How to cook crayfish correctly: tips and tricks. What determines the time of cooking crayfish after boiling: learning how to cook arthropods correctly How long does it take to cook crayfish

Foam guns 19.03.2022

Foam guns

Raki is an exquisite, delicate and tasty dish.

As a rule, they are used as snacks for beer.

There are many recipes with boiled crayfish meat.

You need to buy only a live product. In the store, you should pay attention to the conditions in which the inhabitants of the reservoirs live. At best, they should be in a spacious aquarium with water. Do not store them in the refrigerator.
Before buying, you should pay attention to cancer activity. Healthy living creatures behave very lively, move all parts of the body, constantly strive to leave the aquarium. In the event that the product is sluggish, and the seller assures that it is in hibernation, in no case can this be trusted. You can't buy dead crustaceans, and even more so, you can't eat them.
In the event that the living creature is in the ice, it may have inhibited movements. In any case, a living cancer will always move.
A healthy crustacean shell has a dark green color (closer to brown), which should be free of any damage and heterogeneity. It is firm to the touch, the tails are tucked in.

As for the time of buying livestock, as a rule they are caught at the end of summer or autumn. It is at this time of the year that they are most juicy and nutritious. Fishing is prohibited in spring and early summer.

It is not worth storing a live product; it must be cooked immediately after purchase. If this does not work, then you can store in the refrigerator for no more than 48 hours, in the freezer - up to 3 months.

Cooking preparation

It should be borne in mind that live crustaceans are quite active, so gloves should be worn. All manipulations should be carried out holding the back.

How to cook a frozen product?

A frozen product should be cooked in the same way as a live one. Only the cooking time will differ. It must be thawed before cooking. You should not do this with a microwave oven, as the meat will lose its unique taste.

After defrosting, you should pay attention to the crayfish tails. In the event that the crayfish were frozen alive, their tails will be twisted, if dead, they will be straight. You can also accurately determine this after cooking.

If it was possible to recognize that already dead carcasses were frozen, they must be thrown away, otherwise food poisoning cannot be avoided.

The process of cooking frozen crustaceans is the same as for fresh ones. Rinse in cold water before cooking. Then you need to boil water in a large saucepan, then add dill, salt, bay leaf, black pepper to it. Next, put the carcasses in boiling water and cover with a lid.

How long do crayfish boil?

If the product was frozen cooked, cooking will take a couple of minutes, if fresh - 10-15 minutes (until a bright red color appears).

Then the carcasses should be left in hot water in a saucepan with a closed lid for another 10 minutes to infuse.

The cooking time depends on the size, for small crustaceans it takes about 10 minutes, for medium ones - 15, for large ones - up to 25 minutes. You should not cook the product longer than this time, as the meat will become tough. The appearance of a bright red color means that the snack is ready.

How to cook - a classic recipe

To properly and tasty cook crayfish for beer at home, you will need the following ingredients:

1 kg of living creatures;
3 liters of water;
4 tbsp. l. salt;
bay leaves and dill (to taste);
a couple of black peppercorns;
lemon.

Step by step cooking in the photo:

First you need to pour water into a large saucepan and boil, then pour in all the spices.
Prepare carcasses. To do this, they must be thoroughly washed with a brush.
Next, put the carcasses in boiling spicy water.
Cook until a bright red color appears.
Serve the finished product to the table as a snack.

Unusual cooking methods

In addition to the classic recipe, there are many unusual options for cooking crustaceans.

You will need the following components:

kilogram of living creatures;
1.5 liters of beer and pure water;
3 art. l. salt;
a few peas of black pepper.

Cooking:

First of all, you need to boil water mixed with beer in a saucepan. Then add pepper and salt, mix.
Put a thoroughly washed product into a container with boiling liquid. Bring to a boil again, then loosely cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat to low and leave to cook.
After that, you need to turn off the fire and leave the pan for half an hour to infuse the snack.

Components:

1 kg of crustaceans;
a couple of liters of water and milk;
a bunch of greens (dill, parsley);
3 art. l. salt.

