Food Safety & Shrimp Gumbo

13 years ago

We are having guests for dinner Saturday night AFTER the football game, so it will be late (9-ish). I am cooking shrimp gumbo. On Friday I am going to cook the gumbo up to the point of addiing the shrimp. On Saturday, before we go to the game, I'm going to put the gumbo in the slow cooker so that it will be hot when we get home. All I'll have to do at that point is prepare the rice.

So that I do not poison my guests, when and how should I add the shrimp?

Here are methods I have considered - all use peeled and deveined raw shrimp:

1. quickly roast the shrimp in the oven when I get home from the game - add to gumbo (from a do-ahead standpoint, this is the least desireable option. But from a food safety standpoint, it may be the best.)

2. turn the gumbo in the slow cooker to high and add the raw shrimp (will the shrimp cook in 30 minutes in a slow cooker? I cannot find any information on what temp my slow cooker reaches on high - or how long it takes to reach that temp)

3. add the shrimp to the gumbo while I am cooking it Friday (how will the shrimp hold up to being in a slow cooker for 8 or so hours on low? will the texture be tough? will I give my guests ptomaine?)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

lindac
13 years ago
The last 2 methods will result in tough and rubbery shrimp.
I would quickly bring a pot of water to boil...drop in the shrimp, let it return to a boil, cover and let sit for af ew minutes, the length of time depends on the size of the shrimp, then drain and pop into the hot gumbo.
Probably take about the same amount of time as cooking the rice!
Linda C
cookebook
13 years ago
If your gumbo is good and hot you can cook the shrimp in the gumbo when you get to the house. Just dump them in, put on the lid, and it shouldn't take more than a few minutes. The liquid only needs to be hot, not boiling, to cook the shrimp.
Related Discussions
Another Food Safety - Refreezing raw veggies?
Q
Comments (5)
Bacon, and most pork products can thaw and be refrozen. Because pork fat is very stable, I have actually used previously frozen pork fat in sausages, and once stuffed, they get refrozen again. Bacon is cured, and will not harm it if it was thawed and refozen again. Unless the freezer has very poor insulation, a 48 hour loss of cold will just thaw a few things on the uppermost sheves. Here, I put the fats and sausages, as well as any previously cooked mixtures like meat pies with raw crusts. My recent loss of freezer cold, was probably almost 2 days as well, and many things were still quite firm. Shrimp can be cooked and then refrozen after being cooked. If you have space, add a couple of water filled plastic gallon jugs to the upper shelves. As once drozen they act as cold sources and that will help keep the other, lower items, cooler for a while longer.Butter will keep fine if partiall thawed an refrozen. Keep it tightly wrapped however as it can soak up odd smells. If the veggies were just slight thawed, they should also be OK. They aren't cooked yet, so they will be fine. But because of moisture produced when thawed, they might clump up as solid bricks after being refrozen. You can imagine if this were a 3 day or more power outage. My parents went though that, until I got them a 4000 watt backup generator. Luckily, I have only had to use it once since then.
...See More
Chicken Gumbo recipe
Q
Comments (35)
Arley, There is a place in Lutcher that makes excellent smoked sausage and Andouille too.......it's called "Veron's Supermarket". It is located on the opposite side of the street as Lutcher High School. Their smoked sausage is the one I use for making Jambalaya.....it has more meat in it than most sausage recipes. There is a similar company near Baton Rouge that labels their meat products "Veron" (without the "s")......it is not the same product as "Veron's". I highly recommend Veron's products too. The best boudin is produced in the Southwestern part of Louisiana (not in my area).....near Lafayette. Those guys are the experts on boudin. We are the experts on Andouille. Just outside of Lafayette one half mile off I-10, there is a place in Scott, La. called "Best Stop" that literally sells tons of boudin per day....it is that good. They also produce some of the best cracklings around. They have a website and sell product all over the US. The smoked boudin is especially good. Give it a try if you are ever in that area. dlynn, if you ever make it to the Bonfire gumbo cook-offs, you can buy a sampler ticket which will allow you to taste quite a few gumbos. Many will literally knock your socks off and by all means try the Red Bean gumbo. And if you are lucky one of the locals will have one made with smoked tamed duck....it is especially rich tasting. Makes you wanna dance all night.....and yes they always have a band. Dan
...See More
Eating shrimp from the Gulf
Q
Comments (38)
mammie, you are 100% correct. Many people do not know this....quite bit of frozen shrimp are farmed in Texas. These shrimp are flash frozen right after they are harvested and come in 20 pound boxes. The quality and taste is very good.......few consumers would find any difference that those that are caught in the wild. These shrimp never have that Iodine taste which can be a problem with wild caught White shrimp. These harvested shrimp will all be uniform in size. In the winter when the wild season is closed, these frozen shrimp appear in Louisiana markets. The frozen shrimp are defrosted and sold. Since the product is always kept on ice and turnover rate is very high......the quality is still very good. I am not sure how much of the wild caught shrimp is flashed frozen. FYI, just this past year some entrepreneurs in my area have taken advantage of these farmed raised flash frozen shrimp. These guys provide a new service to locals. Place an order with them and they arrive at your house with boxed frozen shrimp from Texas. Upon your approval, they defrost the shrimp, de-head them, pack them in containers, and will even put them in your freezer for $4.00 per pound (gross weight). My niece in Baton Rouge swears by this service. Dan
...See More
LOOKING for: Gumbo question
Q
Comments (4)
rosies, I was purusing this forum for ideas and saw your post and could not help myself. From my experience, gumbo is a very geographically unique (even within the southeast/gulf coast region) and often a family unique thing as well. You mention Lousiana gumbo. I don't know that I have ever had Lousiana gumbo (or any for that matter) that had catfish in it. It certainly would be wonderful if you like it and its your style. It certainly is very mild and I could not see it hurting a thing and it seems others with experience swear by it. The Lousiana gumbo I became used to in the few years I lived in New Orleans often had chicken and sausage in it as must include ingredients whether it was called seafood gumbo or just gumbo. I typically did not care as much for the Lousiana traditional style of gumbo as what I was used to but that is probably an acquired bias. The very traditional crawfish dishes and recipes however were phenominal and I was fortunate enough to have some true locals enlighten me as to the proper way to prepare them in the Lousiana/New Orleans tradition. Recipes I cherish today. From my family history which is predominately the Alabama gulf coast, seafood gumbo (which is all we fixed) had only seafood in it (chicken, sausage etc is generally taboo) and is a family recipe that has been handed down for generations. We did not categorize catfish as seafood but rather river or pond food... not to diss it and I love good catfish but it is not seafood! The recipe does not include any fish for that matter but only shell fish. Also, be careful with the oysters. If not absolutely a really good batch and really fresh, they can mess up a good pot of gumbo in a minute. To my taste, the oysters available retail today (already shucked) are generally bubbled so heavily (washed...a req'd FDA process for many years) that they have very little flavor left. We always added oysters as an option and only the day of serving and to the amount being served at that sitting. As the availability of good oysters has declined over the years, we have almost eliminated them as an ingredient. I only add them now if I can find a good sack and have the time and patience to shuck them fresh that day. Cooking the gumbo we used to make qualified as a social event that began about mid-morning and culminated with its very brief debut as an appetizer (cup) for that evening's meal. The main amount of gumbo of course was placed in the fridge to meld overnight before its main serving in the next day or so. Because of the time involved, I usually make a 12 - 20 quart batch and freeze batches for future enjoyment and/or to give to friends. Sorry for more info than requested but gumbo in our family is almost a religion and I had to respond.
...See More
bbstx
Original Author
13 years ago
Forgot to add, the shrimp I'm using are smallish, 26-30/lb. I prefer small shrimp for gumbo so you get some shrimp in every spoonful!
Lars
13 years ago
Generally, when I am using shrimp in a soup or gumbo for multiple servings, I cook the shrimp separately (It can be very slightly underdone) and keep it separate until serving. Then I put the appropriate number of shrimp in each individual bowl and ladle the hot soup (or gumbo) over them. They will get plenty hot this way without being over cooked. I used to make Shrimp Udon Noodle soup for work and when I would heat up the soup, I would heat it up without the shrimp and without the cilantro and add those last to the hot soup. I hate overcooked shrimp.

