Crawfish/seafood boil-how to buy, boil and eat

[Baby Back Maniac]

Judging by the comments so far, i suppose there is a reason there was A LOT of leftovers. I just hope all that leftover crawfish was put to good use. I would pull all them tails and make a Gumbo. But im afraid this video was a publicity stunt for YT, seems everyone involved was there to promote their brand.

That may be more my fault than their's. I asked all those folks to give me a little pitch of their channel before I started rolling. Sorry if that felt like a "publicity stunt" but giving them publicity is exactly what I was trying to do.

When I started out, it was really hard to get noticed. It took me 3 months to get my first non-friend subscriber and I was starting to get discouraged. Then one day a "big channel" mentioned me in a video. It instantly gave me about 50 real "bbq guy" followers. I was so excited I made up my mind that if I ever got to the point where I could help other youtubers, I was going to pay it forward. That's the reason I do so many collaborations/shout outs to other channels. Sorry if it bothered you.

 

[cowgirl]

I wouldn't know the first thing about a crawfish boil...but it looked like ya had a good time!
The only thing I noticed was the back of the pickup was devoid of cases of alcohol...and that cut me deeply. Other than that...I liked it!

-D

....and another truck load of ice to go with it. :laugh::thumb:

I am reminded of the saying "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".

So I have no comment.

Nope, don't continue typing he says, biting tongue. Ouch, bite, ouch, bite, bite, bite

Same here... biting my tongue. Looked like everyone had a nice time though.

One thing I'll mention....As I stated in a thread the other day, taste the water before adding any food. If it's too spicy, adjust the seasonings.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

You need to rename that video to "This is how T-Roy boils crawfish". Just saying...

That was the most pitiful display of my culture. I can name at least 20 things wrong with it but I'll keep my opinions to myself. I almost made comments on YT but didn't want to bring drama to your channel.

I'd actually like to hear your thoughts too. Troy isn't pulling this stuff out of the air. He grew up in LA cooking like this. I would be interesting to see what the differences are. Mind sharing?

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

YEP, that salt and all the seasoning was a BIG reason they had so many leftovers. You'll never see a full table of crawfish left at my house with a crowd that big. 45 lbs and 35 lbs left over---=WTH? Ya'll eat skinny over there but ya'll all fat, Splain that to me.

Cajun food isn't all about being so peppered you can't eat it, it's spicy at the right levels to give a little burn with flavor that makes you want more.

I might make a list but the whole video speaks for itself.

I can imagine that tasted like a chemical bath with all that liquid crab boil seasoning.

IMMA quit or it might inspire me to make a Youtube reaction page for all the crap food channels I see on YT.

I'm just joking, I have a face for radio!!!!.... Maybe not----------

Go for it, man! Youtube is fun.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

Guys,
One of the things Troy said over and over again was everybody does it their own way in Louisiana. Obviously some people didn't care for Troy's methods. I would love to hear what you guys do differently. I like learning/

With that said (and to address some of the comments) this food was great. It didn't taste chemically or salty. The crawfish itself was just about perfect. Everything else was a little hot for me but tasted like what I'm used to from crawfish boils. The reason there was so much leftover is because Troy bought a ton of food. He bought more crawfish than we needed and a couple hundred dollars of seafood and crab on top of that. Plus, Harry brought crab and Scott brought 10 pounds of sausage and there were a few non-seafood eaters in the bunch who ate steak and ribs.

That said, none of it went to waste. Some more people showed up late and we ate it again for dinner. By the time it was all done and peeled, there was only a little bit left that went home with guests. None wasted. And yes he did taste the boil. He just didn't do it on camera (Thanks for popping in, Jeanie!).

I think that addresses all the comments people had. Let me know if I missed anything.

But yeah, I'm really interested in what you guys do differently.

 

[Beer/Meat/Victory]

I kinda do things spare of the moment. Whenever i plan a cookout/picnic/family reunion things always go south. I can't even count how many times i had too much leftovers because late cancellations, or bad weather..ect. For how much crawfish cost (even driving to Louisiana) to get them, its not worth it. Its actually cheaper to use shrimp and crab. And if im being honest, I like crawfish but i prefer crab.

First year I did it I was all out of pocket on costs, this year I asked for $15/ per person if they were going to eat crawfish. It didn't cover everything, but helped greatly, and I knew who was serious about coming. I setup a paypal page that allowed friends to "chip in", then you cash out the money pool after ordering. It's a rare treat for folks up here as there just isn't a crawfish boil on every block like I was accustomed to growing up around the gulf coast.

 

[EyeBurnEverything]

That may be more my fault than their's. I asked all those folks to give me a little pitch of their channel before I started rolling. Sorry if that felt like a "publicity stunt" but giving them publicity is exactly what I was trying to do.

When I started out, it was really hard to get noticed. It took me 3 months to get my first non-friend subscriber and I was starting to get discouraged. Then one day a "big channel" mentioned me in a video. It instantly gave me about 50 real "bbq guy" followers. I was so excited I made up my mind that if I ever got to the point where I could help other youtubers, I was going to pay it forward. That's the reason I do so many collaborations/shout outs to other channels. Sorry if it bothered you.

No it didn't bother me. I don't have anything against mentioning other people's channels. All i was trying to say was that with all the people involved from YT , it seemed more about making the video then the actual food. I guess it just didn't have that "Family" feel to it. Still a great video, and i learned some thing to do, and not to do when doing a seafood boil.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

No it didn't bother me. I don't have anything against mentioning other people's channels. All i was trying to say was that with all the people involved from YT , it seemed more about making the video then the actual food. I guess it just didn't have that "Family" feel to it. Still a great video, and i learned some thing to do, and not to do when doing a seafood boil.

Oh OK. Yeah unfortunately the video was way too long as it is and I had to make some cuts. I have clips of us hanging out in the pool and sitting around listening to music. The problem is I can’t play the music on YouTube without getting in copyright trouble and I’m not sure if listening to us talk about random stuff is compelling content So I focused on the stuff I thought people would be looking for on YouTube. How to boil. How to eat. How to buy. How much to buy. Stuff people could sink their teeth into no pun intended.

Anyways, I appreciate the feedback. Will take it to heart

 

[Peter V]

I also don’t think that’s a good way to do that. Way too much seasoning, you should be able to enjoy crawfish without killing your mouth. I also agree that is why there was so much left on the table. Eating 45lbs is nothing for a few Cajuns!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Absolutely amazing Love Crawfish I would have loved to have been at that table thanks for the Video

 

[m-fine]

He grew up in LA cooking like this.

He grew up in the wrong part of Louisiana. Just ask anyone from a different part of Louisiana. :wink:

The seasoning and salt looked like a bit much compared to what I have experienced in my travels down there, not just volume, but variety as well. There was also something really weird goin on with the spices because he put in live crawfish and covered the pots, and then only 5 minutes later some of the crawfish were looking a lot like shrimp and others looked like crab! That’s some seriously funky chemistry going on in there!

But for all the criticism, he did way better than the guy with the raw crawfish, black potatoes, kimchi, and Japanese seasoning with bits of seaweed in it.

 

[Bbq_lover]

Wow, I am surprised about so much hate on the seasoning. At the end of the day, if you weren’t at the table, you probably shouldn’t comment. He may not have let it soak as long as others, so it didn’t pick up as much seasoning. The process and the seasoning turns out the end product. His process maybe perfect for the amount of seasoning he used. They tested the crawl fish at different intervals, so at the end of the day if the taste was on point, it doesn’t matter. As for the “leftovers” maybe by the end of the night it may have all been gone. We don’t know. We weren’t there and we didn’t taste anything.