To begin with, thoroughly rinse the living creatures and place them in milk for 4 hours. After the time has elapsed, transfer the soaked carcasses to boiling salted water.
After cooking, drain the water, add the milk in which the crayfish were soaked, and add 1.5 tablespoons of salt. Add greens. Boil, turn off and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. After a while, the dish can be served at the table.

Crayfish in cucumber pickle

Also, living creatures can be boiled in cucumber brine.

Ingredients:

½ kg of crustacean carcasses;
5 st. l. sour cream;
a pair of bulbs;
1.5 liters of cucumber pickle;
dill, salt, bay leaf (to taste).

Rinse the carcasses thoroughly, place in a deep bowl, pour cucumber pickle.
Add spices to taste. After boiling, cook for 25 minutes. A few minutes before the end of cooking, pour in sour cream.

Crayfish in the oven

Ingredients:

crayfish;
a little vegetable oil;
salt;
spices (to taste).

First you need to rinse the living creatures well, dry and salt. Then put them on a baking sheet, generously greased with vegetable oil. Add spices as desired. Place the tray in an unheated oven. Gradually heat the oven to 200 degrees. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Crayfish on the fire

Components:

20 live crayfish;
2.5 liters of light beer;
3 art. l. salt;
10 green lettuce leaves;
a bunch of dill;
ground black pepper (to taste).

First you need to make a marinade for living creatures. To do this, pour beer into a deep container, add salt, pepper, add dill, mix. Add well-washed crayfish carcasses. Cover the pan with a lid and leave to marinate overnight at room temperature.

Remove the carcasses from the marinade and place each on a wire rack. Do not fry for a long time, 10-15 minutes on each side is enough. Periodically, you can water them with marinade. After the time has passed, you can serve it to the table, garnishing with lettuce leaves.

Video: cooking crayfish in a slow cooker

Dishes and snacks with crayfish meat

crayfish soup

To prepare the soup you will need the following ingredients:

350 g of living creatures;
carrot;
celery;
tomato paste;
shallot;
250 ml of broth and white wine;
100 ml cream;
20 ml brandy;
40 g butter;
bread for toast;
10 ml of olive oil;
spices - thyme, dill, bay leaf, parsley, white pepper, salt, sugar (to taste).

Manufacturing:

Put a pot of water on the fire, add dill, salt.
Rinse the product, remove the intestines. Put in a bowl with spices. Boil for 5 minutes, then transfer the carcasses to a container with ice water.
Cut into arbitrary pieces washed and peeled vegetables (shallots, carrots, celery). Pour into the bottom of a saucepan with olive oil. Add salt and thyme for flavor and simmer.
Tear off the tails and put on the grill along with the shells. The rack should be placed on a baking sheet and placed in the oven. Bake at 200 degrees until the necks begin to turn white.
Add tomato paste, sugar, salt to the vegetables in a saucepan, mix. Cut off the crusts from the bread for toast, cut them into large diamonds and put them on a baking sheet. Put in the oven. Then grind the claws and shells in a mortar and fry in a pan.
Add chopped crustacean parts to vegetables, mix, put on fire, bring to a boil. Open the lid, pour in a few ml of cognac, set fire to it. Shake the container to let the alcohol evaporate. Then add wine and fish broth. Mix.
Separate the crustacean meat, chop. Grind the contents of the saucepan with a blender. Rub the mixture through a sieve.
Put the container on the fire, pour in the cream, stirring. Add pepper, salt, chopped butter.

When serving, you first need to put the meat on the bottom of the plate, then pour the soup. Sprinkle the finished dish with chopped herbs. They eat with toast.

Cream soup on video:

Snack

To make a tasty snack at home, you will need the following ingredients:

10 crayfish;
100 ml dry white wine;
a couple of oranges;
grapefruit;
a pair of garlic cloves;
a teaspoon of mustard seeds;
2 tsp butter;
a few tablespoons of vegetable oil;
4 tbsp. l. cream;
bulb;
a bunch of lettuce leaves;
pepper, salt (to taste).

Manufacturing:

First, put the pan on the fire, bring to a boil. At this time, chop the onion.
Grate the zest from washed and dried oranges, squeeze the juice.
Mix onion with orange zest.
Salt the boiling water and place the livestock in a saucepan.
Heat up the pan, melt the butter. Then lay out the mass of the zest with onions. Fry for 60 seconds, stirring constantly.
Pour in the wine, put the minimum fire. The volume should decrease by 2 times.
At this time, you can start preparing the sauce. To do this, grind the peeled garlic cloves, mix with pepper, mustard and salt.
Pour in vegetable oil, stirring the mass with a whisk until smooth.
Cool crayfish carcasses, clean.
Pour cream into the mass in a pan, heat until bubbles appear, but do not boil. Then immediately turn off the fire.
Rinse the lettuce leaves, tear them with your hands, pour over them with mustard sauce and mix.
Peel the fruit from the peel, divide into slices, remove the film.
To serve, put a salad on a plate, then slices of citrus fruits, crayfish necks, pour over the dressing. The dish is ready.

Crayfish pilaf

Components:

a quarter cup of rice;
5 crayfish;
a tablespoon (with a slide) of butter;
three branches of dill;
salt, nutmeg (to taste).

Rinse the crayfish carcasses thoroughly, boil in salted water with the addition of dill sprigs. Cool the prepared product and clean it. Dry the shells and grind in a mortar. Then add the crushed cancer shells to the heated vegetable oil in a frying pan. Fry until the oil turns red, stirring constantly. Then strain it through a small sieve.
Fry the rice in the cooked oil until golden brown. Pour in ¾ cup of clean water, close the lid and cook over low heat. Water can be added as needed. When ready, add nutmeg. Mix the crayfish necks with the rice. When serving, the dish can be sprinkled with caviar or herbs.

How to freeze crayfish at home?

Crayfish carcasses can be frozen both cooked and fresh. To freeze the finished product, it is necessary to boil it in a saucepan with spicy water (about 20 minutes), and then arrange it in freezer containers. They can be filled with the broth in which they were cooked.

Before freezing, live crayfish must be washed well, cleaned and also put in a freezer container.

For you, a simple recipe - how to cook crayfish at home, as well as how much to cook crayfish in time.

Boiled crayfish is a delicacy well known to most residents of our country. The traditions of their preparation for food are rooted in the deep past, since their meat is not only nutritious, but also has a pleasant taste. But in order for their potential to be fully realized during cooking, it is necessary to choose the right recipe and use spices that allow them to fully preserve their potential.

How to cook crayfish at home

Many people, both adults and teenagers, often dive into reservoirs on weekends during the summer to catch crayfish, and therefore Russian housewives often cook them at home. In order for the cooked dish to please you with its unusual taste, you need to follow these recommendations:

Boil only live crayfish. Dying, they deteriorate within a few hours. To determine if this or that individual is alive, check the tail - it is pressed tightly against the abdomen if the crustacean still has signs of life.

The crayfish fishing season opens in May and ends in October, but it is believed that early autumn is considered the most successful time. By this time, they gain a sufficient amount of fat and acquire a pronounced taste.

The modern food industry offers the buyer frozen or already cooked crustaceans in ready-made packaging. But in the first case, the taste is reduced - the meat becomes dry and fibrous. In the second, you can never know for sure about the quality of the finished delicacy.

Before you start cooking, you need to prepare:

The washing up. Caught individuals accumulate a lot of dirt and silt on themselves. To clean them, soak them in clean water for a few hours and then rinse them under a strong stream of tap water;
Soak in sour cream or milk. This simple method allows you to improve the taste of the cooked dish. To do this, simply place the crustaceans in a large saucepan and fill with full-fat milk or water in which sour cream is dissolved. Thanks to this, the meat becomes more juicy and tender. After "marinating" rinse in cold water;
Cleaning. Some housewives prefer to first remove the stomach and intestines from the crayfish, which can make the taste somewhat bitter. To do this, find the fins under the tail and pull them in a twisting motion.

