cookie:
That's a " tough " question. I'm sure you will get a lot of answers.
A lot of members cook them different ways
Seems like you are not overcooking.

I've been buying Large Precooked frozen Shrimp.
Put enough warm water to cover and Sprinkle in some
Bay Seasoning, Cooter Rub ,
Garlic Powder and Onion Powder.

The water turns cold, so I warm it a bit,
take it off the Range and let the Shrimp Marinate.

Meanwhile I'm doing Stir Frie Vegetables.
When they are done I add the Shrimp for a minute and
put them right on the Dinner Plate.

If I want to make just Shrimp, I still marinate them, along
with some Scallops.
Drain the water and stir fry them for a minute.

Sometimes I'll add them into a Salad.
LOU

Are you sure they're not pink before 5 minutes? I think I cook about 30 seconds each side if I'm doing them in a pan with oil. If you're cooking in liquid, you might try using lower heat. Most protein foods get tough when boiled, so I turn the heat to the lowest setting (until there are just occasional tiny bubbles in the liquid) before adding meat or seafood. If this fails, you might try warming them to room temperature before cooking (maybe with running tepid water from the tap, seafood is prone to microbial growth and probably shouldn't be left on the counter for long) or tenderizing.

Good luck in your future shrimping :-D

Here is a link that might be useful: Using dairy to tenderize

D: do you ever Steam them along with Clams, Mussels, etc.?
Lou

Yes I think 5 mins is too long too. Just a minute or two is usually how long I cook them; either boiling or sauteeing them or grilling them.

You don't say what count (size) you are using and whether they are fresh or frozen. I generally use fresh 16-20's, and I throw them into a pot of boiling water with crab boil for about 30 seconds, and then pull them out immediately and either eat them immediately or put them on ice to eat cold later. If you are cooking them in a seafood dish such as shrimp scampi, you still throw them in at the last minute and as soon as they turn pink and opaque, the dish is ready. And if you are cooking them on a grill, again just a few seconds and then pull them off. At my local sushi bar, I can order the amaebi sweet shrimp which is the uncooked shrimp or the ebi which is the slightly cooked shrimp. I would much rather have my shrimp undercooked, tender and sweet opposed to overcooked, tough and rubbery. Sounds to me like you are way overcooking your shrimp.

Shaun:
Size is a factor. If the Shrimp are 35 to a pound, 3 to 4 minutes isn't bad.
If they are Small, one to two minutes is good.

But then , if I'm just cooking fresh Shrimp: with Shells,
I run them under Cold water to stop them from cooking.

Sauteeing them is good for a minute or two.

Now, I'll have to go back to cooking Fresh Shrimp in the shells. They have more flavor.

Guess I was doing the " Easy way out thing "

Shaun: You are a troublemaker. LOL
Lou

LtCollins:
Sorry! I should have hit " Refresh "

Shaun: That doesn't go for you.
Lou

Usually I have previously frozen shrimp and the size is a medium to large size. The last time I made them on the grill and I stood above them waiting for them to turn pink - approx 3 mins/side and the other times would be fried in a pan with garlic, lemon zest, dried peppers, butter and oil and the other way I do it is in a Beaujolais sauce (garlic, shallots, butter, olive oil, and cream). The last two ways are usually no more than 5/6 minutes. I will try some fresh shrimp and see what happens. Thanks. Oh yeah, they usually are shelled. Sounds like I am overcooking (which I do with a lot of meats so I am told).

Shrimp that are 35 to 40 per pound are small to me, the large are 16 to 20 per pound.
Are you sure the shrimp you are buying frozen aren't already cooked? In which case you have to be careful even heating them that they don't over cook and get rubbery.
The way I cook raw shrimp....even previously frozen shrimp, is to bring a gallon of water to a full rolling boil (season if you wish with crab boil or whatever), dump in up to a pound and a half of shrimp and when the water returns to a boil they are done. Drain and peel and eat!
Linda C

I agree that a 35-40 count seems small, but according to some of the shrimp sizing charts that I've seen, this count would be considered medium large. I live on the Texas coast where shrimping is a way of life. My back yard is a salt water bay where shrimp spawn. As a result, eating fresh shrimp is a way of life for us, and to the best of my knowledge, I've never even seen shrimp that small at any of our fish markets.

