Shrimp problem

I bought some head on shrimp and brined them with Old Bay and kosher salt for about two hours. Grilled them until they were pink and curled up, about 4 minutes a side. Let them cool for about 10-15 minutes then tried to eat them. The shells were stuck to the meat so much that I couldn't remove them. I've never seen this before, any ideas? -RP

[Jenise]

Randy, the occasional one in a batch is hard to peel, sure, but I haven't run into what you're describing . Are you suspecting that the brining somehow caused this? Could be I suppose, salt's powerful and two hours is a longish time. I pre-soak shrimp in salted water for only five or ten minutes, that's all it takes to infuse some freshness and firm up the flesh.

I think 4 minutes per side is way too long, and that is why the shells stuck to the meat. Happened to me once, but I did not brine before cooking.

We've had more problems with shell sticking with farm raised versus wild caught shrimp. When the oil spill happened last year, we immediately stocked up on frozen wild caught shrimp.

These were farm raised from Ecuador and the shells were very thin. -RP

When it happened to me I thought it was due to long, high, heat. Had soaked them in a lemon, butter, worcestershire, hot sauce marinade.

Randy, you didn't say how large the shrimp were or how hot the grill was, but I think your answer is above. 4 minutes a side sounds like a very long time to cook shrimp. Generally high heat (roughly 500 degrees) for a short time (more like 4 minutes total) works best. My general rule with shrimp is when they look done, they are done. And that sometimes is measured in seconds rather than minutes.

To get the most out of brined shrimp you must remove the shells prior to brining. Also your cook time was too long and then having the shells on while cooling contained more of the heat. The only time I leave the shells on is for "steamed" shrimp thats served as peel and eat. Also the Old Bay should be introduced at the end of the cooking and not during as it imparts a bitter flavor. I actually boil my shrimp and remove when they're a little more than half done, drain in a collander, sprinkle and toss with Old Bay and let them sit for a couple of minutes and they're perfect. If you cook shrimp and they look done, they're overcooked.

Drew