Shrimp boil

[swampman46]

I haven't had a lot of experience boiling shrimp, and I'm looking for advice. I hear some say boil a couple of minutes, and some say til they start floating. I want shrimp that will peel easily. I'm talking about med-large size. Thanks

[tgsx750f2000]

Don't boil them to fresh, put on ice for a few hours. Add stick of butter, get water boiling and add shrimp as soon as shrimp turn pink take them out. Don't close up in ice chest, let heat escape until just warm. Worked great for me last weekImageUploadedByTapatalk1374359311.056686.jpg

[Goooh]

This should go smoothly...

[fishinpox]

I freeze gallon milk jugs of water . Get the water seasoned / boiling. Drop the shrimp in and once they change color slightly kill the burner and drop the frozen jugs in . This cools the water and starts to slow down the cooking process. Even if they are not finished cooking its ok the ambient temp even after the jugs cool it down somewhat is enough to finish the cooking process. I usually let em soak for 15-30 min depending on who is eating them. You can also throw a few sticks of butter in during the soak time , this will help you peel them

[Gerald]

Boiling Shrimp [for 5 lbs]

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. Put enoug water in the pot so that the shrimp will be covered with water, plus a little more.

Seasoning.......I use 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.

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.....the second batch of shrimp will be harder to peel becuse of the salt in the water. I cut back on the amount seasoning you add to the water. Only use about 1/2 as much.

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 much better than buying frozen shrimp. I cooked some frozen shrimp this spring.....they just did not taste as good as fresh shrimp.

[swamp snorkler]

The main thing is to stand by the pot and watch them, when you see an air bubble between the shell and the meat they done. Sometimes I don't even let them get back to a rolling boil.