Seafood stock help

[rotuts]

@Anna N 

 

perhaps

 

shelling shrimp is a bit of a pain

 

like cleaning out a complete lobster so that dans le plate one can just Snarf Down.

 

fo me its just less work

 

but the OP might see this as icky

 

fair enough

 

just wash your hands and counter space w lemon

 

and 

 

Done !

 

 

[weedy]

I'm not buying any fish (and ESPECIALLY shellfish) from questionable waters. 

 

If I can't afford good fish, then I won't buy fish. 

 

 

[weedy]

Also FWIW, cleaning shrimp is dead easy and not messy. 

 

 

[blbst36]

23 hours ago, Anna N said:

I am just guessing and I could be very wrong here but if someone does not like shelling shrimp I don't see them handling fish  frames, heads and gills. If it's the ick factor in play...... 

Anna - it's more the time it takes to actually peel them.  I am very slow.  It usually takes more time to peel the shrimp than make the whole dish.  Not to say the ick factor isn't there.  If I can just take a bag and dump it into the water, I'm usually good - lol

[blbst36]

Update on the etouffee - I completely forgot that I needed seafood stock when I started cooking.  Smart, huh?  I ended up using chicken soup base because I accidentally grabbed that instead of the vegetable one.  *SIGH*  After all that, I cooked the roux a tad too long so it isn't red/brown like it's supposed to be, but more like the color of mole.  Still, it tastes really good.  I've got to get my head straight and remember the seafood stock next time, cause I am definitely making it again.

[chileheadmike]

Nothing wrong with a dark roux. Glad it came out well. 

[blbst36]

1 hour ago, chileheadmike said:

Nothing wrong with a dark roux. Glad it came out well. 

Thanks.  It's like it skipped a color and laughed at me.  I was worried it would taste burnt, but it doesn't.

[Dave the Cook]

I keep a can or two of Bar Harbor Seafood Stock in the pantry, just in case I want etouffee or chowder and didn't stash any shells in the freezer to make stock from. One of our big-box grocery stores carries it, so maybe yours does, too. I've also used More Than Gourmet base. It's pricey (their site says US$7.95, though I've found it for a couple of bucks less) and kind of hard to find locally, but much less salty than most bases, including Better Than Bouillion (which is decent, but don't reconstitute it and then try and reduce it).

 

(My solution to peeling shrimp is to get someone else to do it.)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, Dave the Cook said:

I keep a can or two of Bar Harbor Seafood Stock in the pantry, just in case I want etouffee or chowder and didn't stash any shells in the freezer to make stock from. One of our big-box grocery stores carries it, so maybe yours does, too. I've also used More Than Gourmet base. It's pricey (their site says US$7.95, though I've found it for a couple of bucks less) and kind of hard to find locally, but much less salty than most bases, including Better Than Bouillion (which is decent, but don't reconstitute it and then try and reduce it).

 

(My solution to peeling shrimp is to get someone else to do it.)

 

Wow!  Amazon and Amazon Fresh* offer Bar Harbor stocks.  Thank you, thank you.

 

It may be obvious, but the larger the shrimp the easier they are to peel and clean.

 

 

* $0.22 per ounce.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

As far as the larger shrimp being easier to peel and clean, they are sometimes. Usually even. These large 16-20 per pound Argentine wild caught shrimp I bought are very good. Many times with smaller shrimp, I mostly ignore the top sand vein. This is not at all possible with these large babies. Not only are thier shells thick and tough, but the dorsal sand vein is ridiculous! There is a lot of black stuff and in some of them some orange stuff. The orange stuff is the color of roe, but homogeneous, so it doesn't look like roe. It is actually easier to clean when raw than cooked in the shell, although both are a challenge. I love the taste of these shrimp boiled in their shells, though, so that will probably happen again.

[dcarch]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

As far as the larger shrimp being easier to peel and clean, they are sometimes.

 

If you really hate peeling shrimps, you can make it easier.

