Is there a difference in quality with frozen shrimp?
 

When you go and buy frozen shrimp and it has Extra Large for $6. But there is another brand selling for $15. Can you really taste the difference in shrimp? Are there different types of shrimp? What makes one more expensive than the other? Or is it all bullshit?

Depends on where it came from

I prefer wild caught gulf shrimp, versus "Farm raised in Thailand, Vietnam, China, or anywhere else". Wild caught from North or South American are usually more.

depends on what street corner. and yeah, theres a difference in the taste... :leaving:

Generally speaking, the further you get inland, the crappier the taste.

who would ever buy frozen seafood?

aside from red lobster

damn Yankee's

People that live in Arkansas. I wonder that also though. Especially since we are so close to the ocean. :D

Shrimp are either wild or salt water, or farmed, usually in fresh water. there is a difference in taste, natural salt shrimp has more flavor and firmer meat. Sold usually by how many per pound, as in 6-8, 30-40, etc. But......when they cook shrimp for freezing, they cook them only till they just turn pink to keep them from shrinking much, so I find the cheaper ones shrink quite a bit when you finish cooking them for use, and for safety. :cheers:

"It was warm in there. I had shrinkage!"

Hmm... just doesn't seem right no matter how you say it.:fingertap:

Do yourself a favor. Avoid farm raised shrimp.

Most stores just go to the frozen section and grab a bag from the freezer and dump it out in the meat department

While that is true, the grocery store that I frequent (Publix) lets you know if they are fresh or previously frozen.

I like the frozen Tiger shrimp.

Couldn't tell you if there is much difference though.

I just go to the shrimp boat

Me too, but I don't like shrimp.

A friend owns a shrimp boat, and will occasionally drop off some shrimp. They are frozen, but they are frozen in the salt water they were caught in. I don't know if he is just bull shitting, but he said that makes a difference.

I can tell you that if you can find frozen Alaskan shrimp, BUY THEM! They are fantastical, serious. The best shrimpies you'll ever eat.

Absolutely! Gulf shrimp are the best. I have not tried Alaskan...

As far as the freezing, there are fishers/suppliers who immediately flash freeze the shrimp on the boat. If you get these, they are fine. Any other freezing is nasty tasting, at least to me, but I am also used to fresh Gulf seafood whenever I want it.

I would never buy frozen seafood from any grocery.

The Alaskan shrimp are flash frozen right on the boat and are big, typically about four to six per pound. They are sweet and a bit lobster-like. The ones I've had even had shrimp roe still clutched in their little shrimp legs. There was a store here about 10 years ago that sold them, and when they went out of business I've never seen them since. They were about $25/lb, pricey devils. I think they are called Alaskan Spot Shrimp.

You gotta be careful buying shrimp from some of the "foreign" shrimpers, even buying them off the boat. A few years ago an undercover investigation down here found that some of the Vietnamese shrimpers were taking shrimp that had was quite a bit past prime time and washing them in Clorox to get the smell and discoloration out of the meat. :puke: