Crab/Shrimp Boil

[pops]

Which seasonings seems to be the best to use when boiling crabs and or shrimp?

[Salty Gator]

Old bay

[zload]

Old Bay is good but not very spicy as in pepper spicy, I like to use Zatarain's Crab & Shrimp Boil, if you can find the granulated "orange powder" style especially, local Winn Dixie carries it in the seafood area. I put some on the seafood before cooking and let it "soak" in, the shrimp don't take long to cook so by pre-seasoning I get a better flavor i.e. more spice! I also put more in the pot. You can use Old Bay to do the same, it doesn't have much salt in it. I've also used a combination of the two. Zatarain's also makes a seasoning bag you can float in the pot and the make a liquid oncentrate but I think the granulated is the best. You can get it way to hot and way too salty with the Zatarain's so you may have to test it a little to get it they way you like it. I do a low country boil with corn, potatos, whole onions, sausage (I prefer smoked country sausage like Nettles but some people use kielbalsa), several cut lemons and then shrimp, crab, crab legs, crawfish etc. I saw something on Foodnetwork that said to put a little olive oil in the pot and the shells come off easier, they were talking about crawfish but I'm going to try it on shrimp. I've also had boiled shrimp where they boil them in plain salt water and hit them with Old Bay after they are done pretty good too.

[Gulf Coast]

I've always used Zatarain's, have used Old Bay just prefer Zatarain's

[Dubble Trubble]

+1 Zatarain's

[Tidedancer]

My vote goes to Zatarain's too.

[reelhandy]

http://store.jospices.com/crab-seasonin ... spice.aspx

Those are all good crab seasonings. I use the #2 for steaming crabs. We don't boil them though, and we don't clean them before they go in the pot. We do a layer of live crabs in the steaming basket and then we put on the spice, then another layer and more spice until the basket is full but not jammed full. We get some beer and vinegar boiling hard at the bottom of the pot, and then lower the basket into the pot, cover and cook for about 25 minutes. That's all there is to Md style steamed crabs. Pile them up on the table with some cold beers and go to town.