Are Shrimp Sizes codified?
By this, I mean, are the names of the sizes regulated by an industry or government?
I found this from a seafood wholesaler:
Yet, my local supermarket has this ad, which appears to be 2 sizes off (not to mention the easily misleading 14 oz size bag)
My question, is this regulated, or do stores get to chose their own words, and we should simply look at number per pound to make a buying decision?
Best Answer
This was covered in one of the early episodes of Good Eats, Crustacean Nation. From the transcript of the episode :
As soon as they are off the boat, shrimp tails—called 'green shrimp' in the biz.—are sized or sorted into various weight counts. The higher the number, the smaller the shrimp. Sixties-seventies, for instance, have 60 to 70 tails per pound, which is pretty small. A pound of 26-30s contain at least 26 but not more than 30 tails. Twenty one-twenty fives are larger and 16-20s larger still. The biggest have a U in front of the number signifying that there are less than that number per pound. There are, for instance, 12 or less shrimp in a pound of U-12s.
Now, there are still a lot of shops out there selling on adjectives like jumbo, medium, colossal. Not only are these terms not standardized or controlled, it's tough to even find 2 fishmongers who will agree on them. So, if your market doesn't sell by the weight count feel free to quote Mr. Big who told James Bond in Live and Let Die, "Names is for tombstones, baby." Of course, I guess those are tombstones, aren't they?
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Quick Answer about "Are Shrimp Sizes codified?"
Shrimp sizes are denoted in numbers, such as 21/25 or U/15. When you see a “U” in the count, it means that there are “under” that number of shrimp in a pound. The slash between numbers denotes a range of shrimp in a pound.What does the size mean on shrimp?
Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe This number, called the \u201ccount,\u201d tells you the size of the shrimp. The count refers to the number of individual shrimp in 1 pound. So for instance, when you buy 1 pound of 21/25 count shrimp, you can expect to get 21 to 25 shrimp. The smaller the numbers, the bigger the shrimp.What does it mean shrimp 16 20?
A shrimp's size is measured by the number of individual shrimp it takes to make up a pound. A label of 16/20 means that there are between 16 and 20 of these shrimp in a pound. Sometimes you'll see a letter U as well, like U10, which means fewer than 10 of those shrimp make up a pound. The main takeaway?Why are shrimp numbered?
The count is stated like in the photo below. The number above and below the slash (/) indicate the range of shrimp per pound. For example 26/30 indicates there are between 26 and 30 shrimp per pound. So, just remember: the larger the count, the smaller the shrimp!What size is 21 25 shrimp?
Shrimp are sold by count per pound in the United States. The number on the label will indicate the number of shrimp in the package. If it reads 21/25, you know there should be from 21 to 25 shrimp in each pound. Here's a general list of size designations and counts per pound, where the "U" means "under" or "less than."Different Shrimp Sizes | Learn how to choose shrimp in the market!
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