1 (35 to 40-pound) sack live Cajun crawfish
1 (26-ounce) box salt (for purging crawfish)
Water
2 (1-pound) boxes/sacks crawfish boil seasoning
6 to 8 lemons, sliced in half
6 small onions, peeled
4 pounds of smoked sausage, cut up into large pieces
3 pounds small red or new potatoes, unpeeled
10-15 ears of fresh corn on the cob, shucked and broken in halves
6 heads of garlic, split in half,
exposing pods
The cardinal rule is to purge and thoroughly wash the crawfish before boiling them. Pour the sack of live crawfish in a large tub or a large ice chest. Pour one (1) 26-ounce box salt over the top of the crawfish. Add water to just cover the crawfish. Gently stir with a large paddle to mix the salt and the water. Stir for 3 minutes, then rinse crawfish. Be careful not to let them purge too long. You do not want them to be dead when you add them to the boil. Throw away all crawfish that have already died (the dead crawfish should float to the top). You do not, I repeat, DO NOT want to add dead crawfish to the pot. After purging and cleaning, do not leave the crawfish covered with water, as they will die.
In a very large pot over high heat, add enough water to fill a little more than halfway. Squeeze the juice out of the lemon halves into the water, and throw the lemon halves into the water. Add crawfish or crab boil seasoning. Cover pot, turn on the burner to full blast, and bring water to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes, allowing the spices to mix well. Make sure water is at a rolling boil.
Using a large wire basket that fits into the pot, add onions, sausage, corn, potatoes and any other vegetables you desire. Maintain a boil and cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add crawfish to the wire basket, stirring them a bit. Once the water starts a rolling boil again, boil 5 minutes. Regulate the burner so the rolling boil is maintained, but where the pot does not boil over. Add crawfish to basket. Turn the burner off, keep the pot covered, and let the crawfish soak for 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove wire basket from pot. Wait for crawfish to cook. Remove the strainer from the water, and rest it on the top of the pot using two boards laid on the top of the pot as a rack. Let the crawfish drain. Remove basket with cooked crawfish to serve the traditional way – cover a table (preferably outdoors) with thick layers of newspaper. Spill the contents of the basket (onions, potatoes, sausage and crawfish) along the length of the newspaper-covered table. Crawfish are best served steaming hot. Serves a large group.
