Anyway, like I was sayin\u2019, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saut\u00e9 it. Dey\u2019s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There\u2019s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that\u2019s about it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What Pvt. Buford doesn\u2019t tell you is how to know when shrimp are done cooking and need to be removed from the heat so they don\u2019t overcook. Shrimp are one of those versatile ingredients that are easy to feature in a meal because of their simple sweet flavor, speed of cooking and compatibility with so many other ingredients.<\/p>\n
Whether you are creating a shrimp Creole, stir-fry, seafood pasta dish, simple \u201cshrimp on the barbie\u201d, or one of the other hundreds of ways to serve shrimp, the most important thing to remember is not to overcook them. We\u2019ve all done it and end up with a hard, rubbery texture that is OK to eat, just not that OK.<\/p>\n
You really notice overcooked shrimp in a shrimp cocktail. You can bury over-cooked shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce or cream based French sauce but when it\u2019s just a shrimp and some cocktail sauce, you know immediately something\u2019s not right.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why it is so important to know when shrimp are done cooking and ready to serve.<\/p>\n
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN SHRIMP ARE DONE?<\/h2>\n
There are several methods for judging when shrimp are properly cooked. Is one method better than another? I\u2019ll let you test them all and decide for yourself.<\/p>\n
TEMPERATURE<\/h3>\n
From SeaPak Shrimp & Seafood Company \u2013 These guys have been around and selling shrimp for over 60 years so I\u2019m taking their word they know what they\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n
They say, \u201cShrimp should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 \u00baF. They will become an opaque whitish color when fully cooked.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure many of us are going to pull out our instant thermometers when grilling or pan frying shrimp but it\u2019s an option. The change in color is how I learned from a cookbook early on and how I\u2019ve been testing for shrimp doneness for years.<\/p>\n Raw shrimp start out with gray shells and translucent flesh which according to Webster\u2019s Dictionary means, \u201cpermitting the passage of light: a) clear, transparent; b) transmitting and diffusing light so that objects beyond cannot be seen clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n When properly cooked, the exterior should be pink with red tails and the flesh is slightly opaque and a little \u201cwhite\u201d in color. Here\u2019s where it gets confusing because a \u201clittle white\u201d may vary from cook to cook. If it is bright white in color, there\u2019s a good chance the shrimp are overcooked.<\/p>\n I have been cooking shrimp this way for as long as I can remember and still find it difficult to nail it just right especially when you have to take into consideration the shrimp will continue to cook after removing from the heat unless you cool them off in an ice bath. While researching for this article I learned another way to tell when the shrimp are done that looks promising.<\/p>\n Please Click on the Next Page Arrow Button | > | Bellow<\/span> For The Full Article and don\u2019t forget to SHARE with your Facebook friends. Enjoy!!!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Raw shrimp (previously frozen) start out with just a little curl to their shape. I wouldn\u2019t call them straight but with just a little pressure, you can straighten them out. When you cook shrimp, they naturally start to curl.<\/p>\n According to what I\u2019ve recently learned, when they form a C-shape, they are perfectly cooked. However, if you let them continue to cook, they will twist into an O-shape signifying they are overcooked.<\/p>\n An easy way to remember this is C-shaped stands for \u201ccooked\u201d and O-shaped stands for \u201covercooked\u201d.<\/p>\n This looks like a promising technique for telling when shrimp are cooked to perfection but what if you have them on skewers for shrimp kabob? The shrimp aren\u2019t going to curl any because of the skewer so I\u2019d suggest you go back to the Color technique and over time resort to my last technique\u2026.<\/p>\n Perfectly Cooked C-Shape Shrimp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Over Cooked O-Shaped Shrimp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The more you cook shrimp or any ingredient for that matter, the more you\u2019ll being able to tell when something is done, by experience. Not only using all your senses including sight, touch, smell or even hearing but a feeling of \u201cjust knowing\u201d when something is done.<\/p>\n This technique comes with time and lots of experience. The more you cook shrimp using the techniques above, the sooner you\u2019ll be able to \u201cjust know\u201d when it feels like it\u2019s done and ready to plate. I pay attention to this feeling every time I cook and sometimes get it right and sometimes wrong knowing I\u2019ll be better next time.<\/p>\n Shells On or Off<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Cooking time is longer with shell on so you have to adjust cooking time accordingly. In my opinion leaving the shells on helps retain flavor and moisture but shell on or off really depends on the dish.<\/p>\n If I\u2019m adding shrimp to a pasta or rice dish, I\u2019ll usually remove the peels but if I\u2019m serving a\u00a0bowl of seasoned boiled\u00a0or steamed shrimp, I like to leave the shells on.<\/p>\n Size<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The size of the shrimp will affect how long they take to cook but if you use the techniques above, you should be able to get great results. Remember, the smaller shrimp will cook much faster so you really need to keep an eye on them.<\/p>\n Heat<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 I find shrimp does better with a higher heat cooking methods like grilling or pan frying. When I slow cook shrimp in a braise or crock pot recipe, it\u2019s almost impossible to keep the shrimp from overcooking unless you add them right at the end. Same with a\u00a0shrimp risotto. The shrimp is the last ingredient to be added so it can cook from the heat of the risotto and it doesn\u2019t take long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOW DO I KNOW WHEN SHRIMP ARE PERFECTLY COOKED & READY TO EAT? There are many ways to cook and serve shrimp. Do you remember Pvt. Benjamin Buford\u2019s line in Forest Gump? Anyway, like I was sayin\u2019, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saut\u00e9 […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4623"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4623"},{"taxonomy":"adace-sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaderrecipes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/adace-sponsor?post=4623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}COLOR<\/h3>\n
SHAPE<\/h3>\n
![\"Perfectly](\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3920\/19209479141_303848b6e7_z.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Over](\"https:\/\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/294\/19019683369_55582c1a7d_z.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEXPERIENCE<\/h3>\n
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS<\/h3>\n