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As the crawfish arrive at the purging tanks, we can begin to see the fruit of our labor. The crawfish are transferred from the buckets to cages in the purging tanks. These purging tanks are filled with clean non-chlorinated well water. The crawfish will remain in these cages, getting the opportunity to ‘bathe’ the mud off of them and pass any mud that might be in their system. This process is not a universal process, but we feel it is critical to having a clean tasting crawfish that does not muddy coolers. It is our opinion that once you taste purged crawfish, you will not want to go back to unpurged crawfish. We feel that the difference in taste is very noticeable.
After the crawfish are allowed to purge themselves, the cages are dumped onto culling tables. From here the live crawfish are sorted out from any fish, grass, or dead crawfish. Only live crawfish are bagged. It is important not to eat crawfish that have been dead because you don’t know how long they were dead and if the meat has spoiled.
The crawfish are placed in a mesh bag that holds approximately 35-40 pounds of crawfish.
These bags are placed in a refrigeration unit that maintains the crawfish at 40°F until pickup. The crawfish are not frozen and do not die in this refrigeration unit. Instead the temperature places the crawfish into a hibernation state. The crawfish can be kept in this state for several days. Once these crawfish are warmed up, they will come back to life. Some crawfish may remain inactive after they warm up due to shock.
Once the crawfish are picked up, they are ready to cook and eat. There is no need to wash or soak them in salt water or vinegar. The purging has alleviated this step. Nor is there a need to sort out the sticks or grass. You can pour the crawfish straight from the bag to the pot. You are now prepared to eat some of the best crawfish around. Remember, a lot went into bringing these crawfish to your table.
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