We all know that crawfish are very close to lobsters. It belongs to the family of Crustaceans. Like any other species God made them to have something to protect them from predators. It is called exoskeleton. It is the hard external shell that protects them from their enemies. However, there are some crawfish with soft shells which is being served by many restaurants. They are aquatic animals. During spring, female crawfish burrow to the water table. This is their moment to hatch their eggs which is about 400 to 800 eggs. You can find them in rivers, streams and highway ditches.
These are few of the characteristics of Crawfish that we need to know. Live crawfish are treasured by many. They all say that it is important to make sure that the crawfish is alive before boiling a crawfish. Well, it is because of the very reason that it taste so good and safe when they are boiled alive. It sounds torturing them, right? However, they are being taken good care of before that. So, the following are the right ways of handling live crawfish.
1. No doubt it is a fragile species due to their shells. It is required to handle it with extra care to maintain its beauty and life when it reaches the customers. In fact, sometimes advice is being spread out that a sack of live crawfish should be carried like carrying a baby. Indeed, it is very delicate but once cooked it will really satisfy you.
2. Once the sack of crawfish is carried, it must be set to the ground gently. Anyone must make sure that the whole body of the sack reaches the ground at the same time. It must not be piled up also in more than three sacks high. This will bring bruise to our most precious crawfish. Of course, you do not want that to happen so carry it with care.
3. It should be put in a cool place like a refrigerator or placed in a basin with ice till they are used in cooking already. In fact, in boiling crawfish among of its steps is to segregate the live ones from the dead ones. Therefore, even they are already bound for cooking there are still some that dies in the last minutes. I know it needs a little effort but it is really worth working on.
4. In case it is transported to a place make sure to give the crawfish an air to breathe in. They also need oxygen like human. So you may keep the lid slightly open but just make sure they cannot escape. Or else you will not experience the crawfish delicious taste.
Well, they say crawfish survives best in cool conditions. In fact, they are well at 50 degrees temperature. According to experts they do stay alive for up to 24 hours. That is why if you can cook them before the time dues you better cook it right away. If not, then just follow the right way of handling the live crawfish to make it stay alive and fresh.