I still think that you are overcooking the shrimp. Here is a shrimp sizing chart I found online.

The U in the first three Shrimp sizes stands for under that many shrimp in a pound. For example U/10 would be under 10 shrimp per pound

Trade Name/ Shrimp count per pound/Average per pound
Extra Colossal U/10 5
Colossal U/12 9
Colossal U/15 14
Extra Jumbo 16/20 18
Jumbo 21/25 23
Extra Large 26/30 28
Large 31/35 33
Medium Large 36/40 38
Medium 41/50 45
Small 51/60 55
Extra Small 61/70 65

A good way to judge when they're cooked is when they start to curl they're done. If they've curled all the way they're overcooked. So if you're cooking for five minutes, three was probably the max you should have gone. When sauteeing one minute per side then turn off and let sit for another half minute, so that's 2 1/2 minutes. That's for a fairly large shrimp. The curling test is really the best gauge.

Coconut:
But if I wait till it Curls, it's too late. LOL
I don't know about these Texan's,who go in their Back yard and bring in a pot of Shrimp. ???

LtCollins:
Here is the Shrimp I've been buying. Never looked at the top of the package (Extra Large)

Think they are mislabeled ???

Like I said , I'm going back to Fresh Shrimp. See you in the back yard. Lol
LOU

{{gwi:1533746}}

The bag may say extra large, but it's like soda at the movies...you have a choice of large which is small, extra large which is medium and super colossal which is large.
Those shrimp are cooked. If you cook them more they will turn to rubber.
The frozen shrimp I have are not pink, not curled and still have the shells on. They are 16 to 20 to a pound, and those are the kind I dump into boiling water and when the water returns to a boil, remove them and peel and eat.
These don't come pre packaged, I tell the guy how many pounds I want and he scoops them out and weighs them.
Fish or shrimp is done when it just turns opaque....cook it more and it gets tough.
Linda C

I'm with Linda C 100%.

If you buy precooked shrimp, don't cook them again.

If you buy fresh, raw shrimp, 1 to 2 minutes in hot oil does it. On a grill (skewered), maybe 1-2 minutes per side. The REALLY big shrimp (some call them "prawns") are best cooked slowly but rarely more than 5 minutes.

Mine are done when they're opaque and MAYBE HINT of pink. Not bright pink like lobster.

Joe

Joey:
Sorry, thought I said all that. Maybe I didn't say it right again.
I just Marinate the PreCooked Shrimp with all the Good Spices,
then put them in with the Stir Fries for a minute and mix
a little.
They don't really cook them anymore, bercause they are not hot when I mix them in with the Veggies.

They're alway's tender or I wouldn't be cooking them like that.

I save the other ways to cook them for when I go to AC.

I've been going to a Seafood Buffet at a Casino. I eat a Lobster Tail and Shrimp.
Then I try everything else, King Crab legs , Chicken , Steak , Mussels, Clams, etc.

For dessert I have a piece of NY Cheesecake with Strawberry
Topping.

That's the easiest way to enjoy Seafood.

Now that I think of it the Shrimp were Pink.
Next time I go I'll take some Photo's.
Lou

Many seafood nowadays are chemically treated, especially shrimps and scallops, yet they do not say that on the package and no one is complaining.

A lot of the shrimps you buy now are transluscent and very crunchy. That's not what fresh shrimps look or taste like. They do not taste very good. I guess most people do not know better.

OK, here is a very nice tip from a chef:

Dry shrimps completely with paper towel then with a fan, blow dry the shrimps until they are very dry.