The last two stages of preparation are optional and are optional.

How to boil live crayfish

The most important thing in cooking crayfish is to create a delicious broth that soaks the meat and gives it a great taste. Three kilograms will be enough for a 12-liter pan.

We will need:

Crayfish;
Water;
Salt;
Dill;
Bay leaf;
Other spices as desired.

How to cook live crayfish step by step

We prepare crayfish for cooking: mine, you can soak in milk or sour cream, many housewives prefer to do this.

The container is filled with water by two thirds. Dill, bay leaf, and other spices are added inside. The broth should be salted at the rate of one tablespoon per 3-4 liters. The brine is brought to a boil and infused for 10-15 minutes.

Boil the water again and dip the crayfish into it.

As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and continue cooking at low intensity, maintaining the required time interval: for small crayfish 25 minutes, for very large ones - 45 minutes.

After that, the finished dish can be laid out on plates and served on the table.

How to cook crayfish with dill

Adding fragrant spices to the broth allows you to diversify your usual diet, giving boiled crayfish a more refined taste. Dill is one of the most widely available spices, and its palatability allows it to be used in a variety of dishes.

To cook 1.5 kilograms of crayfish, you will need:

A bunch of fresh dill;
One third of a lemon;
Black peppercorns;
Two liters of water;
a tablespoon of salt.

How to cook crayfish with dill step by step

To prepare, wash the dill thoroughly and cut it into large pieces. The pits should be removed from the lemon, as they can spoil the taste of the dish.
Seasonings are added to boiling water, after which the broth should be boiled for another 5 minutes.
After simmering over high heat for 15-20 minutes, the crayfish will be cooked, but to make them more delicious, let them brew in a saucepan for 10 minutes.

How long to cook crayfish

How much to cook crayfish after boiling. Crayfish may vary in size. They can be large, small or medium. This depends on the cooking time. So, for small ones it will be enough 25 minutes(on high heat until boiling and on low heat under the lid after boiling), medium will need 35 minutes, and the big ones will be ready only after 45 minutes.

There is a common misconception that crayfish should be removed as soon as they turn red. It is fundamentally wrong, since the outer layer of meat is boiled first and changes, while the inner part remains uncooked.

Few people have not tried crayfish at least once in their lives. Despite the fact that dishes from them are not frequent guests on the tables, rarely will anyone refuse to feast on these inhabitants of the reservoirs.

How to choose and prepare for cooking

Before you start cooking crayfish, they must be thoroughly washed several times and cleaned of adhering dirt. This is especially true for crayfish that are not purchased in a store, but caught with their own hands, since they live in holes and can sit in a muddy bottom. After the crayfish are washed, they should be placed in a large container (basin or, better, a bath) filled with cool water for about 30 minutes.

This must be done without fail, because it is necessary to cook the crayfish alive. By purchasing dead crayfish, you can get an already spoiled product, since it is not known how long the arthropod has been in this state.

An unsuitable product is not easy to see right away, but it will manifest itself during cooking.

The body of the cancer will swell and begin to emit an unpleasant odor. If many of these lake dwellers are cooked at once, then because of one spoiled crayfish, you can generally be left without a dish.

Important! When eating meat that has already begun to spoil, there is a risk of ending up in a hospital bed with food poisoning.

crayfish recipes

Despite the prevailing stereotype that crayfish are an addition to beer, along with fish, they deserve to be an independent dish. There are dozens of ways to cook crayfish, and every lover of these arthropods has their own proven and best recipe. Let's dwell on the most common.

Classic crayfish recipe

Ingredients:

salt (the required amount is calculated from the ratio: 1 tablespoon of salt per 1 liter of water);
bay leaf - 5 pcs.;

Cooking. Place a large pot of water on the stove. When the water starts to boil, all the seasonings are added there. Then the crayfish themselves are sent into the boiling water. The pan is covered with a lid, and the fire is reduced to a medium level.

Crayfish must be boiled for 10 minutes. After that, the pan must be removed from the stove and left for another 10 minutes under the lid so that the dish is infused.

