If you've got access to an outdoor propane burner, use it - three gallons of water comes to a boil a lot faster outside on a turkey-fryer setup than it will on a kitchen stove, and it keeps the whole production, and the smell, out of the house. Either way, the order matters: everything goes in based on how long it actually needs, ending with the shrimp for exactly three minutes.
What you need
- 3 gallons water
- 3/4 cup Port A Shrimp Shack, plus more to finish
- 3 lb small red potatoes
- 6 ears corn, halved
- 1 lb smoked sausage, cut into chunks
- 3 lb large shrimp, shell on
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 lemons, halved, for the pot
How it goes
- Bring the water to a rolling boil in a large stock pot and stir in the Port A Shrimp Shack and the halved lemons - a quarter cup of seasoning per gallon of water.
- Add the potatoes first and cook 12 to 15 minutes, until just barely fork tender. They'll keep cooking a little in the residual heat later, so don't take them all the way to soft yet.
- Add the corn and sausage and cook another 8 minutes.
- Add the shrimp last and cook exactly 3 minutes, then kill the heat immediately - they keep cooking in the residual heat and overcooked shrimp turn rubbery fast.
- Drain everything and dump it out onto a paper-lined table or a large tray. This is meant to be eaten with your hands, standing around a table, not plated.
- Pour the melted butter over the whole tray and dust it heavy with more Port A Shrimp Shack before anyone touches it.
Worth knowing
- Buy shrimp with the shell on - it protects the meat during the boil and the shell itself picks up a lot of the seasoning flavor.
- An outdoor propane burner cuts your boil time roughly in half compared to a home stovetop, if you've got access to one.
- Leftover boil, if there is any, makes a great next-day seafood pasta - just pull the meat off the shells first.
Pit note. Shrimp goes in for three minutes, no more. Everything else can wait on the shrimp, never the other way around.
