Basic rules for storing live crayfish
Remember that only active crayfish can be kept at home for a long time. If they don't move much or are lethargic, cook them as quickly as possible. If, during storage in water, one of the crayfish floats to the surface or straightens its neck, you need to get rid of it. Most likely, he is sick, and his meat cannot be eaten. Use glass or ceramic containers. Stainless steel will also work. To transport large quantities of crayfish, use wooden boxes covered with a wet cloth or large wet bags.
Don't forget that, like all living organisms, crayfish eat regularly. Otherwise, they lose weight, lose activity and start eating each other. For long-term storage of live crayfish, constantly feed them with small fish, worms, raw potatoes, and pea stems.
Storage conditions for crayfish
How to keep crayfish alive? It is no secret that these animals can do without water for some time, if favorable storage conditions are created for them. Crayfish themselves are aquatic creatures, and in order to be able to reproduce and live, they need water. But since their gills are located inside the body, this gives them a significant advantage over others - they can live on land for some time and not feel any discomfort.
How to keep crayfish alive? When you buy fresh animals, but do not intend to cook them right away, keeping them alive is very simple. The first and main condition is that the crayfish must be in a cold place in which air will constantly circulate. To maintain vital functions, they must be periodically sprayed with water - this will refresh the animals.
How to keep crayfish alive in water?
You can also store live crayfish in water before cooking. To do this, you need to fill the bath with water and place the animals there. In this case, you will need to change the water daily. This option is very suitable for vulnerable people who find it difficult to take the lives of such defenseless creatures.
Remember that this is not the most profitable option: while in water, crayfish lose a lot of weight, unless, of course, they are fed with meat. These animals will best demonstrate their desire for life on land and in a cool place. Therefore, the option with water, although it is a way to preserve the life of crayfish, is not the best. After all, in this case the animal only suffers.
In a refrigerator
Crayfish boiled in salted water can be safely stored in the refrigerator for 2-4 days. The first option: drain the broth in which the crayfish were boiled, remove the dill and spices, cool and, without removing from the pan, put in the refrigerator. Second option: remove the crayfish from the pan, cool, transfer several pieces into food containers with airtight lids, close tightly, and place in the refrigerator.
The disadvantage of this storage method is that the crayfish meat loses its juiciness. You won’t be able to taste them like they were just cooked, but you can find a way out of this situation.
Firstly, you can store the crayfish directly in the water in which they were boiled or, as in the first option, put the pan in the refrigerator or pour the broth over the crayfish laid out in food containers. Secondly, you can boil the crayfish in a very salty brine for a couple of minutes after boiling, cool, put into containers and pour the same broth over them. In this form, they are perfectly stored for up to 5 days, but before eating the crayfish, they will need to be boiled additionally. This time 15 minutes. There is no need to salt the water.
How to reheat boiled corn in the microwave?
Is it possible to reheat yesterday's boiled corn in the microwave? Will it become dry?
Since there is no moisture in the microwave (there is only food), under the influence of microwave rays water can evaporate from the food and, accordingly, the food can become dry. To prevent this from happening, you can add a little water to the container in which the corn is heated and heat it. The water will create a steam effect when heated and the corn will not become dry. I also cover it with a special cap for microwave ovens.
I reheated it and it turned out great. I put the corn in a suitable container (I had to break it in half), poured in some water and put it in the microwave for 5 minutes, then took it out, tested the temperature (it was enough for a child, but I wanted it hot), then sent it for another 5 minutes. It turned out juicy and tasty.
If you heat it up for a long time, it can definitely become dry.
But you can use a little trick. You can add some water to the container with corn. And then reheat as needed. 5-8 minutes will be enough.
When reheating boiled corn in the microwave, you do not need to add any water to the oven.
A proven method on both a loaf of bread and boiled corn.
You just need to put a small plastic bag on the ears of corn. The water will not evaporate anywhere, and the corn will look like it was just boiled.
On the microwave, I set the power to higher than medium and let the corn warm up for 2 minutes.
I do the same with a loaf of bread. The bread looks like it just came from the factory.
If you heat it up for a long time, it can definitely become dry.