Recipe for cooking crayfish on the water
You can cook crayfish on the water according to one more recipe.

Ingredients:

lemon 2 pcs.;
black peppercorns - 10 pcs.;
bay leaf - 5 pcs.;
dill seeds - to your liking;
sour cream - 2 tablespoons;
adjika - 2 tbsp.

Cooking. Water is poured into a large pot of water, lemon and seasonings are added. Before the water begins to boil, sour cream and adjika are added there. The contents must be boiled for approximately 5-7 minutes.

After that, the pan must be removed from the stove, covered with a lid and left to infuse for 30 minutes. Then put the pot back on the stove until it boils. Dip the crayfish into boiling water and salt to your taste. Depending on the size, it is necessary to cook arthropods for 10-20 minutes.

Advice! To determine the readiness of crayfish, you just need to look at them. If the shells turn bright red, then the crayfish are ready.

Crayfish boiled in beer

Quite an interesting recipe for cooking crayfish. Beer, as a rule, is taken the same amount as water, plus another 0.5 liters.

Ingredients:

water;
beer;
salt.

Cooking. A pot of water and beer is placed on the stove. Salt is added. For 1 liter of beer, there should be 1 tbsp. salt. As soon as the water boils, crayfish descend there. They need to cook for about 15 minutes. Then the pan must be removed from the heat and left to infuse for 20 minutes.

Useful information! In order to cook crayfish, it is better to take light beer, because dark crayfish can acquire a bitter aftertaste.

Crayfish boiled in milk

An unusual way to cook crayfish that takes a little longer to cook. But trying to cook crayfish in this way is definitely worth a try.

Ingredients:

water;
milk;
salt;
black peppercorns - 10 pcs. ;
bay leaf - 5 pcs.;
dill seeds - to your liking.

Cooking. Crayfish must first be soaked in boiled cooled milk for about three hours. After that, they should be washed and dipped in boiling water with spices. After the crayfish are almost ready, the water must be drained, and instead of it, milk is poured into the pan, in which the arthropods were soaked. Boil for another 5 minutes after boiling and remove from the stove.

crayfish in wine
Of course, you can just boil crayfish in water with dry white wine, but it's better to spend a little more time and cook them in a special way.

Ingredients:

dry white wine - 1 tbsp.;
flour - 1 tbsp;
cumin - 1 tbsp;
bay leaf - 2 pcs.;
butter - 2 tablespoons;
salt;
pepper.

The ingredients are based on 10 crayfish.

Cooking. Crayfish are placed in a pan with heated oil and fried until they begin to turn pink. When frying, they must be periodically turned over. Sprinkle with spices, salt and pour wine. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer the contents for 10 minutes. When the crayfish are ready, put them on a plate and cover with a lid. At this time, it is necessary to prepare the sauce from the broth in which the crayfish were cooked.

Put the strained broth on the stove, add flour and a spoonful of butter to it. Everything is thoroughly mixed so that there are no lumps. After the sauce boils, wait 2 minutes and add a little more oil. When it melts, mix well again. The sauce is served separately from the main course.

How to eat crayfish

There are crayfish, as a rule, they start from the tail, since there is most of the meat. The shell must be removed by slightly scrolling and tearing off. You can eat everything, but a thin black thread. Then you can proceed to the claws. They must be broken off and the shell removed. After that, the shell rises and comes off from the back. There is also meat. You can eat all the white meat that is in cancer. Everything else is not good for food.

Advice! In order for the crayfish to be juicy, you need to get them out of the broth in which they were cooked immediately before serving.

when choosing crayfish, it is better to focus on larger individuals. Their meat is more juicy and tasty. In addition, the taste is also influenced by the time when the crayfish were caught: if they were caught before their molting period began, the taste will be more intense.
if a ready-made dish is offered and it is not known whether the crayfish were cooked alive or not, you can find out just by looking at them. In live-cooked crayfish, the tails will be pressed to the abdomen. If the crayfish were already dead before cooking, then their tails will be straight.
You can store crayfish both fresh and already cooked. They keep in the freezer for a month.

