Snak

Brown shrimp and pink shrimp from inshore waters are still normally peeled by hand, but machines are now available that will handle the larger deepwater shrimp.

In hand peeling, the body of the shrimp is held in one hand, and the head twisted off with the other. The first two or three segments of shell are then broken open with the thumb, and the tail is squeezed to release the meat. A skilled worker can peel 2½-3 kg whole shrimp an hour.

American and Danish peeling machines are now available commercially that can handle deepwater shrimp. Successive pairs of rollers behead the shrimp, split the shell along the back and pull the shell from the meats. Output depends on the size of shrimp, but a single machine can peel as much shrimp as 16 hand workers.

Shrimp are often consumed without any further cooking; therefore particular attention must be paid to hygiene and sanitation. Regular bacteriological control of processing is important for this type of product. The main source of bacterial contamination of cooked shrimp is the peeling process, particularly hand peeling. Workers must wash their hands frequently, and all working surfaces must be kept scrupulously clean. Recommended procedures for factory cleaning are given in Advisory Note 45 ‘Cleaning in the fish industry’. The use of chlorinated water on the processing line can be of considerable help in keeping down contamination, but shrimp waste must not be allowed to accumulate since the chlorine is rapidly inactivated by protein. The shrimp must be kept cool throughout the process.

Machine peeling results in far less recontamination of cooked shrimp than hand peeling. Provided the peeling machines are cleaned at frequent intervals, the risk of increasing spoilage or introducing food poisoning bacteria is much less with machine peeling than with hand peeling.

Where raw meats are required for further processing, thawed frozen whole shrimp are much easier to peel than very fresh unfrozen shrimp. Peeling of unfrozen shrimp becomes easier after 1-2 days chilled storage.