In the freezer
For longer storage, boiled crayfish can be frozen. They can stay in the freezer for a month or even longer. How to properly store boiled crayfish in the freezer?
It is best to put several pieces of crayfish in separate plastic bags or food containers and put them in the freezer. If you pour the broth over the crayfish, the shelf life increases. You can also put the crayfish in special bags for vacuum packaging, pump out the air and send them for quick freezing in a chamber.
There is no need to defrost boiled and frozen crayfish in the air before consuming them. They are prepared in the same way as frozen shrimp - thrown into salted water with spices and boiled for 1-2 minutes.
If there are a lot of crayfish (this also happens), and there is not enough space in the refrigerator or freezer, they will have to be taken apart. Clean the necks from chitin, place in a separate container, and seal tightly. Place the claws in another container without cleaning them. All that remains is the body with the legs. They can also be put in a bag and stored in the refrigerator, but in most cases this part of the boiled crayfish is simply thrown away, since there is little meat in them. The main gastronomic value is represented by crayfish necks and claws.
When planning a holiday or an outing, many people buy fresh crayfish. Unfortunately, things don’t always work out the way we plan, and sometimes celebrations have to be postponed. But what to do with live crayfish that end up in your home? How to properly preserve them until the right day? Today there are quite a few ways to store live crayfish at home. If you follow all the tips, it won’t be difficult at all!
How to store live crayfish in the refrigerator?
One of the optimal solutions to preserve live crayfish at home is the following option. To do this, you will need to sort through the acquired crayfish and check how well they move. If the cancer is actively crawling, it means it is alive. After this, all live crayfish must be placed in a clean plastic bag and placed in the vegetable compartment. The most important thing is not to close the bag; it must be open so that oxygen can reach the crayfish. In this way, you will be able to keep the crayfish alive for 4 days. Don't worry about them spreading across the shelves of the refrigerator - that won't happen!
Before you start cooking crayfish, check the quality of the meat. It is possible that animals stored in the refrigerator may have suffered slightly. If you notice a low-quality product, the best thing to do is get rid of it! After all, if there is a dead individual among the crayfish, then the rest may begin to feed on it (by their nature, these arthropods are scavengers). All the more likely is that a dead individual may end up in the pan along with the living ones, and in this case grief will not be avoided. Be aware that if an unpleasant odor appears while storing crayfish in the refrigerator, this most likely means that one of the animals has died. He will need to be found and removed from the total mass of his remaining brothers.
You already know how to keep crayfish alive and how to properly prepare them for cooking. Now you can safely go buy them and head to the kitchen!
Enjoy your meal!
Crayfish is a wonderful summer snack with an unforgettable taste and amazing aroma. It’s nice to cook them while fishing when they have just been caught. It just happens that your catch turns out to be too big for instant cooking. And then the question arises - how to store crayfish?
How long can crayfish be stored?
Why heating boiled eggs in the microwave is a bad idea. VIDEO
Experts have found that heating hard-boiled eggs in the microwave is quite a dangerous undertaking. The thing is that after such seemingly innocent manipulations, the product can unexpectedly explode, even if it is peeled.
We recommend reading: When You Can Start Using Pumpkin
In one of the restaurants, a visitor ordered a peeled, hard-boiled egg, but the waiter brought the dish already cooled. The man asked the service staff to heat the egg, which was done using a microwave.
When the client took a light bite of the heated egg, it literally exploded.
The dissatisfied man decided to sue the restaurant, arguing that he received burns and even hearing damage. To resolve this issue, they turned to acoustics specialists for help, asking them to find out from a scientific point of view how true the incident was.
Scientists conducted an experiment in which they microwaved 100 eggs one at a time. Next, each of them was placed under a microphone to capture any sounds. Heating did not damage 2/3 of the eggs - they retained their integrity. About a third exploded when scientists pierced them with a sharp object.
The explosion of the eggs was accompanied by sound at levels ranging from 86 to 133 decibels. This range is safe at a distance of 30 centimeters. For example, when a person fires a shotgun, he hears a louder sound - around 160 decibels. Thus, experts agreed that the explosion of a heated egg is simply not capable of damaging hearing.
