OT- Crawfish - Frozen vs Fresh

Sandor181

As a Pennsylvania guy, we are planning a clam bake and shrimp boil for June and one of the guys thought it would be fun to have crawfish too.  We did a trial run with some frozen precooked and seasoned crawfish last night after a few adult beverages.  They were our first crawfish any of us had eaten and tasted really good.  Is it worth the expense to get live crawfish flown in or are the frozen just about as good?  Any feedback on lacrawfish.com vs Cajun Kitchen?  

Thanks for any input!

JethroVA

@nolaegghead

buzd504

Down here, I don't think you can even get frozen crawfish like you describe.  Yuck.

I think @nolaegghead has endorsed lacrawfish, but I have heard good things about both places.

nolaegghead

Frozen whole crawfish?   I have no experience with them.  Might be a cheaper alternative to shipping live.  That process is very common with snow/king/dungeness crab and lobster, so I don't see why it woudn't be acceptable.

fishlessman

either way works for me, ive had over cooked fresh ones that were just terrible.

fishlessman

nolaegghead said:

Frozen whole crawfish?   I have no experience with them.  Might be a cheaper alternative to shipping live.  That process is very common with snow/king/dungeness crab and lobster, so I don't see why it woudn't be acceptable.

frozen lobster is just wrong alot of west coast crabs get frozen at sea, east coast lobsters are usually tanked for a few days before the freeze

Sandor181

Thanks for the feedback!  The frozen ones were $30 per 5 lb container.  It was insanely easy to heat them up in the pot too.  lacrawfish.com is $130 for 30 pounds which is the amount I think we would buy, so it's a little cheaper.   I guess we'll shoot for the live bugs for this event, and that will give us our gauge on which route to go in the future.  

500

I'm seeing  cooked and seasoned crawfish at Kroger.  They are are on ice in the seafood department.  Can I re-steam them again, to get them hot, or will they overcook and get rubbery?

SSQUAL612

After a few beverages it's customary for the men to grab a live crawfish and have them attach to your nipple...time to see who can take it the longest and thus you'll have your "Tough Nips" award winner.  Women are less likely to participate in this tradition, but perhaps some bourbon slushies could help get them in the spirit.   This is something that cannot be duplicated with frozen crawfish.

GrillSgt

Uncooked frozen lobster is a travesty. Much better to be cooked a bit under and then frozen. 

buzd504

500 said:

I'm seeing  cooked and seasoned crawfish at Kroger.  They are are on ice in the seafood department.  Can I re-steam them again, to get them hot, or will they overcook and get rubbery?

If they are fully cooked, get a pot of seasoned water boiling and "dip" the crawfish in the pot for a minute or so.  You want them in the heat for the least amount of time for them to get hot.

500

buzd504 said:

500 said:

I'm seeing  cooked and seasoned crawfish at Kroger.  They are are on ice in the seafood department.  Can I re-steam them again, to get them hot, or will they overcook and get rubbery?

If they are fully cooked, get a pot of seasoned water boiling and "dip" the crawfish in the pot for a minute or so.  You want them in the heat for the least amount of time for them to get hot.

Thanks for the tip.  I will get some and try this. Back in Ohio, as a kid, we would find them in streams under rocks.  We called them crawdads.  

GrillSgt

Mudbugs in KY.

SSQUAL612

buzd504

too much corn.

bgebrent

buzd504 said:

too much corn.

And not enough beer.