Brined and Grilled Shrimp

Griffin

A few weeks back, I was watching an old episode of Good Eats entitled Crustacean Nation. Alton Brown was making some shrimp cocktail but what intrigued me was that he brined the shrimp before cooking. Maybe I'm an idiot or maybe I've been living under a rock, but I've never heard of brining shrimp. Chicken...yes, turkey...yes, pork chops (and other cuts of pork)...yes, but never shrimp. So that idea has been tumbling around in the back of my noggin for awhile. Last night, I decided to give it a go. I was planning on sticking to his recipe, but somehow a 1/4 cup of Zatarain's Extra Spicy Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil made its way in as well. With the addition of that, I figured I should up the water to prevent it from being too spicy or salty.

Brine:

2 cups water 1/4 cup Kosher salt 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup Zatarain’s Extra Spicy Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil 2 cups of ice

Bring the water to a boil and then add the seasonings and the ice. Once it has cooled, add shrimp and allow to brine for 20-25 mintues. Sorry, no pics of that. Shrimp swimming around in a brine isn't that exciting.

While that was happening, I chopped up some zucks, shrooms, carrots, broccoli and red onion and dumped them in a CI Skillet

Tossed them with some olive oil, S&P and some DP Swamp Venom and then put them on the Egg at 550 until the veggies had just begun to soften.

After the shrimp came out of the brine, I rinsed them a few time, dried them, skewered them (using 2 prevents them from spinning when you go to flip them), rubbed them down with some olive oil and sprinkled on some Old Bay. I took the top off the Egg and opened the bottom vent wide open once the shrimp went on to really get the heat going.

The shrimp only took a few minutes per side to cook.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the brine, but I can tell you from now on, when we grill shrimp, we are going to brine and leave the shells on. They were plump and juicy. The shrimp had a firm texture and each bite was like tasting the sea. So full of flavor, yet not spicy at all from the Zatarain's. Just the perfect flavor. I might skip seasoning the outside with Old Bay next time. It just comes off with the shell, unless you like to lick your fingers. I just did it because Alton did. We are definitely converts and will brine from here on out. The only thing I regret was that I had planned on leaving a shrimp or two out of the brine just for comparison. Not a reliable experiment with out a control to compare it to. Kinda glad I didn't, though as they were so good.

henapple

Damn Griffin...

NecessaryIndulg

Nice!

Chubbs

Interesting Griffin. I am from Beaufort, SC (moved to Columbia after college) and never heard of brining shrimp, but makes sense for grilled shrimp. We have all been there before.... waited that extra second or ten and the shrimp come out slightly overcooked. Will try this myself.

Mighty_Quinn

Looks really good! I've used the seafood brine from 'charcuterie' a few times on shrimp...good stuff.

Griffin

There's one in there? I need to get that book out and get busy making some stuff from it.

nolaegghead

You'd think they'd be brined already because they come from the salty sea, but you're on to something there.    Looks delicious.  I'm going to try that next time I cook me some shrimps.

500

Looks real tasty.  Need to try this.  Question on the technique; How do you close the Egg lid on a CI skillet?  Isn't it too big to fit?

Mickey

First time on brine story as well. Got to try it  now...

Chubbs

500 said:

Looks real tasty.  Need to try this.  Question on the technique; How do you close the Egg lid on a CI skillet?  Isn't it too big to fit?

Nope. Mine fits well in my LBGE

piney

Thanks Griffin, I just bookmarked this. I agree with Mickey 1st time ever heard of this gotta try it soon.

Chubbs

Not sure why it dropped the pic...

500

Chubbs said:

500 said:

Looks real tasty.  Need to try this.  Question on the technique; How do you close the Egg lid on a CI skillet?  Isn't it too big to fit?

Nope. Mine fits well in my LBGE

Great.  All this time I've been looking for an old CI skillet that I wouldn't mind cutting the handle off of, and the whole time I should have just tried a test fit.  Duh.
Thanks Chubbs for the proof it fits. 
You've all opened up a whole new cooking technique for me.

Mickey

Got other ideas if one did not wish to go with Zatarain's Extra Spicy Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil?

Griffin

@500 - depends on the size of the skillet. I think all of mine but one or two will fit on the Egg.