Next, scientists measured the temperature of the yolk after the explosion, and it turned out that it was quite high - more than 100 degrees Celsius. This is where the reason for the incident lies. The yolks of boiled eggs have a large number of cavities filled with water.
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It does not boil after heating quickly, but if the egg is pierced, the boiling water instantly turns into steam, causing an explosion.
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Experts have found that heating hard-boiled eggs in the microwave is quite a dangerous undertaking. The thing is that after such seemingly innocent manipulations, the product can unexpectedly explode, even if it is peeled.
How to store live crayfish
To deliver crayfish home alive after catching, you should stock up on the following things:
1. Spacious, strong box with holes for air passage.
2. A large piece of fabric.
3. Feeding.
That's all. Thanks to this set, you can enjoy a freshly cooked dish at home.
While you are fishing, place the caught crayfish in a box, place it in the water and feed the animals regularly. Before leaving, remove the container and cover it with a heavily dampened cloth. Place the container in transport so that it is not exposed to the sun.
But what to do when you have brought them to your destination and you need to keep the crayfish fresh for some time? They can be:
1. Store in water. For this purpose, cages or nets are used. A special container or bath is filled with water (preferably river water), and a fish tank is placed in it. Crayfish need to be fed and the water changed regularly (every day). Check crayfish carefully and remove dead ones.
2. Spray. If it is not possible to place crayfish in water, then you can leave them in a cool and damp room, regularly spraying the individuals with water.
3. Keep in the refrigerator. The catch is washed and placed in a bag. Place the crayfish on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
Cooking crayfish with beer
- live crayfish - 2.5 kg.
- crushed table salt - 100 gr.
- bay leaf - 7 pcs.
- light beer - in fact
- Before cooking, you need to sort out and rinse the crayfish with cool running water, thoroughly cleaning the shell and legs with a toothbrush. After this, prepare a wide saucepan (volume about 10 liters).
- Next, let's try to determine how much beer will be needed to brew 2.5 kg. crayfish To do this, place them in a saucepan, fill with water so that it rises 7-10 cm above the backs of the crayfish.
- After this, pour the same amount of beer into the container, having previously measured the amount. Add 0.5 liters to the resulting volume. If possible, choose light, filtered beer, as dark beer can be bitter.
- Place the container with beer on the stove, add bay leaf, chopped salt, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. After the first bubbles appear, reduce the power to low and cook the crayfish for 25-30 minutes, depending on the size.
- At the end of the procedure, turn off the heat, cover the pan with a lid, and leave for 20 minutes. During this time, the crayfish will be soaked in beer brine.
- Once the time is up, remove the finished crayfish with a slotted spoon and serve with olives, fresh dill and garlic. Never drink beer in which crayfish have been boiled.
Some useful tips
- When choosing crayfish to buy, you need to pay attention to their “neck” - actually, the abdomen, where the bulk of the meat is contained. Many fans mistakenly call this place the tail. The more a cancer bends its “neck” and presses it to the body, the healthier it is and is able to live longer in extreme conditions.
- What if the treat is bought ready-made? In boiled crayfish, the “neck” will also be pressed against the body. Otherwise, the specimen was boiled already dead and is not suitable for food.
- To enhance the taste and tenderness of meat, crustaceans are boiled in milk, beer, cucumber pickle or white wine with spices.
- Serve the dish generously with broth or specially prepared sauce. In this case, the meat will be more tender and juicy.
- Gourmets advise putting crayfish in milk for 30 minutes before cooking, then rinsing them again with water and cooking.
- For the dish you need to choose large individuals. Their meat has the best taste characteristics.
By following the basic rules for storing and preparing crayfish, you can please your family and guests with an excellent dietary dish that is suitable for both everyday and holiday menus.
In water
If possible, place the crayfish in a large fish tank with a pump and compressor. Place stones at the bottom (for holes) and attach greenery. In such an environment, close to natural, the crayfish will not only be stored for a long time, but will also grow. If you don't have a large aquarium, use an old bathtub. Ideally, it should be filled with river water, but if this is not possible, then well or purified water will do. Change it every day. In such conditions, crayfish will live up to a week.
