Boiling the right amount of crawfish is a great starting point. It's not always easy to gauge the perfect amount to buy; however, a good rule of thumb is 3-5 lbs per person (roughly 45-60 lbs for 15 people). Take note of the crowd you're boiling for: Is it their first time eating crawfish or are they seasoned pros at peeling? Understanding your crowd can help you decide if you want to lean towards 3 or 5 lbs.
Getting the right amount of water is one of the most important—and overlooked—steps for a crawfish boil set-up. You want to pay attention to your seasoning-to-water ratio. While every blend is different, our rule of thumb is to use 1 lb of seasoning for every 2 gallons of water. It’s not always easy to know exactly how many gallons you’ve used, which is why we made an easy seafood boil calculator to find the ideal water-seasoning ratio for your pot.
You always want to thoroughly clean your crawfish. Whether rinsing them with a hose and ice chest, or using products like the crawfish washer, be sure you’ve mixed them up well and the muddy water has turned clear. It helps to get this process started early so you’re not rushing. We typically start cleaning our crawfish as our water is heating up.
Everything you are adding to your boil is creating one big stock. The flavors of the celery, garlic, onions, hot sauce, liquid shrimp, crab, and everything else is what creates the taste and smells that everyone has come to love about the backyard boil. This stock does not come together in a few minutes, so don’t rush the process. Give your ingredients and seasonings the time they need to break down and properly contribute to the overall flavor.
Make sure you have a full tank of propane set up for your crawfish boil and prevent any propane from freezing over, by storing it in a garage or shed during colder months.
Many traditional crawfish burners are difficult to light and waste too much propane. They can also be slow to heat, extending your batch time. Our tip: Take the stress out of seafood boils with our propane jet burner. Designed with a triple jet layout and innovative flame technology, our burner delivers lightning-fast boils while minimizing propane consumption. It also features a remote ignition to take the hassle out of lighting.
Propane pressure is often overlooked but can make or break your boil. While heating your water and prepping your ingredients, avoid cranking your burner to full blast—instead, keep it on medium heat to begin. When propane in the tank depletes rapidly, pressure drops because there's less liquid propane available to vaporize into gas, leading to weaker burner output. As this happens, the tank can cool and even freeze over, further reducing pressure. This can become a huge problem when you’ve just added cold crawfish to your boil and need maximum pressure and heat to return to a rolling boil.
Know your cooking times before you get started. This is not only necessary for planning, but also to have everything come out right. No one wants mushy crawfish. See our step-by-step recipe for a full walk-through on cook times. Below is a quick summary:
Even the most experienced boilers struggle with this step. Methods like adding frozen corn and bags of ice are insufficient, diluting your seasonings and failing to cool crawfish fast enough. That’s where the Boil Boss comes in for your crawfish boil set-up. We designed the patented crawfish cooler to drop the temperature of your boil from 212 to 160 in just a few minutes.
Everyone knows water boils at 212° F… the real number you need to understand is 160° F—the temperature that stops the cooking process. Including the crawfish paddle with your crawfish boil set-up helps take the guesswork out of the cooling process, allowing you to monitor the temperature while stirring the pot. That’s because the Thermo-Paddle™ features a color-coded dial that shows the optimal temperature ranges for cooking and soaking to prevent you from overcooking your seafood.
The mouthwatering smells of your boil may be tempting, but leave it be and let your crawfish soak for the full amount of time—around 20 to 30 minutes. This is one of the most critical crawfish boil tips; soaking is when your seafood will absorb all the flavors and juices of your boil. Remember the stock you have just built. A small and final tip before you pull your crawfish out to serve: agitate your basket to distribute all of the seasoning that has piled up in the bottom of your pot during the soak.
With a few seafood boil tips and a solid set-up of seafood boil supplies, you can stop overcooking your seafood and make your boil less stressful. Try out our patented products today!
Where can I buy live crawfish? For non-Southern natives, we get this question a lot, so we decided to put together a sourcing guide to make it simple. Of course, where you live plays the biggest role in how easy or difficult it is to get your hands on some fresh crawfish. If you’re a Louisiana local, or live in most Southern states, you have an abundance of options available and likely already know your favorite spot.
