out of shrimp.” at least once every 10 mins.

[DoobieWah 1443]