Ingredients:

  • 30 lbs live crawfish, cleaned and purged
  • 4.5 lbs dry crawfish/crab boil seasoning
  • 8 oz liquid concentrated shrimp and crab boil
  • 1 cup cayenne pepper
  • 4 heads garlic, halved horizontally
  • 8 large lemons, halved
  • 4 oranges, halved
  • 4 limes, halved
  • 5 large yellow onions, peeled and halved
  • 1 bunch celery, cut into 4-inch stalks
  • 5 lbs small red potatoes
  • 3 lbs smoked Andouille sausage, cut into 2-inch links
  • 12 ears fresh corn, husked and snapped in half
  • 1 lb whole white button mushrooms

Instructions:

  1. Purge the crawfish: Place live crawfish in a large ice chest and cover with fresh water. Stir gently, let sit for 10-15 minutes, and drain. Repeat until the water runs clear. Discard any dead crawfish.
  2. Prepare the flavor base: Fill a 60-quart boiling pot halfway with water. Add dry seasoning, liquid concentrate, cayenne pepper, garlic, onions, celery, and the juice from the halved lemons, oranges, and limes (toss the rinds into the pot as well). Bring to a rolling boil.
  3. Boil the dense vegetables: Add the red potatoes to the boiling seasoned water. Cook for 10 minutes or until they begin to soften.
  4. Add secondary ingredients: Add the smoked Andouille sausage and mushrooms. Maintain the boil for another 5 minutes.
  5. The final boil: Add the crawfish and the corn. Cover the pot and return to a boil. Once boiling, cook for exactly 5 minutes depending on the size of the crawfish.
  6. The flavor soak: Turn off the propane burner. Add a half-bag of ice or spray the outside of the pot with a garden hose to drop the temperature quickly. Let the crawfish soak for 20 minutes. This creates a vacuum effect, drawing the seasoning into the meat.
  7. Serve: Drain the basket and dump the contents onto a newspaper-lined table. Enjoy hot with friends and family.