HOW TO BUY AND STORE LIVE CRAWFISH
Bring some Louisiana bayou to your
summer
entertaining. Attending a down-home crawfish boil has the comfort and casualness that makes the
great
outdoors truly great. If you know what you’re doing, hosting a crawfish boil is a bigger bang than
all the
fireworks on the fourth of July.
Even though Louisiana is the origin of crawfish feasts,
other
states also have fresh crawfish available. Whether ordering from a Louisiana crawfish farm or more
locally,
freshness is the key; always buy live crawfish!
You want crawfish that are fresh, alive,
and
clean. (All crawfish are sluggish during cold transport, but be sure that they are alive. Do NOT
cook dead
crawfish.) Do not buy bugs caked in mud and all crawfish should be similar in size to cook in the
same
amount of time.
Once you find a vendor who offers quality crawfish, you can start your
order!
Several
Louisiana crawfish farmers will ship live crawfish next-day air or via air cargo for pickup. Always
check
reviews online before buying.
CRAWFISH GRADES
Not every farmer or provider grades crawfish, so you
want to
look for medium to large crawfish. Crawfish can come in various grades: value grade, select grade,
and
premium grades.
Value grade or mixed catch crawfish usually provide more mudbugs for your
money,
but the mix of sizes makes for uneven cooking.
Select grade and premium grade crawfish are larger—and well-suited for a boil. If you really want to
impress,
premium grade (or extra-large) crawfish are closer in size to their lobster cousins.
To
recap,
look for a vendor that can guarantee:
Fresh crawfish
Clean crawfish, not muddy
Next day shipping (if not delivered or picked up locally)
Crawfish of a consistent size for better cooking
Outdoor crawfish portable outdoor cooker
Large, hard-sided cooler for storing live crawfish or crab
HOW MUCH CRAWFISH SHOULD I BUY?
You buy crawfish by the pound rather
than by the
number of crawfish. One person can usually eat 3 to 5 pounds of crawfish, while seasoned crawfish
connoisseurs will devour more. Legend has it that an experienced Cajun can eat 7 to 10 pounds of
mudbugs in
one sitting!
To plan your crawfish order, add the number of people coming to your party.
Multiply
the number of guests by the number of pounds you plan to serve per person. For example, for a party
of 10
people, you'll want 40 to 60 pounds.
If you plan on adding potato, sausage, shrimp, or
other
mainstays to your boil, you can go a little lighter on the crawfish.
Large hard-sided cooler
Several ice packs or bags of ice
Newspaper
Thermometer
Burlap sacks, towels, etc.
HANDLING CRAWFISH
A note for handling crawfish - if there are any dead
mudbugs,
toss them out.
As soon as you get your crawfish home:
Line a large cooler with newspaper.
Place unopened bags of ice or ice packs on a wet burlap, or towels, to keep your bugs cool and fresh.
Put the sack of crawfish on its side in a large cooler out of direct sunlight.
The chilled crawfish will be sluggish. Let them return to room temperature.
Spray crawfish with water to rejuvenate.
Leave the drain in the cooler open and slightly elevate the other side so water can drain out.
Maintain 36°F to 46°F
Leave the cooler lid cracked open so the crawfish can breathe.
Do not store or soak your sacks of crawfish in water – they'll die!
You can store crawfish on ice for several days without killing them as long as you replace the ice
as needed
– but the fresher, the better. If you store them for more than two days, rotate the sack
daily.
HAVE FUN OUT THERE