My New Crawfish Cooker's Test Run (pics)

auto5man · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject: My New Crawfish Cooker's Test Run (pics)

Saturday I had a crawfish boil honoring my nephew's graduation from High School. I had 100 lbs of crawfish, and about 60 lbs of veggies and sausage...but only one burner for the two pots. I was just going to wing it with what I had, but when I went over to my Cajun buddies house to pick him up (I had asked him to help me) a couple hours before the cook, he says.....c'mon, lets put together your new burner. I looked at my watch wondering if the hour we had was gonna be enough time.....but I have learned to trust him in these matters. One hour later after using the drill press and the welder, here was the result:

And here is an action shot:

This burner was fantastic in action, boiling large amounts of water very quickly. So here are a few action shots from the crawfish boil. It was a huge success...we had a lot of first timers who really dug in and took to it.

First the live bugs go in the strainer:

and here is my Cajun friend Stiles demonstrating our purging method. We used the strainers dunked into a heavy plastic dedicated tub. Easy to dunk up and down to dislodge dirt and debris,

and then they get a shower...my girls loved to help with this part. That's Lindsey in action:

And big sis Lauren showing little sis JUST the right place to spray lol:

I found out from talking with K.A.M. on his Crawfish Cook post that we paid a little more for our mudbugs than they do in Texas, but it was worth it. We paid 2.00/lb plus a delivery fee, and I was impressed with these critters that came all the way from LA to AR and then to me from my vendor near Harrisburg, AR. They were in great shape and seemed no worse for the wear from traveling such a distance....some of the biggest I've ever had. Look at the size of this one!

We used fresh corn this time, I liked it better than the frozen:

The big 60 quart pot is about ready with the first load of crawfish. This will be dumped in the hot chest with the already done veggies/sausage, more spices mixed in at this point.

Then we are ready to get to eatin'. Yours truly gettin' food on the table:

Steam fogged up the camera a bit on this pic...beautiful spread:

We had a good turn out, good times and good eatin' had by all!

The burner worked great. It had one flaw that I'm already planning the fix for. The footprint of the legs is too small, making it tippy and dangerous when pulling the baskets out. I will widen the footprint after I figure out the look I like utilizing the lightest material possible, its already pretty heavy from the weight of the brake rotor. I'm also thinking about making some handles to weld on to the sides of the rotor for easier carrying.

Auto5man
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whitey · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

Hell Yea...
Looking like a good feast forsure.
Nice get together..
Whitey..
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jacobgiles · Newbie Joined: 07 Feb 2010 Posts: 30 Location: Atoka, TN

looks like a great time! any more info on that brake rotor cooker?

erniesshop · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

Awesome Job!!!
Ditto on the New Cooker !

auto5man · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

JGiles and Ernie'sShop,

It is a rotor from an F-250 SuperDuty, it was actually on my Cajun friend's Ford two days before we built the cooker, lol. I'm not the brains behind the build, but basically the burner is a 12inch long pipe 3/8 pipe nipple capped on one end with one small hole drilled into the cap (I'm guessing an 1/8 inch bit or close to it). The second part was a piece of pipe about 1 and 1/2 inch diameter (not critical b/c I've seen him build same burner with different size pipes) with holes drilled for airflow. I approximated 1/2 inch from the end of the pipe and drilled completely through the pipe with a large bit (at least 5/ Cool

, then another set of holes the same way another 1/2 inch up, then we cut the end of that pipe off on the cutoff saw. This pipe was about 6inches in length. One more whole is drilled to insert the nipple burner through and weld together. This burner assembly was welded inside the rotor. Precise measurements were not used, Stiles welded everything by eye. I will take some close-up measurements of the burner assembly tomorrow and post them, because I know my description sounds confusing. Without the pot on the flame shoots straight up in the air,,,when the pot sits flat on the rotor the flame hits across the bottom of the pot and then diverts out through all the flutes in the rotor. I'm guessing the regulator is a high flow (Sounds like a jet engine!), it's one my buddy ordered then we used quickconnect parts for ease of use. Thanks for looking

Auto5man
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erniesshop · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

Looks Awesome.......Can't Wait For some Detailed Pic's..............

Jet_deck · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

I need me some ROTOR BURNER pictures. Nice mudbugs, I guess my invitation must have got lost> Laughing

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Jarhead · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

slacker · Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 21 Location: Victoria, Texas

need lotsa pics of the rotor from all angles.
please
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jacobgiles · Newbie Joined: 07 Feb 2010 Posts: 30 Location: Atoka, TN

looking forward to a few pics of that brake rotor burner! thats a awesome idea!

BluzQue · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

What a Fine Lookin' Feast auto5man!
It really pays to have a Cajun Buddy Wink

Ingenious rotor burner build!

Cool

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roscoe1960 · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

Auto5man, that's one of my favorite food. We eat them just as much as the Que, if not more. You will have to learn to suck the fat out of the head if you aren't doing already, tons of flavor.This coonass don't miss a beat , pull the head off grab the meat in the tail (don't have to peel) with your teeth and lips comes right out, bite down on head and suck the fat and repeat. Before you know it you done ate 10 pounds and sucked down around ten of you favorite brewski's.
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daddywoofdawg · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

I love mud bugs but have never been to an eat'en like that, so my question is do you just belly up and start grabbing and eating or do you load a plate and find something to sit on?
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DesertPits · BBQ Fan Joined: 05 May 2010 Posts: 104 Location: SoCal

WOW

That is one of the best back yard BBQ's that I have seen...............

Mike

Wingman · BBQ Fan Joined: 12 Apr 2010 Posts: 330 Location: Tacoma WA

Auto5man, You know how to ROLL! What an amazing feast!
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Inner10 · Posted: Jun 01 2010 Post subject:

Killer spread!

auto5man · Posted: Jun 02 2010 Post subject:

Here are the burner pics:
Top View Closeup: Here you can see the small hole drilled inside the 3/8 pipe nipple cap. Also how the tube is welded to the rotor by a bracket. Very simple, 3 quick welds.

side view: shows how the 3/8 pipe nipple is welded to the burner pipe, and the location of the air holes.

Angled side view: one of the air holes, there are two sets like this. the legs simply old shackle u-bolts...

DDawg: You can use either method and at this boil folks did both. The experienced crawfish eaters will ease right up to the table and just wade in. Alot of the ladies liked to get a plateful and go sit down. But it takes ALOT of crawdads to make a meal so it pays to stay close to the food!

Thanks everyone for looking and for the comments. We had a great time!
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New Braunfels el Cheapo offset
Born in the Que-S-A Comp Team
36in x 120in Homebuilt
DPP Clone Build in progress: http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=65139&start=0

auto5man · Posted: Jun 02 2010 Post subject:

BluzQue: Your are right, it DOES pay to have a Cajun buddy, lol. This is one of the many ingenious ideas he has come up with...
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New Braunfels el Cheapo offset
Born in the Que-S-A Comp Team
36in x 120in Homebuilt
DPP Clone Build in progress: http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=65139&start=0

erniesshop · Posted: Jun 02 2010 Post subject:

auto5man

Many Thanks for taking the time to put up the Pictures !!!!!!!!!
Ernie

slacker · Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 21 Location: Victoria, Texas

Thanks so much for the pics. I will be making one of these.
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