July 5, 2016
Bought 3 lbs headless shrimp in Bayou la Batre–16-20 count–Louisian Seasoning bag, and a bottle of concentrate.
In an 8 quart pot added about:
- 5 qts water; seasoning bag,
- 1/4 cup table salt;
- large lemon cut in half, squeezed and torn in to quarters.
Brought it to a boil then simmered for a while then turned off to steep for a total of about an hour.
- Took shrimp off ice for about 20 minutes after rinsing.
- Added maybe 2 tbls concentrate to the water mixture just before it came to a boil and some cayenne that was maybe 1-2 tsp. Should have added at least 1 tblsp as could not tell it was even there.
- Once it was boiling added shrimp. Watched for shrimp to float.
- After maybe 5 minutes removed lid and found 5+ floating. Added maybe a quart of crushed ice. As it still seemed hot enough to still cook the shrimp added more ice. Pot is now full of liquid.
- After 20 minutes of soaking removed the shrimp and added ice cubes to complete cool down.
Shrimp were:
- Cooked about right although not crunchy they were not chewy/tough.
- Salt level was fine as not noticeably salty nor did they need salt. Seemed like it could have used something to give the flavor more punch.
- Seasoning was also mild. Did not have the pungent shrimp boil aroma or taste we like. Could not tell the cayenne had been added.
- Good but not Great.
