What You Need to Know When Purchasing Shrimp and How to Store It (2024)

FAQs

What You Need to Know When Purchasing Shrimp and How to Store It? ›

Place shellfish purchased live in its shell (mussels, clams, and oysters) in a dry shallow pan, cover it with moistened paper towels, and refrigerate it. Place shucked shellfish in a sealed container and freeze. Store fresh shrimp, scallops, and squid in a zippered bag or airtight container and refrigerate on ice.

Avoid shrimp that smell like ammonia (an easy way to tell that they're bad) or have shells that feel soft or slimy (again, not a good sign). If you can't be sure, or know they've been thawed, head to the freezer. The frozen shrimp will taste better, cook better, and feel better.

Shrimp Buying Basics

Forgo bags with freezer burn or covered in ice, affecting taste and texture. Local, wild-caught fresh shrimp is valued for its superior flavor and texture. If you can buy fresh, the shrimp should have its head on, have a fresh, saltwater smell, and have a firm texture.

Store fresh shrimp in the coldest part of your fridge and use within a day or two.

For superior flavor and texture, buy shrimp frozen and defrost them just before cooking. Within just 24 hours of thawing, the muscle tissue begins to degrade and turn mushy, and the shrimp's flavor becomes less fresh.

Raw shrimp last in the fridge for one to two days but can last for months if frozen. Cooked shrimp last three to four days. To reheat cooked shrimp, use a lower temperature and check frequently to avoid overcooking. When storing raw shrimp in the fridge, keep it on the bottom shelf.

No amount of protein or vitamins outweighs the potential health risks of consuming both wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp, but if you do choose to eat shrimp anyway, wild shrimp is your safer bet.

Avoid whiteleg shrimp farmed in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, or Vietnam (intensive ponds only).

The best way to tell if raw shrimp is bad is to smell it and take a close look. If raw shrimp has a sour, ammonia-like smell, its coloring is dull and/or it looks slimy, it's gone bad and needs to be tossed. If cooked shrimp has gone bad, it will also have a sour, ammonia-like smell and/or slimy texture.

Pink shrimp are some of the tastiest shrimp you can find, mild and sweet without the distinctive ammonia taste some of the brown and white shrimp have. Just don't expect a vibrantly hued patch of shrimp at the market—pink shrimp can range from white to gray in color.

Should you rinse store bought shrimp? ›

The answer, it turns out, is that you probably don't need to do anything to clean it. Not only is this true for frozen shrimp, but it's true for pretty much all shrimp; cleaning is ultimately a matter of preference far more than one of necessity.

Shrimp can be frozen cooked or raw, in or out of the shell. For maximum storage life and quality, freeze shrimp raw, with heads removed but shells still on. Be sure to wash and drain the shrimp if frozen raw. Quickly chill shrimp cooked before freezing.

Jumbo or even colossal-sized shrimp work best for dishes that want to highlight the natural flavors of shrimp. Bigger shrimp offer a heartier bite and withstand strong seasonings and intense cooking methods.

The vein in shrimp is entirely edible, and removing it or not is a matter of preference. That said, a dark vein can be a bit unsightly in some preparations, like boiled shrimp for shrimp co*cktail, and can also add a noticeable grittiness to dishes. For this reason it's usual to devein shrimp, but it's up to you.

To peel and devein frozen shrimp, thaw them first using the refrigerator method. Once thawed, hold the shrimp and gently remove the shell by starting at the head and peeling towards the tail. Make a shallow incision at the back of the shrimp to expose the vein. Use a knife or fingers to remove the vein.

Neocaridina. The most popular shrimp in the aquarium hobby is the Red Cherry Shrimp, a Neocaridina species. They are known for being one of the hardiest shrimp out there, and are a go-to for beginners new to shrimp-keeping.

In the seafood industry, shrimp size is measured by the number of shrimp in one pound. On most bags of shrimp, you will find a smaller number followed by a slash and then a larger number. For example, 71-90 would indicate that there are 71 to 90 shrimp per pound.

Wild-caught shrimp feeds on plankton and small marine creatures, which gives it a unique taste and texture that is difficult to replicate in farmed shrimp. Additionally, wild-caught shrimp is often considered to be of higher quality due to its natural habitat and lack of exposure to antibiotics and other chemicals.