Lars
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
13 years ago
I would do something like what Lars does but I would cook the shrimp ahead of time but slightly underdone. Then either put in bowls or add to the whole pot near serving time. In a few minutes, they will finish cooking and be just right.
jojoco
13 years ago
I make lots of gumbo and simply throw the raw shrimp in a few minutes before serving. They cook quickly and don't seem rubbery.

Jo
foodonastump
13 years ago
The liquid only needs to be hot, not boiling, to cook the shrimp.

Ask my wife about the time I called from the train and asked her to thaw some shrimp under running water. Yup, they were cooked by the time I got home, LOL! Second thought, don't ask her. She gets mad.

I lean slightly to the cook ahead side, in particular if you want to be 100% stress free about doneness and timing. Just dump in no more than a minute or two before serving. But intuitively the suggestion for undercooking makes no sense to me. To get the center of the shrimp perfectly cooked the heat must travel through the outside. Why subject to the outside to that amount of heat twice? In that case I'm thinking you'd be better off using cookebook/Jo's method. Fully cooked ahead, all you need to do is ascertain it doesn't feel cold in the middle.
bbstx
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks all. I think I'm going to try throwing the raw shrimp in the slow cooker when we get home. The worst that can happen is that we eat at 11!! (note to self....make sure there is plenty of liquor/wine in the house!)
lindac
13 years ago
Wouldn't it make more sense to cook the shrimp ahead and refrigerate, and dump them into the hot gumbo when you get home for maybe 5 to 10 minutes to heat up?
Not much worse than over cooked shrimp, they turn into hard little rubbery things.

Food Safety & Shrimp Gumbo

Comments (9)

lindac

cookebook

Related Discussions

bbstx
Original Author

Lars

Bumblebeez SC Zone 7

jojoco

foodonastump

bbstx
Original Author

lindac

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Food Safety & Shrimp Gumbo

Comments (9)

lindac

cookebook

Related Discussions

bbstxOriginal Author

Lars

Bumblebeez SC Zone 7

jojoco

foodonastump

bbstxOriginal Author

lindac

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

bbstx
Original Author

bbstx
Original Author