How to keep crawfish alive in a cooler for your boil

If you've ever hosted a backyard boil, you know that learning how to keep crawfish alive in a cooler is probably the most stressful part of the whole operation. There is nothing worse than opening up a sack of mudbugs on Saturday afternoon only to find half of them have bit the dust. Not only is it a waste of money, but dead crawfish can actually make people sick if they end up in the pot. It's a bit of a delicate balance, but once you get the hang of it, keeping those little guys kicking for a day or two is actually pretty straightforward. ...

March 3, 2026 · 7 min · Keeley Zhao