How long can you refrigerate uncooked shrimp?

Unless frozen, shrimp breaks down rather rapidly. If you peel and devein, and soak in salted water, you can keep shrimp in a 34.5 degree refrigerator for up to 4 days. After that the shrimp will spoil. Fresh shrimp and fresh seafood should have no odor when purchased fresh and the eyes should be clear and not clouded.

How to cook raw shrimp?

How to cook raw shrimp?

Since shrimp happens to be the seafood that is best conserved frozen, it’s important to know what to do with frozen shrimp. Large bags of shrimp are easily stored in a freezer and forgotten, as we always have the intention of one day finding out what is the best way to cook them. Well, the first step to cooking frozen shrimp is to choose the right ones at the store.

At the grocery store we usually have a choice between fresh and packaged, frozen shrimp. The truth is that, most likely, the fresh shrimp has been thawed, and so is really no different from the frozen. So, always check to see if the fresh shrimp they are selling happens to be more expensive than the frozen, in which case, it is more worthwhile to buy the frozen package, for cheaper and maybe even fresher (since it won’t be refrozen). However, since shrimp freezes so well, re-freezing is not a problem.

When buying shrimp, try to find them between 35 and 40 count per pound (this means 40 individual shrimps by the pound). Too much smaller than this (higher than 40 per pound), and they’ll be very hard to prepare. Peeling and de-veining will be impossible. Try not to purchase pre-peeled shrimp. The shells contain a lot of the shrimp’s original flavor and it’s best to do the peeling shortly before cooking. Plus, the peeled shells can be used as flavoring in other recipes (more on that later).

Okay, so, on to preparation:

First – Here i’m describing the faster way to thaw, but if you’d like a longer, more taste-retentent thaw, you can take the shrimp out of the freezer a day or two in advance and place them in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.

Or, for a faster thaw:

Thawing – Place the frozen shrimp into a bowl or basin filled with cold water and leave it there for about 10 minutes. Then, replace the old water with new and let it sit for another 20 minutes. A half hour should be plenty of time for the shrimp to thaw enough so that you can peel them.

Peeling – Hold the skin of the shrimp and pull on it’s feet until the skin comes off. The whole skin should pull free except for the tail, which you can remove by simply pulling on it. Smell the peeled shrimp, if it has a strong smell of fish or ammonia it is not fresh enough for cooking and you should thwrow it away.

Deveining – Shrimps have a single vein in them, which a lot of people worry about as a health peril and that is very easy to remove. Simply use a very small knife to cut a slit in the back of the peeled shrimp and then pick out the vein (it’s very easy to find). This slit is the perfect place to apply seasoning (since it will sink into the shrimp)/

Next – Grab a lemon and squeeze a little bit of juice over the shrimp. If you plan on keeping the shells, put them away quickly (or else, discard them) because, left out, they will fill your kitchen with a terrible smell. Shrimp should be prepared within 6 hours from thawing, so, if you’d like to leave them covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook you can, but do not leave them outside the refrigerator for longer than 10 minutes.

Once done preparing your shrimp to be cooked, you must continue to the actual cooking. For this, I have prepared a “what is the best way to cook frozen shrimp” post that will explain all about it. Feel free to search around the site for other useful tips, recipes and explanations.

What is the best way to cook frozen shrimp?

What is the best way to cook frozen shrimp?

I’d have to say that the best way to cook frozen shrimp in your house is to grill or broil them. I say this because they are fast, easy methods, but that mostly keep all of the flavor. Grilling in particular, is sometimes referred to as “the only way to cook shrimp”.

When grilling shrimp it is best NOT TO PEEL them. So skip the “Peeling” process of the preparation. The shell protects the shrimp from drying out on the grill, while the slit at the top (from deveining) helps the flavor sink in anyway. I recommend buying EZ-Peel or zipperback Shrimp, since they come ready for grilling (with the skin and deveined).

Marinate or season your shrimp, this will make a world of a difference in the taste and you’ll never regret it. Shrimp is perfect for marinating since it cooks so fast and retains just the right amount of the sauce. You can choose almost any type of marinade to use on your shrimp. The list includes: Teriyaky, Cajun, lemon-pepper, Italian, Old Bay seasoning, orange/honey/ginger and a number of other sauces. The best thing to do in my opinion is to search for a grilled shrimp marinade online. There are millions of them, and I will probably post a couple of my favorite recipes here later on. But for now,  ”Cooks.com” has many recipes for grilled shrimp marinades, although it isn’t one of my favorite sites. So there you go.

Before marinating, skewer the shrimp. Place the skewer once through the tail and once through the head. Doing this, you should be able to fit 3 to 4 shrimp on one skewer. Place the skewers in the marinating basin and marinate for no longer than 30 minutes.

When done marinating, place the shrimps on the grill and cook until done. For instructions on how and how long to cook, i’ve written a “how long does it take to grill shrimp” post that goes into detail about this.

For instructions on buying and preparing shrimp, i’ve written a “how to cook raw shrimp” post that can help you with that.

How long does it take to grill shrimp?

When grilling shrimp it is very important that you avoid overcooking. When overcooked, the shrimp becomes tough and rubbery and most of it’s natural flavor is lost. Since the shrimp takes very little time to cook, however, it is really not difficult to keep an eye on it and notice when it is done.

After you’ve prepared your shrimp by peeling and de-veining it, you can grill them over a medium fire and they should be done in about 5 to 7 minutes (half on each side). The sure way to know if your shrimp is ready, however, is to check if it’s color has changed. Before cooking, the shrimp should have a blueish-grey color, and while being cooked the shrimp should change from this blueish-grey to pink. Once it’s entire surface has turned pink (the insides will be white though) you can be certain it’s ready. Remember to flip the shrimp once while grilling it and to remove it from the fire as soon as it is ready (so as to not overcook).

Since it takes so little time to grill shrimp, I advise you to keep a watch on them and flip around the 3 minute mark (no later). They’ll be ready fast and you don’t wanna be distracted and accidentally ruin the meat. I use an open grill because it’s really not necessary to use the cover for such a short cooking period, plus I can keep an more watchful eye on them. Another way to make sure you don’t overcook is to grill 1 extra shrimp and use it as a taste-test when you think they are becoming ready.

Well, that’s it for “How long does it take to grill shrimp”. And if you’ll be grilling, check out some of the other blog posts for tips and recipes. Marinating and seasoning is extremely important with shrimp!