Now you can pan fry them and they will brown very quicky without becoming all watery or over-cooked.

dcarch

Lou, since your shrimp are already shelled and de-headed, I'm guessing that's why they are labelled "extra large, 31-40 per pound". I find generally that cleaned shrimp are half the weight of intact shrimp, so if your shrimp still had all their bits they would be 16-20 per pound. Make sense? Does to me but it's early and I'm not a morning person :-)

Colleen:
Thanks, That makes sense. I thought of that,after the fact.
The fact that I already Posted the Photo.

They shrunk after they were cooked.
Aren't we smart !!!!! But you get the Gold Star.

Another thing popped into my ( alledged ) mind.
All the Shrimp I see cooked on the CF are bright Pink ???

Lou

YIKES, blow dry the shrimps until they are very dry. Yes, I know that the shrimp are chemically treated, but if you have friends that are shrimpers you can avoid all those chemicals. Or I can just go out back and either net some or eat my live "shrimp" bait if the fish don't bite which I've been known to do on more than one occasion. Gotta love living on the coast, . . .except during hurricane season. HA! My backyard on a calm day.

Well, I go to a small fish shop 3 blocks from me that get their shrimp fresh earlier in the a.m. I get mixed sizes at $6/lb. Fresh as can be! Happy, happy! Think I'll do that tomorrow. The joy of living beachside in FL.

I used to boil shrimp, but I've started roasting them a la Ina Garten. It works for any recipe where you would use boiled shrimp (shrimp salad, shrimp cocktail, etc.)

For 1/2 pound of large shrimp, she recommends tossing them in a little olive oil and a little lemon juice, then sprinkling with salt and pepper. Roast on a sheet pan at 400 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes. Works like a charm and you don't lose flavor in the cooking liquid.

bbstx I've done it that way too! I put butter, fresh garlic, salt/black pepper and the shrimp in a baking dish and sprinkle with just a little bit of Italian bread crumbs. It cooks up fast like you say and then I pour it all over pasta or we eat it as appetizers with focaccia bread to soak up all those yummy juices.

Shrimp is one of those foods that can be cooked in so many wonderful ways, i.e. boiled, steamed, fried, sautéed, roasted, baked, stuffed, barbequed. I have made shrimp omelets and shrimp quiche with avocadoes lined on the bottom. It was very good. I have one little cookbook, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Cookbook devoted entirely to cooking with shrimp. With all of this talk about shrimp, I think I'm going to go out and buy some for dinner tonight.

" ---------YIKES, blow dry the shrimps until they are very dry. Yes, I know that the shrimp are chemically treated, but if you have friends that are shrimpers you can avoid all those chemicals. Or I can just go out back and either net some or eat my live "shrimp" bait if the fish don't bite which I've been known to do on more than one occasion. -------"

No! The idea is not to dry the shrimp completely. The idea is to dry the outside just enough that when you pan fry the shrimps the juice gets sealed in and the shrimp remain tender yet the outside is caramelized. Try it. It works.

Regarding "fresh" shrimps: All shrimps you normally buy are frozen and refrozen. However, if in your town you have a large China Town, you may be able to buy life swimming, jumping shrimps, and also order life shrimps in Chinese restaurants there.

There is no way to describe the incredible taste to you of eating true fresh shrimps.

dcarch
.

Do you think, if I threw a net out back, it would be loaded with Shrimp ???

Guess not there are Racoons lurking.
Lou

Well this thread made me hungry for shrimp, so I tried the roasting way for breakfast. Shrimp covered with oil, a splash of lemon juice, grated garlic, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Yum.

I found that 6 minutes overcooked my 21/25 count shrimp, so for lunch I'll try 5 minutes.

Foodon:
Save me some.
I have been using the " Cooter Rub " that Cathy - Mustangs
sent me.
On the Shrimp and a lot of other things. Has a lot of good Spices.
Lou

I simmer the shrimp for 3 min. in a pot with 1/2 beer and 1/2 water. Tender every time.