Things You'll Need
Bowl
Ice water
Cooking spray
Cookie sheet
Plastic freezer storage bags
Fish fork or metal skewer
Crawfish, also called crayfish, is a down home dinner in the South and a delicacy elsewhere, available only when in season. Boiling the crawfish is simple. Bring a large pot of spiced water to a rolling boil. Throw in the crawfish. Wait until they turn dark red in about five to 10 minutes and they're done. Test to see if one is done by breaking off its tail and removing the meat. If the meat is opaque, the crawfish has cooked.
Whole Crawfish
Step 1
Fill the sink or a big bowl with water and lots of ice cubes.
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Step 2
Remove the crawfish from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and dump into the ice water. If you use a colander to drain all the crawfish at once, you'll need several bowls of water and ice.
Step 3
Drain the crawfish from the ice water when they're cold and place on a terry cloth towel. Blot as much water off as possible. Spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray. Put the crawfish in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Try not to let them touch. You want each crayfish to freeze individually. Put in the freezer.
Step 4
Transfer to a plastic freezer bag when frozen through. Since the crawfish are individually frozen, it's not difficult to remove however many you want, rather than having to defrost a group of crawfish.
Crawfish Meat
Step 1
Remove the crawfish from the boiling water and place in the ice water.
Step 2
Grab the crawfish by the tail. Twist and pull on the tail. It should separate from the body. Remove the shell from the tail by using a fish cocktail fork or the end of a metal skewer. The meat should come out without a struggle. There is a tiny bit of meat in the large claws. Crack the claw with a nutcracker and remove the meat.
Step 3
Wash the meat under running water to remove any fat. If the fat is exposed, it may turn rancid during freezing. This isn't a problem when freezing whole crawfish.
Step 4
Measure the tail meat and put a cupful in a plastic bag. Label with a marker. Place in the freezer.
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