@Mickey my brother commented that he has a brine with soy sauce, sugar and red pepper flakes. Not sure amounts but I can find out.

nolaegghead

Mickey said:

Got other ideas if one did not wish to go with Zatarain's Extra Spicy Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil?

Old Bay has much of the same flavor profile as crab boil but without the capsaicin (heat).

SmokinDAWG82

Looks like a winner!

Griffin

Somebody (Ron) brought up a good question on my blog. It wasn't the liquid boil, it was the solid/powder kind.

jfm0830

Griffin, I have a confession to make. While I love shrimp, it makes me physically ill about 30 minutes after eating it. But I've got to say your shrimp posts with the marvelous placement on the grill and plated pictures always make me want to have shrimp. This despite knowing what it would do to me. Nicely done!!

SoCal_Griller

Says it all.  Thanks!

billyray

• I know that brining and marinating are sometimes interchangable terms. I call mine marinating, but I guess it could be considered a brine because salt is involved. Here's what I do and everyone always loves it and they want more.
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• Mix this up and add the shrimp, cover and put in the fridge for an hour, then cook on high heat for 2 minutes a side. Give this a try, you won't be disappointed.

500

billyray said:

• I know that brining and marinating are sometimes interchangable terms. I call mine marinating, but I guess it could be considered a brine because salt is involved. Here's what I do and everyone always loves it and they want more.
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• Mix this up and add the shrimp, cover and put in the fridge for an hour, then cook on high heat for 2 minutes a side. Give this a try, you won't be disappointed.

I think that might be considered "dry brining", but whatever you call it, your goal is the same; make it taste yummier.

nolaegghead

My understanding: Brines are salt solutions between 3.5% and 26% sodium chloride (w/w) in water.  Typically for meat, they're between 5% and 10% salt.  Frequently sugar is added at a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio to the salt.  Brines are almost always washed off before cooking while marinates are rarely washed off, hence, marinades typically have a more palatable level of salt.

Plano_JJ

Looks awesome man, gonna add this to my "things to egg list". Every time we go home we load up an ice chest with fresh shrimp and bring them back. Looking forward to this one.

Dyal_SC

Looks crazy good, Girlfin! Excellent job!

Chubbs said:

Interesting Griffin. I am from Beaufort, SC (moved to Columbia after college) and never heard of brining shrimp, but makes sense for grilled shrimp. We have all been there before.... waited that extra second or ten and the shrimp come out slightly overcooked. Will try this myself.

No way, you are from Beaufort? I was born there and lived in Port Royal for the first part of my life. Then raised in Walterboro where i graduated from HS. Then went to college in Charleston, and lived there for 11 or 12 years. Been in the Columbia area for about 2 or 3 years now.

Chubbs

Dyal_SC said:

Looks crazy good, Girlfin! Excellent job!

Chubbs said:

Interesting Griffin. I am from Beaufort, SC (moved to Columbia after college) and never heard of brining shrimp, but makes sense for grilled shrimp. We have all been there before.... waited that extra second or ten and the shrimp come out slightly overcooked. Will try this myself.

No way, you are from Beaufort? I was born there and lived in Port Royal for the first part of my life. Then raised in Walterboro where i graduated from HS. Then went to college in Charleston, and lived there for 11 or 12 years. Been in the Columbia area for about 2 or 3 years now.

Sure am. From Lady's Island. Left for college in 2000. Graduated and moved to Columbia 2004. Parents still live in Beaufort. Beaufort is a great little town. Small world !

LongboardR

The only shrimp brining I have tried is on the end of a hook! Got to try it! I did some shrimpy's the other day and went the other way. Big large Selects and I shelled em and cooked as hot as possible. Took only a minute or two and they were just barely cooked in the middle. Had a really nice firm texture and lots of flavor. The big lesson to me on shrimp is not to overcook. I will brine the next batch and leave shells on.

Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sautee it. There's, um, shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There's pineapple shrimp and lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich... That's, that's about it.”

 

R2Egg2Q

Your whole meal looks great Jason! I brined some shrimp last week before a stir-fry wok cook and they came out really flavorful. I will definitely brine on future cooks.

henapple

Now I know Griffin does these awesome post just to get on HP...hehe

Jscott

Can't wait to try this one Griff!

Thanks, another well done cook.

Bjorg

Good to know!