Interesting fact! If the crayfish were frozen alive, then after defrosting they will move. This is due to the fact that when exposed to low temperatures, they do not die, but fall into a kind of hibernation.

when cooking crayfish, you should not spare seasonings, since the meat is hidden under a strong shell and with a lack of salt and spices it will be insipid and tasteless.

Crayfish are one of the most favorite dishes when it comes to choosing a beer snack. Red boiled crayfish is not just a delicacy, it has also become the hero of folk proverbs. At the same time, if earlier finding crayfish was a real problem and only residents of the area where these representatives of the fauna were caught could enjoy crayfish cooked on a fire, now large supermarkets offer to buy both live and frozen crustaceans.

At the same time, crayfish are an excellent snack not only for a foamy drink, but they feel quite harmoniously on the table in the company of wine, surrounded by greens and salted tomatoes.

To obtain the desired product in terms of taste, it is important to know how to cook delicious crayfish. Every housewife probably has a secret recipe for cooking crustaceans. But if there are representatives of the stronger sex in the company, then most often it is they who claim to know how to cook large crayfish so that the shell is soft.

Crayfish is an amazing product that is quite difficult to spoil. Even just boiled in boiling water with salt, they do not lose their taste and remain tender and tasty, especially crayfish necks, which are considered the most preferred part of boiled crayfish.

When deciding to cook crayfish, you need to competently approach the choice of the appropriate raw materials.

Advice: It is believed that boil in boiling water preferably only live crustaceans, choosing the most active ones. It is advisable to cull frankly sleeping individuals, as they may be sick. In this case, even cooking will not save you from infection.

Modern recipes include dishes with crayfish cooked after freezing, while in this case the cooking process consists in a different number of minutes required for complete readiness.

Should I add seasonings?

The next step towards proper cooking is the choice of seasonings. In this case, the rule "more is better" does not work, since too many additions can spoil the taste.

It is advisable not to use rich spices and hot peppers.

To properly cook large crayfish, you need to choose seasonings that can subtly convey the nuances of the taste of meat. You can cook crayfish with dill, with the addition of a small amount of "laurel" or peppercorns.

The last stage is the actual cooking. The question arises: how long to cook crayfish?

For small specimens, 15 minutes will be enough; for larger representatives of crustaceans, it would be advisable to keep it in boiling water for half an hour.

There are a considerable number of recipes for cooking boiled crayfish. You can boil them simply in lightly salted water, without dill and other spices. You can boil them in beer.

The most sophisticated is the option of cooking crayfish in white wine.

In this case, wine is only an additive that gives the meat a piquant taste and softness.

It only takes a couple of glasses of wine to prepare.

Properly cooked crayfish is a fragrant, tasty, tender snack that will decorate any table not only with its rich red color, but also with its exclusivity, since crayfish is not a food for every day.

Everyone can cook delicious crayfish. Follow the recipes for cooking, and you will get delicious and tender meat.

Crayfish is a product that is not a frequent guest on our table. But in fact, preparing this dish is very simple, and in the end you get an original taste and aroma.

There are many recipes for this dish.
To achieve a unique taste and aroma, various spices are used.
This article contains unique recipes. Crayfish meat will be tender and tasty

Often people ask this question: why are crayfish boiled alive and why can't you boil dead crayfish? These arthropods feed on carrion, and therefore their meat quickly becomes rotten.

Reservoirs are not always close to home, and therefore fishermen often have to leave for a day or two to bring a lot of prey. Fishermen may have a question, is it possible to cook dead crayfish caught yesterday?

Tip: Boil the crayfish immediately after catching. If this is not possible, then put them in a cold place, and then cook them as usual.

The prey will be perfectly preserved if it is overlaid with ice. You can bring frozen water cubes for fishing in a special thermal container.

Remember: You can not boil dead crayfish that have died a natural death. You need to catch arthropods only alive!

