Liberty County Guide to the Perfect Low Country Boil

Crabbing, fishing and shrimping are not only popular pastimes in Liberty County, they’re also a way of life. Nothing says Southern quite like a big, steaming pot of low country boil! We put our native knowledge to use and came up with the Liberty County Guide to the Perfect Low Country Boil. Listed below are some helpful tips and tricks to use along the way including our very own recipe to make the perfect low country boil using Georgia blue crabs!

Tips & Tricks to Make Sure You Get the Best Haul of Georgia Blue Crabs Possible 🦀

• If this is your first time crabbing, you should tag along with someone who has lots of experience.
• Make sure you have the correct basket.
• Grab some bait. Uncooked, raw chicken works best. Place it in the bait well of the basket and then “sew” the basket up – unless you have one of the new fancy ones!
• Find a place to throw them out! Double-check to be sure that you have the proper licensing and are following all rules/regulations if you’re doing it in open water.
• Timing is very important. It’s best to put them out at mid-tide, outgoing or low incoming. You definitely want to avoid a high tide!
• Don’t mess with the traps! Pulling them up every 10 minutes or even every couple of hours will net you a smaller catch. Wait about 24 hours before pulling your traps up.
• Make your trap become part of the landscape for the crabs. They are attracted by the bait and the tides that sweep them along to make sure that they are carried to your traps.
• Get the crabs out of the traps and into your bucket for cooking. Make sure you either have thick gloves or a “crab grabber” which is a real tool that you can buy.
• Be careful because those little buggers are vicious! This is hot, sweaty and potentially dangerous work. A crab claw pinch really hurts!
• Place them in a bucket prior to cooking and make sure that you keep them in water.

Our Guide for Making the Perfect Low Country Boil 🦐

1. Make sure that you’re cooking all of this outside! Start your water in a low country boil pot with a burner. The pot should be filled to leave about 5 inches of clearance at the top so that when you add the food items it doesn’t overflow.

2. 

   Season your water with salt, pepper and Old Bay (a staple in coastal Georgia). Let your seasoned water come to a rolling boil and get your food ready!

3. Drop your onions in the pot! If you keep the lid on it will help trap the heat inside keeping the water at a rolling boil.
4. Leave the onions in for about 20 minutes before adding anything else. The onions are used more for seasoning than anything, but you can eat them if you’d like!
5. Add your fresh corn and red-skinned potatoes. You can wash and cut them if necessary. The key to a great Low Country Boil is fresh vegetables so be sure to check out the Mo’s Produce Stand for all of your goodies. Also, the potatoes are going to take the longest to cook other than the crab, so leave them in for at least 20 minutes!
6. Now you can add the sausage.
7. Get ready to put your crabs in and let them boil for at least 20 minutes. This part is a little interesting because they are still alive. You’re about to drop them in boiling water. They are going to die immediately. If you’re tenderhearted this is not the task you want to undertake.
8. In the last 2-4 minutes you’ll add the shrimp. We of course used Georgia White Shrimp! Shrimp are done when they turn pink and if you cook them too long, the shells become very difficult to remove & the shrimp are tough.
9. Pull the basket! Low Country Boil pots have a basket inside where the food is placed so you’re not actually having to haul that huge pot to the table.
10. Most people will lay out cardboard boxes to catch the extra juices and that’s what you will be dumping the basket out on.
11. Make sure to peel your shrimp & “de-back” the crabs!
12. Enjoy! 🍴

Our Liberty County guide to the perfect Low Country Boil might sound like a lot of work, but trust us when we say – it’ll be worth it. If you want a delicious Low Country Boil dinner without having to do it yourself, head over to the Walthourville Meat Market and try one of their platters. It’s fresh and ready to eat when you pick it up, and it’s another great opportunity to #ExploreLiberty!