Again, go to an Asian store and buy shrimps with head on. Shrimp's head is about half the weight, one pull, the head is off. The head is intensely flavorful for making stock.

 

dcarch

 

 

[caroled]

I remember years ago reading the ingredient packet for shrimp ramen noodles and seeing that it had ground shrimp shells. Many times over the years I've thought about drying the shells and running them thru a spice grinder. Anyone ever tried this? could be a nice flavoring for any real seafood dish.

 

[lindag]

Maybe this Seafood Tool would make cleaning the shrimp a whole lot easier.

It's the one recommended by Cooks Illustrated.

[Dave the Cook]

18 hours ago, caroled said:

I remember years ago reading the ingredient packet for shrimp ramen noodles and seeing that it had ground shrimp shells. Many times over the years I've thought about drying the shells and running them thru a spice grinder. Anyone ever tried this? could be a nice flavoring for any real seafood dish.

 

 

I've never used them for seasoning, but they're great for stock. My usual method is to roast the shells until they're dry, pinkish-red and aromatic. Then I grind them coarsely and pressure cook, generously covered in water, for 20 minutes, letting the pressure release naturally. Strain out the ground shells, and the stock is ready. We haven't kept precise records, but it seems like shells from about five pounds of shrimp (could be anything from 41-50s to 16-20s, depending on what we've been making) yields about three cups of rich stock.

[Shalmanese]

On 18/07/2017 at 7:36 AM, Dave the Cook said:

 

I've never used them for seasoning, but they're great for stock. My usual method is to roast the shells until they're dry, pinkish-red and aromatic. Then I grind them coarsely and pressure cook, generously covered in water, for 20 minutes, letting the pressure release naturally. Strain out the ground shells, and the stock is ready. We haven't kept precise records, but it seems like shells from about five pounds of shrimp (could be anything from 41-50s to 16-20s, depending on what we've been making) yields about three cups of rich stock.

 

Why grind them? I've found that the peels from even 2 pound of shrimp is enough to make at least a liter (4 cups) of unpleasantly rich stock. I just simmer them for 20 minutes on the stovetop, maybe 20 minutes in the PC hammers them so much the flavor cooks out?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I just ordered six cans of the Bar Harbor stock.  Can't wait to test.

 

[weedy]

7 hours ago, Shalmanese said:

 

Why grind them? I've found that the peels from even 2 pound of shrimp is enough to make at least a liter (4 cups) of unpleasantly rich stock. I just simmer them for 20 minutes on the stovetop, maybe 20 minutes in the PC hammers them so much the flavor cooks out?

Yes. Exactly. 

I also don't see the advantage to pressure cooking over just boiling for a half hour ish. 

 

 

[joesan]

I agree. I got into the habit of pressure cooking my shellfish stock (because chicken stock turns out so much better that way). But the other day I did a side-by-side comparison of langoustine shells pressure cooked versus simmered for the same time. 

 

The result? The simply simmered was much better, lighter but fresher and altogether better. No more pressure-cooked shellfish stock for me!

[Dave the Cook]

20 hours ago, Shalmanese said:

 

Why grind them? I've found that the peels from even 2 pound of shrimp is enough to make at least a liter (4 cups) of unpleasantly rich stock. I just simmer them for 20 minutes on the stovetop, maybe 20 minutes in the PC hammers them so much the flavor cooks out?

 

To see what would happen! It turned out pretty well. I'm not saying that it's the only, or even best, way to make shrimp stock. For example, 10 minutes would probably be enough. 

 

I am unpersuaded by terms like "light, "fresh" and "better." (Not sure what to make of "unpleasantly rich.") These are (like "pretty good," I admit) subjective terms that don't directly relate to how the product is used. Were I making a consommé, I might want something more muanced. but I'm not. I'm usually making etouffee or gumbo, where an intense stock enhances the result. YMMV.

[gfweb]

22 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I just ordered six cans of the Bar Harbor stock.  Can't wait to test.

 

Got a few on order myself!