You should know: There is one way to check whether crayfish were cooked alive or already dead: if they have a tucked tail when cooked, then the crayfish was cooked fresh.

This is due to the fact that when a live crayfish is thrown into boiling water, it curls its tail into a ball. This method is used to determine the freshness of the preparation of these arthropods in cafes and restaurants.

The easiest way to prepare crayfish is to boil them in water with salt. As mentioned above, this cooking method is suitable for people who are doing it for the first time.

How to boil crayfish in water, how much salt? Follow these steps:

Wash the crayfish
Pour water into a saucepan so that it covers the crayfish a little while cooking
Put the pot on fire
When the water boils, pour salt into it at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water.
Place crayfish in boiling water
When the shell of the crayfish is red, turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid.
In this form, crayfish should be infused for 10 - 15 minutes.
After that, they can be laid out on a serving plate and served at the table.

Crayfish need to be boiled until their shell turns red. Accordingly, the question arises, how long does it take to cook live crayfish in boiling water? Cooking time is 15 to 20 minutes. If the crayfish are very large, then they must be boiled for up to 30 minutes.

Important: Do not leave crayfish in hot water for a long time after cooking (more than 15 minutes), as their meat may become too soft and tasteless.

It often happens that you need to cook crayfish in field conditions. How to cook crayfish on a fire?

If there is any metal container, then they can be welded on a fire. The cooking process on a hike is the same as at home: you need to throw crayfish into boiling salted water, cook for 15 minutes and let them brew for the same amount of time.

But, if you don’t have a pot with you, then you can fry the crayfish on a fire. How to do it? It’s good if you have a grill with you: put crayfish on it, add salt and fry on a fire for 5 minutes.

Remember: Heat is very drying! Therefore, it is not recommended to keep crayfish over a fire for longer than 3 - 5 minutes.

If there is no grill, you will have to use a skewer.

Important: But this method is suitable for those people who are courageous, because the crayfish will have to be stuck alive on metal twigs. They can be killed before the stringing process. This cooking method is not unpleasant.

If the catch was successful, and you brought home a lot of crayfish, then you can freeze them.

To do this, boil them for 5 minutes without salt, cool, place in plastic bags and put in the freezer.

Housewives often ask: “Is it possible to cook frozen crayfish and how to cook it right?” After all, you always want to please your family with new and delicious dishes.

Important: If the crayfish were properly cooked before freezing, they can be boiled, but immediately before use.

Follow these steps:

Drop frozen crayfish into boiling water
Boil no more than 5 - 10 minutes in water with salt (1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water)
Get the crayfish on a plate, decorate the dish and serve

Tip: If you don't have time to cook the crayfish before sending them to the freezer, fold them without heat treatment. In the cold, crayfish hibernate, so after they melt, they come to life again.

You can cook such crayfish in the same way as freshly caught ones.

This savory recipe will help you prepare amazingly delicious crayfish. A “zest” will appear in their taste, the secret of which cannot be revealed immediately during meals.

How to cook crayfish with lemon? Recipe:

Pour water into a pot and put it on fire
Bring the water to a boil and add salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water. Also add a pinch of dry dill and a few sprigs of fresh herbs to boiling water.
Dip the crayfish in water, boil them for 15 - 20 minutes
When the shell of the crayfish turns red, turn off the heat and leave them in the pan for another 10 minutes.
After this time, remove the crayfish from the pan and put them on a plate
Now you need to sprinkle the finished dish with lemon juice. Serve a plate of cooked and spicy crayfish

If you have never cooked crayfish in this way, then it will seem unusual and strange to you. But the taste of crayfish cooked in milk is unusually tender and unique.

How tasty is it to cook crayfish in milk? Recipe:

Boil the milk, cool it to room temperature
Dip pre-washed crayfish in milk and soak them for 3 hours
Take out the crayfish and rinse thoroughly. Put the milk aside, we still need it
Put a pot of water on the fire, and when the water boils, lower the crayfish into it. Add salt, black peppercorns and green dill. Boil crayfish for 7 minutes
Drain the broth and pour the milk in which the crayfish were soaked into the pan
Cook them for another 5 minutes. After the time has elapsed, remove the finished crayfish from the pan to a serving plate.

