Major steaming issues HELP

[Pinchy03]

Heres my dilema: I have always steamed my crabs with one of those turkey fry kit setups with the smaller pot and had real good success steaming for about 25 minutes after I see steam rising. Perfect everytime, but a pain in the butt b/c I had to do like 4 batches when I'd bring home a few bushel.

Off season I purchased a 62qt steamer (bayou classic ss)so I could handle bigger loads like a bush at a time. So far two tries this year and both were not so great. Latest being a nice bushel I steamed today. Used the same turkey fry burner with the new pot loaded a bushel in the basket got it steaming, dropped crabs in and timed 25 minutes from when steam started rising. Took crabs off and they looked great on the top. Started removing from basket and as I got closer to the bottom the crabs were not even orange still greenish, basically not cooked. So I had crabs that appeared to be done on the top, bottom crabs not done. Anyways I put them back on 20 minutes later after I realized and steamed for another 15 or so. Some of my crabs were ok some had that cakey mushy texture/taste.

What in the heck is going on here? Is my burner not giving me enough heat for a good steam, am I cooking too much at once. Should I steam longer, should I sell my new pot and go back to the old way.

I'm bummed that I screwed some of my catch up from today and that I'm not getting a good steam with my new pot. Appreciate any info on what I can change or try.

[rj]

sounds like not enough heat
are you steaming on HIGH?,,you need a lot of heat & a good rolling boil to make plenty of steam. never back off your fire

Is your burner big enough to do the job? I like at least a 150,000,btu burner

I use a 175,000 btu jet burner, cheep & simple does a bu. perfect every time

[Pinchy03]

To add a bit more here I believe I may not be getting enough heat to the bigger pot and the crabs cooked too low thus killing them before they steamed causing the mushiness/cakey like, off taste meat. Maybe I need a new burner, maybe I should try to crank it way up. Appreciate the help.

[Pinchy03]

You beat me to it RJ. I may need a new burner to handle the bigger pot. Man it stinks to ruin crabs you worked your butt off for. Mine have always been great in the past.

[crabby and son]

You need it as hot as you can get it. Just make sure you have enough water in the bottom because a real hot fire will melt an aluminum pot. The best way to steam crabs is with no water and just steam pumped in. That's hard to do at home though. After I crab all day I am too tired to steam them so I take them to a friends crab joint and he steams them.

[Stumpknocker]

Yup new burner, I had the same problem last year.

[mbgeaz]

new burner if the old one was already all the way up...

[mocoducks]

I have the same pot.....works great with the burner bayou classic recommends....never had a bad batch! i have the square high pressure propane burner its called.....thats str8 from the bayou site and it works great! have done up to a bushel with no probs

[crow]

Not sure exactly what size my pot is but it holds 1/2 bushel easy. I add one can of beer, then fill that can with vinegar and then one can of water. Add crabs and season as putting in. Light burner, cook on high for exactly 45 min. I often pull out a leg and try as I'm getting closer to that 45 min. mark. There are a lot of different burners out there, some of them when turned all the way up will cook to hot. Look at the flame , you want it to be at the point were it just turns blue and makes that SSSS sound.