6 BULLETIN 538, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
-has a better flavor and keeps just as well if it has been properly 
cooked and handled. Packing brines should not be over 5 to 10 per 
cent strength. Heavier solutions tend to make the shrimp leathery 
and too salty and weaker ones produce softness and flabbiness in the 
stock and have no appreciable preservative effect. A brine of 7 or 8 
per cent strength should be satisfactory for shipping purposes. In 
such packing both shrimp and brine should be cooled before shipping; 
otherwise there is danger that the ice may melt during transit and 
the shrimp consequently decay. 
Headless cooked shrimp packed in kegs in strong brine of from 15 
to 20 per cent strength keep very well. This ‘‘keg stock”? sometimes 
is used in restaurants or hotels, where the necessary freshening can be 
done. Most housewives prefer the product packed in weak brine 
because it is more convenient and has a better flavor. « 
PACKING RAW SHRIMP FOR SHIPMENT. 
Raw shrimp before -being packed are chilled with ice to 40° F. or 
below. A layer of ice is placed in the bottom of a barrel provided 
with drainage holes. A layer of chilled shrimp is placed on the ice, 
then another layer of ice, and more shrimp. A large cake of ice or 
‘‘header”’ is placed on the top of the barrel. Another method is to 
provide a bottom layer of ice and then place on end in the center of 
the barrel a long, narrow cake of ice. The shrimp are packed around 
this cake, or core, of ice, the ‘‘header”’ cake is placed on top of the 
barrel, and the barrel and its contents covered with burlap. Cooked 
shrimp, as a rule, are sent by express in small lots. In the-case of 
raw shrimp, car lots of iced barrels occasionally may be shipped by 
fast freight in refrigerator or ventilator cars. 
DRIED SHRIMP AND OTHER SPECIALTIES. 
Dried shrimp are prepared in certain sections of Louisiana and 
Florida. The cooked shrimp are dried outdoors in the sun and the 
meats threshed out from the shells. Under an improved process raw 
shrimp sprinkled with salt are cooked with live steam and dried over 
steam pipes. This rapid drying results in a bright, attractive food 
product which has not been subjected to the molding or decomposi- 
tion frequently taking place when shrimp are dried outdoors under 
varying weather conditions. This product deserves a wider market. 
Headed and peeled shrimp meats also should prove popular. These 
meats after being cooked in a weak brine are cooled and dried on wire 
screens. They are then packed dry in tightly sealed tin cans (some- 
times lined with paper) of from 1 to 5 gallon capacity. The cans are 
shipped in barrels of cracked ice. 
Shrimp pastes are prepared by grinding shrimp meats and adding 
salt and flavoring. They are used like anchovy paste forsandwiches 