It turns out that you can not only drink beer, but also cook crayfish in it. Absolutely everyone will like this prepared dish. Your guests will even want to take the recipe for such mouth-watering crayfish from you.

How to cook crayfish in beer? Recipe:

To prepare the brine, you will need beer and ordinary water - a ratio of 1: 1
Put the brine on the fire. Salt it immediately, add peppercorns, bay leaf and dill (seeds and stems)
When the brine boils, put the crayfish in it
Boil them until tender 15-20 minutes.
When the shell turns red, let them brew in this water under the lid for 15 minutes and
transfer the crayfish to a plate, garnish with dill sprigs.
Now you need to sprinkle the dish with a few drops of lemon

Not only true connoisseurs of beer like to drink it with crayfish, but also ordinary people will be happy to taste a liter of this alcoholic drink with delicious and unique crayfish prepared according to a special recipe.

How to cook crayfish for beer? Recipe:

Rinse the crayfish under water
Put a pot of water on the fire and bring to a boil
Add salt to the water at the rate of 7-8 tablespoons per 5 liters of water. For flavor, put a tablespoon of dry dill or its seeds, bay leaf, peppercorns
Put the crayfish in the boiling brine and cook for 15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and set aside the pot with the crayfish to infuse. Their meat will be soft and tender

Dill gives the dish a subtle spiciness. Therefore, many people, when boiling crayfish, be sure to add dry or green dill.

Important: If you want the taste to be more refined, add dill stems and seeds to the brine, not green tops.

Many people are wondering: how to cook crayfish with dill correctly and how long? Almost all of the above recipes for this dish contain dill as ingredients. You need to cook crayfish with dill for 15 - 20 minutes.

Garlic will help cook delicious crayfish. But do not forget to add other necessary ingredients to the brine.

How delicious to cook crayfish with garlic? Recipe:

Rinse the crayfish under running water
Pour some water into a saucepan, bring to a boil
Add bay leaf, allspice, one peeled onion to the water
When the spices are boiled in brine for 5 - 7 minutes, fish out the onion and remove it from the pan. Pour in a glass of tomato juice and the same amount of beer
Put the crayfish in the resulting brine, cover the pan with a lid and cook them for 7 minutes. If the crayfish are not completely covered with brine - it's okay, they will still boil perfectly in a sealed container
After the time has elapsed, add salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 1.5 liters of water. Chop the garlic and also put it in the crayfish brine. 3 minutes before the end of cooking, put green dill (1 bunch) and half a lemon cut into slices
After cooking, turn off the heat, but do not open the lid - let the crayfish infuse
When serving, squeeze a little lemon juice on the crayfish

Cooking time really depends on the size of the crayfish. Usually, after the catch, these arthropods are sorted out, and only large ones are taken for food, since their meat is tasty and tender.

Important: All of the above recipes are designed specifically for cooking large crayfish.

Boil small crayfish need no more than 7 - 10 minutes. Watch the color of the shell, if it turns red, you need to let them brew for 10-15 minutes and the crayfish are ready to eat.

Crayfish caviar is edible, but it is tough and tasteless, so many people do not eat it. In general, it is better to catch crayfish when they are without caviar (in spring and early summer), then they will be tasty.

But, if you come across crayfish with caviar, how to cook them? Cook them according to any of the above printed recipes that you like. The meat of such crayfish will still be healthy and tasty.

This question worries many people. So, why do crayfish turn red when boiled?

The reason lies in the special composition of the shell. It contains carotenoids - these substances are necessary for masking. Depending on the environment, the proteins contained in the shell change their color from light to dark. When the water temperature is more than 100 degrees, the pigmentation process is irretrievably destroyed.

Crayfish meat is very tasty and healthy, like the meat of many other inhabitants of the seas and rivers. Therefore, prepare crayfish for your family or guests and enjoy the unique taste. Bon Appetit!