Brined Gulf Shrimp (chisoxjim style) w/ Q-View

[kevin13]

I thawed out some large gulf shrimp I had gotten from a friend of mine when he came up from Mississippi to visit and decided to brine and smoke per chisoxjim's instructions (Thanks Jim!)

Deveined and ready for brining


Brining in 3 cups cold water, 1/4 cup sugar, & 1/4 cup kosher salt for 20 min.


After rinsing, I sprinkled some Old Bay on them and let them sit in the fridge for about 30 min. or so while the smoker warmed up.


Once the smoker was up to 230*, I loaded them in and smoked with hickory for about 25-30 min.


Here they are finished and ready for consumption...well after the shell is removed.


In all, the shrimp was pretty good. I'm definately hooked on brining shrimp now. They were very tender and juicy. The Old Bay didn't soak in much, as expected, since the shells were still on, however, it did reach some of the meat and imposed a very subtle flavor. The hickory was a nice touch too.

I did have problems with the shell sticking to the meat and I'm not sure if that's from the slow cooking, brining or that they were frozen. Nevertheless, they were still good and I'm looking forward to next time.

 

[bigdan]

Those look most supurb!!!!! I will have to try this out.

 

[walle]

Kevin,
Awesome looking shrimp.
Next time, add your Old Bay into your brine. We do crawdads that way - amazing what a difference makes if you soak in your seasoning, pull them out, bring your seasoning to a boil, then go (obviously talking bout a boil here), but the effect would be the same.

Your post has inspired me to do some smoked shrimp!
Thanks,
Tracey

 

[chisoxjim]

looks good kevin,

glad I could help out with the brine.

 

[dave from mesa]

Had the same problem with the shells sticking. Not sure what the problem was. The next time I smoked them I took the shell off. Didn't see any diff with the way they tasted.

 

[chisoxjim]

a little shell wont hurt ya...

ate these yesterday for lunch, head, shell, everything but the tail....... mmm

 

[rbranstner]

I always hate the shells. I have not smoked them but when we grill them I always remove the shells. That would be my suggestion.

 

[graybeard]

yep, remove shells, Old bay,then smoke.

beard

 

[chisoxjim]

shrimp are called "peel and eat" for a reason, the shells gives the shrimp flavor.

 

[smokin jack]

Shrimp shells normally stick due to cooking a little too long. I am not saying your shrimp were overdone because they look perfect, but once shrimp is finished cooking they need to be cooled because the carry over heat will continue cooking the shrimp even after it is taken from the boiling water, grill, or in this case, smoker.

Years ago I noticed this happening at our store and I started to throw ice on the finished shrimp to cool it down immediately after boiling. From my understanding this is done to pasta as well to prevent the carry over heating/cooking from occuring.

I added this to ChiSoxJim's post a few weeks back, if any of you can get your hands on Bon Secour brand shrimp, believe me, it is the best money can buy.....unless of course you live right along the gulf coast and then that would be the best money can buy lol, but for us up here (Philly suburbs) I have them shipped up from Bon Secour, Alabama and all of my restaurants we wholesale love them !!!!

 

[eman]

Living in south Louisiana we have access to lots of fresh seafood.
I too believe that the shell sticking is from over cooking fresh shrimp.
ALOT of the shrimp you get have been flash frozen on the boats as they are caught. There is a chemical that they put on the shrimp to keep them from spoiling b4 they are frozen. (can't remember the name of it)
I have found as others have that this chemical does cause the shells to stick very bad.
I have been boiling and grilling shrimp many years and i can tell if the shrimp has had this chemical applied as soon as i finish cooking them.

 

[ranprew]

Here in Louisiana -- many of us use a little vegetable oil in the water -- to help keep the shells loose for peeling. Enjoy the site -- good stuff from all.
Randy in Monroe, Louisiana