You might think that frozen shrimp are much safer than fresh shrimp. That is not necessarily the case. Frozen shrimp must be thawed in order to cook it. There is a right way and a very wrong way to do it.

First, A Temperature Lesson

Cuttting to the chase, essentially you have twenty four hours to cook frozen shrimp once you get it home. If it will be longer than twenty four hours before cooking, keep the shrimp frozen in by keeping them in the freezer.

Seafood is only safe when kept below 40 degrees.  If you should lose power and you have shrimp in the freezer, go ahead and cook it as soon as possible, probably on the grill in the back yard. If the temperature has been above 40 degrees for more than two hours, throw the shrimp away. It is not worth the risk.

Thawing Frozen Shrimp Correctly & Safely

Far and away, the safest way to thaw shrimp is to place the frozen shrimp — in its original packaging — on a plate in the refrigerator. Give it the entire night to thaw in the refrigerator. Obviously, that takes a while.

How Can I Tell If The Shrimp Is Still Good?

My moto is “The nose knows.” Uncooked fish and seafood should not have a scent. If naything, they should smell like the ocean from which they came.
Should you smell anything that slightly resembles amonia, it is too late. You must throw away the shrimp. It has gone bad and might make you sick.
If you smell chlorine, that’s not good either. That probably means they were treated, then frozen…and then went bad in the freezer.

Freezer Burn

Have a close look at your thawed shrimp. It could be freezer burned andf you will want to get rid of it if that is the case. Take a good, close look. See any hard areas that appear to be white and hard? Chances are better than average that your shrimp are freezer-burned. Don’t eat them. It would be very unpleasant. As hard as it is to rare back and throw expensive seafood away, it is far better than food poisoning.

Hope these tips help!

Incoming search terms:

• frozen shrimp recipes
• can frozen shrimp make you sick
• can you get sick from frozen shrimp
• handling frozen shrimp
• sick from frozen shrimp

Maybe you have seen the TV commercials that talk about “Wild American Shrimp.”  Believe it or not, that isn’t just marketing hype. There really is a difference. Wild shrimp get to swim around a lot more. They also eat seaweed and other things in the ocean that gives them a greater depth of flavor than, say, farm raised shrimp. If you have a choice and your budget can handle it, go with wild American shrimp. You will be able to create more delicious shrimp recipes with them.

When you buy shrimp there are a couple of things to keep in mind that will be helpful.

SMELL: There shouldn’t be any! If you smell anything but the ocean, forget it.

FRESH or FROZEN:  Nothing in the world wrong with frozen shrimp. As a matter of fact, frozen is the best shrimp to buy unless you live on the water where the fresh shrimp live. If you have your choice, pick frozen shrimp that hasn’t yet been peeled and de-veined. The shell will help protect the meat and keep the texture and flavor in tact.

WEIGHT:  A good rule of thumb is that a pound of shrimp that has not been peeled and de-veined will yield about a half pound of meat.

APPEARANCE: Raw shrimp should look translucent. There should not be a color to the flesh, unless it is a tiger shrimp. And they tend to have black markings that look like rings. That is ok for tiger shrimp, but not for any other raw shrimp. Pink OK? Nope. Not until the little beast is cooked.

COOKING: Boiled shrimp should be shocked in ice cold water the minute they come out of the boiling liquid, unless you plan to serve them immediately out of the boil. That will see that the meat stays firm longer.

FACTOID: 90+ per cent of all shrimp in the United States comes from the waters off of the Gulf Coast states, hence the name Gulf Coast Shrimp.

It is delicious and good for you. It is a very versatile ingredient, too. Fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, grilled shrimp,  — I’m starting to sound like Bubba in “Forest Gump” – regardless of your preference, shrimp is one of America’s favorite dishes.

I hope you enjoy these delicious shrimp recipes. If you have one you would like to share, let us know!