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There was some cheap snowcrab legs and we had some shrimp, potatos, clams and mussels so I thought tonight would be good for a Crab Boil. However, being from northern china and getting most of my cooking knowledge from the local steakhouse, I have no idea how to make a crab boil. All I know is throw everything in a pot, throw some spice on it that is as spicy as it is red, pour white wine over and either bake or boil until everything's cooked. But when I looked online there were a bunch of other crap like adding in sausages, sauteing the onions and veg and even layering and adding things in stages.

Has anyone made one of these and can give me some tips?

I’ve not personally done one, but have some general advice. I’ve attended a few, so picked up some stuff second hand.

The spice you are looking for is probably “Old Bay Seasoning”

With the selection of seafood you have, staging is probably a must. If you try to bake/boil a shrimp the same amount of time it takes to boil a potato, you will end up with little chunks of rubber. I think big stuff like whole crabs/lobster are close enough to the time of corn/potatoes that you can just dump everything in together, but am not sure on that.

I seem to recall something about layering from a physical level. You want to boil the potatoes, but have some stuff sitting on top, out of the water, so they just steam.

As annoying as it might sound, google crab boil. The Food network should have a decent recipe or two, or at least some guidelines. Just like with soup or a chili, cook the the stuff that takes the longest first, it potatoes, corn, and the crab. Then go in order with the rest of the stuff in order of cooking time. Old Bay is okay, but do not be afraid to try your mix of spices.

 guardpiper wrote:
As annoying as it might sound, google crab boil. The Food network should have a decent recipe or two, or at least some guidelines. Just like with soup or a chili, cook the the stuff that takes the longest first, it potatoes, corn, and the crab. Then go in order with the rest of the stuff in order of cooking time. Old Bay is okay, but do not be afraid to try your mix of spices.

We've done shrimp boils before. Agree with the Old Bay. Agree with the above, potatoes, corn and then crab, longest to shortest cooking time.