O.K., all kidding aside, how long do you cook those things? Are the freshwater ones edible too?

There's a little (freshwater) lake near here that's crawling with them - some about 3" OAL, with pretty good sized tails on them. I was thinking a mini lobster trap would be pretty easy to build out of mosquito screen.

Use a hose to clean them up. Put them in salt water for about 5 minutes not real salty. Get your pot boiling with your spices. Put the mudbugs in the boiling water which will drop the temp. When the water comes back to a boil, let them boil for about 5 minutes. Pour them out and enjoy.

the crawfish is a freshwater lobster that video was pretty close to right.That did sound like a little to much salt.You can put in some smoked sausage too. We always used a minnow seine. As little kids we would fish for them in thier holes with a string with bacon on it. Drop it down the hole and they will grab on and you can slowly pull them out. The bigger the better as the tail is where the meat is. If you don't know what a crawfish hole looks like the always have a mound of rounded mud pellets piled up at the entrance

Don't forget to suck the heads...

450,
Where is the nearest place to DFW to get crawfish?

Growing up in MS we used to have them in our backyard in a low wet ditch area. We caught them the same way mousegun1 said.

The cooking is about like xgrunt says too. Only we called them "crawdads"...I didn't hear "mudbug" until I started making trips to south LA.

With some folks the first question is "how do you eat them?" It couldn't be easier. Straighten the tail a little, then break them in half from the side with a little twisting so some meat is showing from the tail, then take that in your teeth and pull and the rest slips right on out of the tail. On the bigger ones you may get a speck of meat from the claws but not much.

They're also good in gumbo and as a topping on fish and there's Crawfish Etouffee. Oh, and he's right about the heads too.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
Don't forget to suck the heads...

the best part!

Here's a site that pretty well describes the whole process. Get Zatarains shrimp/crawfish boil, available in bags or liquid form, purists tend to prefer bags, add some more red pepper if you want more "hot".

Relatively few people do it, but besides the corn and potatoes (required ) the mushrooms are GREAT!

Finally, it is EXTREMELY common in Texas, and many other places, yes, even in Louisiana to overcook shrimp and crawfish. I'd cut back a minute or two on the boiling time mentioned IF you're going to let the soak in the boiling pot for the 20 or 30 minutes mentioned. For boiled shrimp, drop them in your seasoned boiling water and take them out NO MORE than a minute after the water has started boiling again and the shrimp have turned good and pink, assuming you have a fairly homogenous size mixture, if not, you have to cook for the bigger ones, which take a bit longer.

boiling crawfish

quote:

it is EXTREMELY common in Texas, and many other places, yes, even in Louisiana to overcook shrimp and crawfish. I'd cut back a minute or two on the boiling time mentioned IF you're going to let the soak in the boiling pot for the 20 or 30 minutes mentioned. For boiled shrimp, drop them in your seasoned boiling water and take them out NO MORE than a minute after the water has started boiling again

+1+1+1!!!

GatoGordo, you hit the nail on the head!

I grew up in Metairie,Louisiana and am a transplant to the great state of Texas. This happens all too common when people cook shellfish. I just don't understand why folks think they have to cook things soooooo long!

Andy

I catch them with traps in some of the rocky bottom lakes around here, I like the ones caught in the rocky bottoms better than the ones caught in the mud they seem to be less earthy tasting.
I boil them with some old bay seasoning and never over cook them !

quote:

the crawfish is a freshwater lobster that video was pretty close to right.That did sound like a little to much salt.You can put in some smoked sausage too. We always used a minnow seine. As little kids we would fish for them in thier holes with a string with bacon on it. Drop it down the hole and they will grab on and you can slowly pull them out. The bigger the better as the tail is where the meat is. If you don't know what a crawfish hole looks like the always have a mound of rounded mud pellets piled up at the entrance

The part about salt is correct. Put the crawfish if a large tub, cover with water and dump a couple of pounds of salt over them. It will purge them, make them clean themselves out quick. Then wash well with clean water. Do not cook in that salty dirty water.

Zatarains shrimp and crawfish boil is a good seasoning mix, cook with corn, potatoes and onions.

This thread is making me hungry!

Lived in Louisiana for a few years in the early 70's. Would go crawdadding in the swamps around Shreveport. We would get chicken parts and let them sit out for a few days to get them good and stinky for bait. Enter into 1'-2' deep swamp water and bait a flat 3 cornered net with the bait, walk 15 feet away, sit in a swamp tree for 10 -15 minutes then retrieve our nets with an 8'-10' pole (keeping distance not to frighten our prey). We would fill 50# burlap sacs with crawdads the size of small lobsters and blue crabs. Drive home, clean up, purge our catch, let the cat chase a crawdad or two on the kitchen floor before it went into the Old Bay seasoned boiling pot, (the crawdad, not the cat ) spread newspaper on the kitchen table and feast. Those were the days.

Lousiana? Hey, I live in Ohio and have been eating them all my life!

Anyone ever peel the tails before cooking and then deep fry them with a batter like a shrimp?
Taste great!
At first my California born wife thought I was nuts!

DON!!! he said crawdads not hairy clams

April Fool's Day seems as good a day as any to kick this up a notch or two. For getting into the proper crawfish eating spirit, how about -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...jcPg&feature=related and,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nCJIlOOg9Y There is not a happier tune than that one - crawfish are in there somewheres.

This one's for lagniappe - everyone enjoy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...eVh4&feature=related

And why not...always room for one more really good one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KbbdEpMW-E

Laisser les bons temps rouler!

Dont forget the whole garlic,sausage,lemons,new potatoes&corn.

THE Easter celebration in New Orleans(& Metry,dawhlin)is a crawfish boil.So after 6 wks of no meat fridays what do we do? To celebrate the Resurrection of our God,we take the god of a local indian tribe(Colapissa),boil them alive,break them in half,pinch their tails&suck their heads.Thatll show them we mean business down here!

quote:

Originally posted by Don Slater:
Lousiana? Hey, I live in Ohio and have been eating them all my life!

Anyone ever peel the tails before cooking and then deep fry them with a batter like a shrimp?
Taste great!
At first my California born wife thought I was nuts!

The sacramento river produces a lot of comercial crawdads.