Crayfish
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: The Kitchen - Seafood Recipes
Forum Description: Share your favourite seafood recipes here
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132527
Printed Date: 03 Jun 2026 at 6:52am
Topic: Crayfish
Posted By: Elrond
Subject: Crayfish
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2019 at 6:50pm
As a complete novice, could someone talk me through the best way to prepare and cook fresh crayfish.
Thanks
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Replies:
Posted By: Waylander
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2019 at 9:07pm
Keep it simple... put em in a pot of boiling water until they go bright red.
If feeling fancy after a quick boil slice them down the middle, chuck a bit of garlic butter on em and grill them quickly on a super hot bbq.
Personally think its the only way...
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Posted By: Steps
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2019 at 6:31am
Do not over cook or over boil.
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Posted By: Elrond
Date Posted: 19 Dec 2019 at 4:00pm
Posted By: Fish Addict
Date Posted: 19 Dec 2019 at 4:23pm
Split the tails then put them on the barbie shell side down, then sprinkle a bit of butter and garlic onto the flesh. I cook them for 10 minutes or so, NEVER flipping the flesh onto the hot plate. This way the juices stay in. With about 2 minutes to go, I'll throw some beer or white wine onto the tails, and quickly cover them with a stainless bowl. This steams them from above, and seals all the goodness in!
Steaming them is better than boiling them if you choose to go down that path.
The following is some comments from a chef about cooking crays.
"I found that the best way to cook crays is to steam them as it does keep in the natural juices, personally, I love the unadulterated flavour of most seafood not the least crays, bugs and prawns. As a chef I have had to prepare crays in many different ways and having read a lot of other members posts I found that there is a lot of great variety with which to serve crays and they are all mouth watering. I think that I can say without a doubt that there is nothing worse than to ruin a good cray by way of overcooking it... it is such an expensive waste. Having cooked crays professionally I found that the safest way to prepare them is to understand the fundamental rules and that is ( for steaming ) eleven minutes per kilo at 95 degrees with 100 percent humidity... taken out of the live tank and placed into fresh water for approx half an hour to kill them.. then placed into a tray... we mixed up 2 cups of white vinegar to half a cup of raw sugar and gently poured this brine over them... finally spoon some of the residue sugar left over at the bottom of the brine mix over the cray and place them in the steamer... it is important to be fairly precise with the calculations of it all... at home I have done this successfully using a bamboo steamer over an electric wok filled with water. I have also ruined a couple of good crays by boiling them too long... the trick is to get them out of the cooking process at the right time and as one member correctly commented... put them straight into ice-water for a good half hour to stop them from continuing to cook... I hope that this has been of some help."
I found 11 minutes per kg was insufficient to fully cook the flesh in the body of the cray using a home steamer. Perhaps commercial steamers are more efficient.
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