 

[Lawnguy]

https://www.pbs.org/video/julia-child-cooking-with-master-chefs-cajun-cooking-with-emeril-lagasse/

Start at the 16 minute mark. I saw this episode a while back and searched for it for comparison. I would like to make this one day. Local place can order crawfish for me. Other than the amount of spice...I didn't see anything that was much different than what Emeril did in the video he made. So I guess Emeril is an idiot too and doesn't know what he's doing.:crazy: The amount of spice is a personal preference. T Roy says in the video to add as much as you like. Both say the longer you steep the spicier it gets. Me personally I like spicy food. My heat tolerance is pretty high. What most would call too spicy I think is just right. I treat jalapeno's like green peppers.

I too would like to see these expert recipes from the naysayers on here. Thing about food and local dishes...everyone has their way...just because you do it different doesn't mean they are wrong. I put my spin on every dish I make. I can give a rats ass what others think. I cook it the way I like it.

 

[4ever3]

Someone once said... “You can please all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time...”

 

[Joshw]

I overnight them in from Louisiana. Check Louisiana Crawfish Company and KLC Farms. It's not cheap, and the reason I do it once a year. You can order packages from LCC with seasoning, also amazon is your friend for boil seasoning in 1-4lb bags. Swamp Fire and Frog Bone have been good to me for the pre-mix route. Academy also will ship without breaking the bank. I bought an 80qt pot/strainer and Jet burner from them a couple years ago.

Cajungrocer.com is cheaper than LCC and they sell everything else, that is hard to find too.

 

[jermoQ]

Justin, I always enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing it with us. I REALLY enjoyed that video, because I am a huge crawfish and cajun food fan.

 

[redhawk]

Everyone here in Louisiana has their own way of doing crawfish. It was a great video and I enjoyed watching it.

Here is mine.

One Sack of crawfish.

I put the correct amount of whatever pre-made seafood boil seasoning you need for one sack of crawfish and a splash (about 3 to 5 tablespoons) of liquid boil seasoning. It usually says it on the sack or container how much you need for a sack.

I bring the water up to a boil and add the seasoning, squeeze in a few lemons and oranges and then add the potatoes, onion and garlic. Once those have boiled for about 15 minutes, I add the already cleaned and purged crawfish to the pot.

I bring it back up to a boil as fast as I can and then boil for 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size of the crawfish. I then cut the heat and add frozen corn, mushrooms and sausage to the pot. Let everything soak for about 15 minutes and then start tasting the crawfish to get the desired flavor and spiceness. The longer the soak, the more flavor and spiceness they will get. It seems 25 minutes is my perfect spot for us most of the time.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I liked the video. I have never been further south than Arkansas so my opinion doesn't count. Okay, I've been to Australia, but . . . :becky:

I have been a subscriber for a while Justin and get a kick out of your videos. I have a friend who wants to start some Youtube videos for something completely non-related to food, and will show him yours as a great example of production quality.

Much resect for you coming on back here and answering the "critics." I'd hate to ever show anything I've done on the internet . . . :shock:

 

[Joshw]

Okay, I watched this video, just to see what horrible crime T-Roy committed. I didn't really see anything. He obviously didn't get them purged, or the poo line wouldn't be there. I put my sausage in with the hard vegetables, but other than that, that's how I boil crawfish too. I don't use that type of seasoning, but it says a 4.5 lb bag will do 45 lb of crawfish, so the seasoning wasn't too outlandish. You control the amount of spice absorbed with the soak. I'm sure I could have done away with a few pounds of them no problem. I actually put cauliflower in my last boil, since I quit eating potatoes. It is really good, but it absorbs the spice like crazy, so if he cooked that head whole, I bet it had some heat.

I had never heard of adding vinegar, to help peeling, I will try the hot sauce next time. Overall I didn't see anything wrong with the cook, and I'm not a T-Roy fan.

As far as the criticism goes, I am always up to learn something, so please provide details of the things done wrong in this video, for the people that are interested in bettering their techniques.

 

[m-fine]

You don’t need the acid from the vinegar/sauce if you have the lemons.