How Long Do You Boil Crawfish (And Why)?

How Long Do You Boil Crawfish (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 5 to 10 Minutes

Boiled crawfish is a very popular and easy seafood recipe. It is particularly favored for consumption in the summer months in coastal areas. Crawfish are also referred to as crayfish and crawdad.

Besides being a delicious food, Crawfish is also a rich seafood source for nutrition. The food contains large amounts of fat and carbohydrates and gives 626 calories per serving. It contains 42g of protein, 57mg of Vitamin C, and considerable amounts of Vitamin A.

Cooking crawfish gets messy as would any typical seafood. One needs to have a calm and straight approach in doing this.

How Long Do You Boil Crawfish

How Long Do You Boil Crawfish?

Steps in the Boiling ProcessCooking Timeline
Clean the Crawfish5 to 10 Minutes
Boil Water15 to 20 Minutes
Boil Crawfish10 to 14 Minutes
Soak Crawfish15 to 20 Minutes

Boiling crawfish can be done away within 4 crisp steps. These include cleaning the crawfish, boiling the water, boiling the crawfish, and then soaking them in boiled water. To prepare crawfish sides, the cook can boil vegetables like potatoes, mushrooms, and beetroot in a separate utensil.

To get started with cooking, one has to start with cleaning the crawfish. Cleaning the crawfish helps to get the seafood rid of all the mud and dirt it might possess and one can take the help of devices like the crawfish washer in the process. This step takes barely 5 to 10 minutes but is of enormous importance in getting it clean.

In the next step, the cook has to boil water in two different pots. While one pot will be used for boiling crawfish, the other will be used for soaking crawfish and should be cooled after it boils once. Water should be boiled again after it simmers by putting the burner off for once. This step can take 15 to 20 minutes.

Boiling seafood is the main step in cooking crawfish. The seafood should be allowed for an additional three minutes to boil after the water in the pot simmers. This step can take about 10 to 14 minutes. At the same time, water in the other pot should be removed off the burner and allowed to cool.

The next step is to soak the boiled crawfish in the boiled water. The crawfish will sink in the hot water. Crawfish have to be soaked in this way for 15 to 20 minutes.

Why Do You Need To Boil Crawfish For So Long?

Crawfish can be ready to eat within an hour of its preparation. In the process of cooking crawfish, every step has to be duly followed. Each of these has its unique significance and if they are not well followed they might not possess the same flavor as would be desired of them.

The sea is the natural habitat of crawfish. When these animals are transported to their homes, they might still possess much dirt and mud. Thus, to get the crawfish free from all these unwanted elements, cleaning them with all attention is the only way forward. This makes it safe for further use in cooking.

Boiling Crawfish correctly helps to make it ready and safe to eat. Boiling kills all the harmful microorganisms that might be alive in the organism and makes it fit for consumption. When the crawfish is ready, it turns bright red and floats on top of the water.

Soaking the crawfish helps to assimilate spiciness into the food. When these crawfish begin to sink in the hot water, it serves as a signal that they have absorbed spices. Moreover, the cooler water of the pot makes the crawfish filled with juice making it heavy.

Conclusion

Crawfish is an ideal dish to be prepared in picnics and other get-together instances. It may require a collective effort and a lot of time which makes it a good dish for the occasion. However, if a person is running short on time, they can always opt for frozen crawfish available in grocery stores.

Cooking crawfish by boiling them can take about an hour. One has to clean them for 10 minutes first, then boil two pots of water for 20 minutes, boil crawfish for 15 minutes in one pot, and then soak those in the warm water of the second pot.

References

  1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-4530.1991.tb00087.x
  2. https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/234418
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