Boiled shrimp and crabs

These come from my recipe database and are untried by me.

Boiled Shrimp

4 cups ground crab boil
1 cup liquid boil
1/2 cup Louisiana-style hot sauce
1 lb salt
1 onion, cut in 1/2
2 garlic heads, cut in half
2 lemons, cut in sixths
10 new potatoes
6 ears sweet corn, cut in 1/2
4 gal. water
10 lbs fresh Louisiana shrimp, heads on

Bring water to a boil and add all seasonings, the onion, garlic, and lemons, except the salt.

Flush shrimp with tap water until water runs clear and the eyes of the shrimp grow in size, about 5 minutes.

Chef's Note: This step is very important as it will aid in the peeling of the shrimp. It's an old shrimper's trick.

When water comes to a boil, add the potatoes, cook 10 minutes, and then add the ears of corn and the shrimp.

Bring the water back to a boil and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Turn off the shrimp boil, remove the onion from the water, and cut in sixths and return to the water.

Add 3/4 lb. of the salt and rest for 10 minutes.

Taste 1 of the shrimp to determine whether the additional 1/4 lb. of salt is needed. Let the shrimp rest in the boil for an additional 20 minutes.

Servings: 6
Source: Louisiana Cookin


Boiled Crabs

3 gal. water
3 Tbs cayenne pepper
1 cup salt
3 lemons, halved
5 dozen live Louisiana crabs
5 lbs ice

For your seafood boils, a single butane burner, a large heavy boiling pot, and oven mitts are all you need. Depending on the size of the crabs, you can allow anywhere from 6 to a dozen per person.

Combine the water, cayenne, salt, and lemons in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the crabs, cover, and return to a boil. When the steam appears from the edge of the lid, cook for 10 minutes longer.

Shut off fire add ice to stop cooking and let soak for 10 minutes to absorb seasoning.

Drain and serve hot.

Yield: Serves 6 to 12
Source: Louisiana Cookin

You trying to boil them in the same pot? It's mostly a matter of timing. No matter what seafood I'm boiling, my water tastes the same. For shrimp/crabs I put less water and a proportionally less amount of crab boil, although I use the same pot. I suppose for that amount I would use 20 qts of water, half a bag/jar of Louisiana/Zatarain's powdered crab boil, and half a small bottle of liquid. Add all the same stuff you would when boiling crawfish (onions, potatoes, garlic, lemons, oranges). For these things, I would actually probably use exactly the same amounts as I would when boiling crawfish (3lbs onion, 3lbs red potatoes, 10 heads garlic, 3lbs lemons, 6 oranges or so). Bring the pot to a rolling boil, add the crabs, bring back to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes. Some people ice the crabs down first, but I forget what that's supposed to do tbh and I never bother. After 10 minutes of boiling, add the shrimp, sausage, and mushrooms, wait just a minute or 2, then cut the fire, add your frozen corn/veggies and soak for 30 minutes.

boiled shrimp and crabs are cooked differently.
with boiled shrimp I would not put in anything other than water (a tablespoon of oil also helps) at first, make it come to a boil, then throw your shrimp in and have it boil for no longer than a min when it reaches a boil again. then shut off fire and throw in salt and seasoning. also having some ice on hand to throw in helps. frozen corn is also perfect to put in. the whole object is to make them easy to peel. for seasoning, it really depends on how much water you have. a box of salt, a 1lb bag of crab, crawfish, shrimp powder seasoning, and about 6 oz liquid crab boil is a decent base point. let them soak for at least 15 min, then taste and if not seasoned enough put back in to soak for 5 min and taste again, repeat til perfect.

for crabs you can put a medium bottle of liquid crab boil, 2 boxs of salt and about 2 lbs of crab, crawfish, shrimp powder seasoning. also throw cayenne pepper in there if you like a little spice. when it comes to boil i would put potatoes, several cut onions (optional), several cut lemons (optional), and any other vegetables in there with crabs. time 20 min from when it comes back to a boil then shut off fire. let them soak about 5-10 min then do a taste test like the shrimp and repeat every 5 min til perfect.

I was gonna do 2 different pots. I got one of the 5 gallon buckets with heating element for Christmas. Was gonna try the shrimp in there and then crabs in my big pot

quote:

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5 gallon buckets with heating element

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What do you mean by this?

Exactly that. Haven’t used it yet

ETA. Thanks for all the replies.

Old Bay

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