2 BULLETIN 538, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the slime and dirt removed by thorough washing with water. Culled 

 and cleaned shrimp should be stored in the boat at once with cracked 

 ice. As soon as the boat reaches the dock the shrimp should be 

 removed from the hold, sorted a second time, and weighed. Unless 

 the stock is to be headed at once, or is to go immediately to the kettle, 

 the shrimp should be placed in cooling tubs rilled with cracked ice 

 and water, or go into a refrigerated room, the temperature of which is 

 below 40° F., and allowed to stand there for several hours until com- 

 pletely chilled. When shrimp are to be shipped raw they should 

 always be thoroughly chilled before shipment. If the chilling is 

 thorough, less ice will be required in transit and the stock will be 

 firm when delivered. • 



HEADING. 



In certain sections the trade demands headless stock. In other 

 markets, especially in the South, consumers are suspicious of headed 

 shrimp, as they erroneously regard the absence of the head as an 

 indication of spoiled stock. Such consumers ultimately pay the 

 express on the entire weight of the package and then throw nearly 

 half of the shrimp away. Experiments indicate that the heads and 

 appendages constitute from 43 to 45 per cent of the raw whole stock 

 and about 41 per cent of the cooked whole stock. 



It is essential that the shrimp be headed before they have become 

 warm, because the dark liquid in the stomach of the shrimp consists 

 of oily, partially digested plant and animal material, which readily 

 decomposes. This liquid, as well as the body slime, must be removed 

 immediately after the shrimp are headed. 



COOKING. 



THE BRINE. 



The crude, haphazard methods of cooking practiced in some plants 

 explain in large part the losses in cooked shrimp and the unpalata- 

 bility of some products. Such " rule-of- thumb " methods as cooking 

 until the meat pulls away from the back of the shell will not give 

 uniform results. The careful packer when cooking seeks to sterilize 

 the shrimp by the heat and to let the stock absorb enough salt from 

 the brine to insure proper seasoning and to promote keeping qualities. 

 At the same time the packer must control his operation so as to pre- 

 vent excessive loss in weight from overcooking and loss in quality 

 from undue hardening and salting of the meat. Undercooking is 

 also to be guarded against, as it results in a flabby, tasteless product, 

 poor in keeping quality. 



The initial step in cooking first-class sitock is to use brines of 

 proper strength. No definite rules can be laid down as to the strength 



