y, BULLETIN 538, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the shme 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 filled 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 m 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 stock is to use brines of 
proper strength. No definite rules can be laid down as to the strength 
