Question about cooking shrimp

[Minnie824]

I don't eat seafood, and DH does, but we usually don't end up cooking it much. Anyway, recently I went with my friends to one of those places where you prepare 12 meals, freeze them, then cook per instructions. One was Shrimp Diablo...linguini noodles (they had precooked them) with uncooked shrimp and sauce, etc. Directions said bring to a boil on stove, reduce heat and simmer until shrimp is pink. Ok, so we did that. We left it cook a little extra, cuz DH didn't want undercooked shrimp. So then, it ended up being a little hard. They definitely were pink though. Ok, heres my question...the shrimp being hard, is that cuz we cooked them too long, or cuz they weren't cooked enough?

 

[hlbtimes2]

Overcooked. Shrimp cooks very quickly. Once they start to turn pink you should remove it from the heat. The heat of the pan and other items will continue to cook the shrimp.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Overcooked. Shrimp cooks very quickly. Once they start to turn pink you should remove it from the heat. The heat of the pan and other items will continue to cook the shrimp.

Yep, what they said

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes, once it turned pink it should have been removed quickly. There is a fine line with all seafood, and it takes an "eye" to know when it is done.
Overcooked seafood is easy to do.

 

[laura001]

Absolutely overcooked, there is no such thing as undercooked shrimp as long as they are pink. So next time, only cook til pink all over....

 

[Christine]

Agreed. It is very easy to overcook shrimp. Sometimes they recommend you take them off heat just as they are turning pink, because they will continue to cook for a few minutes.

 

[wnissen]

The other clue is that they are starting to curl up. This is the same thing that happens when beef is cooked, the muscle fibers start to shorten and stiffen as you go from rare to fully cooked. Luckily, with shrimp it is easy to see this happening as it curls. With very small (salad size) shrimp I usually take it off the heat just as they are turning pink and starting to curl, but the timing is tricky. Don't be afraid to take them off the heat for a few minutes and put them back on if they're not cooked.

Walt

 

[Sylvester McBean]

when you cook any type of seafood, just remember all you are doing is heating up the internal moisture. if you boil that away, the fish becomes tough. shrimp and lobster have natural thermometers. when they become opaque, pull them from the heat. they'll continue to cook. anything more will result in tough, stringy meat. if you think the shrimp look underdone, they're probably perfect.

 

[Dodie]

Overcooked shrimp taste rubbery. You should remove shrimp as soon as they begin to turn pink. (They continue to cook a little bit even after being removed from the heat.)