Chef refuses to let us peel and devein them prior to boil, citing that they taste better when they’re boiled in the shell. Ive never heard that before but this is now the third event he’s done like this in a row with the Cocktail Shrimp, there’s gotta be a quicker way to clean these things.
by KingTutt91
38 Comments
I mean if you cut to much i can see them getting butterflied in the water but thats the only reason. I mean you can devain, and boil them with the shells celery etc. some chefs just have their own way of doing things even though it might not make sense
Tournee knife up the back, pinch the belly and twist while holding the tail
I crack the tail off with one segment of the shell then grasp the legs and pull each side of the rest of the shell off
Kitchen shears up the back
If you use cook them within a day, you won’t lose any flavor. Peel, de-vein (cut just enough to pull out the vein), quick rinse in ice bath, put in the fridge in a drain container. If you use pre peeled, de-veined frozen shrimp, they won’t have much of flavor.
I can peel raw 26-30 for about 1lb/min. De-veining about 1.5 lb/minute. Takes about 3 times longer when peeling and deveining cooked shrimp.
Make the customers do it.
People love peel-n-eat skrumps.
They’ll even pay extra sometimes.
Peel, make stock. Strain stock. Boil in stock.
I find it much easier to peel after boil, just don’t let them sit too long.
Practice
You slice up the back when raw and de-vein, leaving the shell on. Then cook. Nobody wants boiled crustacean poop.
Tell em’ to stop on by
I use a fork. Down the back towards the tail. Done hundreds of pounds.
I used to clean and devein
10lbs of cooked shrimp
and
10lbs of raw shrimp every single day.
peeling and deveining cooked shrimp was easier and faster to me and prefered doing cooked than raw. raw is very messy.
if chef gave me an option to which one I want to do. I would prefer de-shell and devein cooked than raw.
I used to use a timer and try to go faster than the time before.
It’s not really something I can type how to do quickly. I have to show you how to do it. will try type it out. legs first from tail to top. the shell will come out in one piece. literally 3 second per shell. it’s a technique on the wrist which is why it’s hard to describe. I have to show it to you.
for devein. pinch the top front and rip it off.
both shell and pinch method should take 5 seconds each shrimp but that’s if you are doing it everyday and have the technique down pat.
if you want it done the Michelin star super perfect super neat way.. for devein . use a small knife to cut a little slit and take the vein out using a crab pick/lobster pick
Get good at peeling and deveining shrimp 😂
Pinch the tail and give a click to each side to break it loose. Then thumb pinch on the legs on one side and roll your thumb so the shell slides off the shrimp and onto your thumb. Then you still have to devein with a paring knife if they’re not cleaned already.
Sold a lot of shrimp at previous job. Would cook with lemon juice and whole black pepper, ice bath, cut with shears at the head hole then peel off the shell and legs in one go. Run the shit vein under cool water and pull it out (with gloves ofc). Repeat over and over a thousand times.
Besides that, I worked at a place that did p&e which basically was just laziness imo. Cook them in plain water, dump them in the container with some ice then the customer does all the work themselves.
Have someone else do it.
And take the tail shell off if you are serving the shrimps sauced. What kind if filthy animal served shrimp tail on in a sauce? 🥴
Use your hands
As someone who has literally cleaned and cooked thousands of pounds of shrimp for cocktail your “ chef “ is going about this wrong. First of all once you cook the vein it essentially becomes incorporated into the meat of the shrimp and will no longer be one single strand of easily removed shit, but it will impart a bitter taste on the surrounding meat and leave grit imbedded inside. If he’s truly wanting to impart more flavor on the shrimp they should be cleaned and cooked with the shells. This is just pure stupidity….
One at a time.
With your fingers.
Why not just peel and devein while raw, and boil them in the pot with the peeled shells… or better yet, make a seafood stock with shells and boil in the stock
Take a deep breath… devein everything beforehand … remind yourself that you will not serve bug poop from an Asian pond to anyone in the building today.. keep your head up when someone orders shrimp
Cooked ones are faster to peel . Especially if you do it right after you put then in and ice bath, while they are cooling down.
I read “Fatest way to peel shrimp”
I’d point out that he is boiling food with shit and just elect to deshit them prior to boiling. Then it’s just rip and tear for the next 10 minutes
Scare them out of their shells.
What events are these so I can avoid them at all costs?
Kidding I can’t afford fancy shit to begin with, but something is not right with your chef of he’s infusing that pooey umami into his shrimp. Makes me wonder what other corners are being cut be it flavor, costs, or general safety.
Get the apprentice to do it
Throw a pound or two in a vacuum bag and run the vacuum for two minutes, and like magic, no shells!
Get some kitchen shears
Cut all the shells head to tail, make surel to do that to all the shrimp first
After that taking shells out would require way less force/effort
Shrimp taste better when cleaned closest to cooking time, aka not wallowing away in a lowboy for a few days before cooking. Cleaning after cooking is ridiculous.
Your chefs an idiot with the flavor comment.
How long will it take to peel that whole tub and what do they temp to when finished?
Get a good serrated paring knife. Cut it from the head side to tail and pinch the legs. Don’t cut your thumb off. It’ll take a few trys to get it right. When I started the company, I still work in 20 years ago we had to peel 100lbs of 21/25 a day. Fastest way I can tell ya.
Peel them before and use the shells to make a stock, then cook the peeled shrimp in the stock.
Potential shrimp cube here