Help with a shrimp boil needed
 

Ok guys need help with boiling shrimp. I don't need seasoning help so much but I need cooking help. I cook some mean crawfish so seasoning should be ok. However I need the secrets of the pros on how to cook for the perfect peel. If you have a to die for recipe that you just wanna throw out there then go ahead and I may give that a whirl too but like I said cooking times and methods are the main focus. What y'all got? Thanks in advance. Btw will probably be boiling 15-20 pounds of jumbos

I find that de-heading the shrimp make them the perfect peel.

other than that it's a crap shoot, having to do more with when and how the shrimp where stored/caught......

I cook (boil) them for two/three minutes and soak for 25.......or until the all sink.

I also use tons of lemon and lime juice.........like for three-five pounds stove top I will use a cup of both lemon and lime juice plus some fresh cup up as well.

I season my water just like boiling crawfish & boil 3 minutes & remove. Longer will overcooked them.

IMHO shrimp need more seasoning than crawfish. I bring my water to a boil and then add seasoning. ( i use zatarains liquid and the pouches of herbs and peppers. } No salt.
add 1 bottle of cheap Italian dressing. if you are doing corn an taters add them and boil 10 min. Then add shrimp , If just shrimp add them when water is at a hard boil,
Boil shrimp 2 min turn off fire add salt and let sit 3-4 min then dump ice in pot to cool water. once water is cool you can soak to taste.

I boil them until they start to float maybe 3 minutes on 21/25s and remove. If your are 16/20s go to about 5 minutes. When in doubt pull one and test as soon as they float. Remember once you remove them from the water they will continue to cook. It is better to under cook them then over cook. You can always cook them more, but once over cooked there isn't anything you can do to fix that. Shrimp that are hard to peel are from over cooking not under cooking. I like to ice mine as soon as I remove them from the boiling water. When I worked at the casinos we would boil 100lb batches.

I don't even let the water boil. I just get it just under boiling temp. Then add shrimp and turn fire to low.This allows them to be in the water longer and not overcook. They get more seasoning flavor this way. Just check ever so often to see if they're done. Usually 12-15 minutes.

Boiling Shrimp Nov. 2010

Crab boil......I only use Zatarain's liquid "Shrimp & Crab Boil". How much....depends on the amount of water and how much shrimp you are cooking. A general guide would be about 8 oz plus 8 oz more for every 5 lbs of shrimp. If you are cooking say 10+ lbs or more.....cut this down to say 5 oz per 5 lbs, so that would be ~ 28 oz of "crab" boil to cook 20 lbs of shrimp.

Seasoning.......Add liquid crab boil, 1 toe of garlic [cut up or crushed], a couple of teaspoons of Tabasco sauce, a couple of teaspoons of both red and black pepper, 2 or 3 onions cut in half and 2 or 3 whole onions. Salt and lemons are added after the fire is cut off.

After the seasoning boils for a few minutes, I take out a sample of the water and let it cool some before giving it a taste. After boiling seafood a few times, you get an idea to know if the seasoning is about right. I then put the shrimp in and stir the water a couple of times. If I am just cooking say 5 lbs, I will put the shrimp in the bag that onions are often sold in. This makes it easy to just take the sack out when the shrimp are ready. No scooping required.

After the water starts boiling.....I let it boil for 1 minute and turn the fire off. I then add 3/4 of a round can of plain salt. This is ~ 20 oz of salt. I also add 3 or 4 lemons [cut in half and squeezed]. Stir up the water to dissolve the salt. . I let the shrimp soak for ~ 10 minutes and taste a couple. I usually let the shrimp soak for 15 to 20 minutes. If you boil the shrimp more than 1 minute, they get harder to peel.

Potatoes & corn......are nice to eat also when cooked in seasoned water.
Potatoes take 15 to 20 minutes and corn ~ 10 minutes in boiling water. I prefer to cook these as a "second" batch because the corn [and maybe the potatoes] can get too much seasoning if you put them in first. When cooked as a second batch......add the rest of the salt [1/4 can] when boiling 4 or more potatoes.

If you are cooking more than one batch of shrimp.....cut back on the amount easoning you add to the water. Only use about 1/2 as much. Also, cooking the shrimp in water that has salt in it, will make the shrimp harder to peel. It is best to get a bigger pot and cook all the shrimp at once.]
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Don't try to cook more shrimp than what will easily fit in your pot because it will take much longer to bring it back up to a boil and the shrimp may not be easy to peel. Also, I find "fresh" shrimp much better than buying frozen shrimp.

It's pretty time consuming but I get a pair of the little nose hair scissors and cut the shell along the back all the way to the tail. Boil for about 3 minutes then shut the fire off and soak for another 5 or so. Add a little more seasoning in the ice chest and shake them up. The seasoning gets in their shell real good and peel extremely easy. You can also de vein them much easier this way.

Boil them till they float, soak them till they sink.

I do the same, drop them into a good rolling boil for 3 minutes and pull them out, but I let the water cool down (still hot but not enough to continue cooking hot) then drop them back in for a good long 30 minute soak so they get seasoned all the way through. (only 20 minute soak for de-headed shrimp)

if you are just turning off the fire, it will keep them cooking another 5 minutes or so more, before it cools enough to no longer be continuing to cook them

Did em yesterday. Put butter in the pot and boiled for 3 then soaked. They turned out great

I season the water a little more than I do for crawfish then bring the water to boil and drop the shrimp in. I bring it back to a boil and as soon as it begins to boil I cut the fire off. Then let then let them soak for a few minutes and drop a bag of ice in the pot. Once I put the ice in I will check the shrimp every few minutes. Once I see the pealing separating from the meat I pull them out.