Listen I’ve spent countless hours in the kitchen deveining shrimp the hard way before discovering these handy little tools. Today I’m gonna share everything I know about using a shrimp deveiner properly, so you can save your hands (and sanity) when prepping shrimp.
Why Bother Deveining Shrimp Anyway?
Look, that dark “vein” running down a shrimp’s back isn’t actually a vein – it’s their digestive tract. While eating it won’t make you sick, it can:
- Make your shrimp taste bitter or muddy
- Leave a gritty, sandy texture in your mouth (yuck!)
- Look pretty unappetizing once cooked
For small shrimp you can probably skip deveining. But for those big beautiful prawns? Trust me take the time to devein them.
Types of Shrimp Deveiners
We’ve got two main types to work with:
1. Knife-Style Deveiner
- Looks like a curved knife
- Has a special pick on the underside
- Better for actually removing the vein
- Creates a nice butterfly effect
2. Scissor-Style Deveiner
- Works like curved scissors
- Great for removing shells
- Hit-or-miss with vein removal
- Easier to preserve tails
Step-by-Step Guide to Using a Shrimp Deveiner
Using a Knife-Style Deveiner:
- Hold the shrimp in your non-dominant hand
- Insert the curved blade halfway along the tail, between shell and meat
- Push the shrimp along the blade smoothly
- The shell and vein should pop right off
- You’ll end up with a perfectly butterflied shrimp
Using Scissor-Style Deveiner:
- Hold the shrimp firmly but gently
- Position the scissors along the back of the shell
- Cut along the top curve of the tail
- Remove the shell
- If needed, use the tip to hook and remove any remaining vein
Pro Tips from My Kitchen
After messing up plenty of shrimp myself. here’s what I’ve learned
- Always devein raw shrimp – once cooked, that vein gets super brittle
- Keep a small bowl of cold water nearby to rinse your deveiner between shrimp
- Don’t throw away those shells! Freeze ’em for making seafood stock later
- If you’re working with whole shrimp and want to keep them intact, try the toothpick method instead
Common Rookie Mistakes
I see these all the time:
❌ Trying to devein cooked shrimp
❌ Pressing too hard and mangling the meat
❌ Rushing through and leaving bits of shell
❌ Not cleaning the deveiner between shrimp
Which Deveiner Should You Pick?
If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend the scissor-style deveiner. They’re:
- More intuitive to use
- More forgiving of mistakes
- Great for beginners
But if you’re serious about your seafood prep, invest in a good knife-style deveiner. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be processing shrimp like a pro.
Cleaning & Maintenance
Take care of your deveiner and it’ll take care of you:
- Wash thoroughly after each use
- Dry completely before storing
- For wooden handles, treat occasionally with mineral oil
- Keep blade sharp (for knife-style deveiners)
When Not to Use a Deveiner
Sometimes a deveiner ain’t the right tool:
- Already peeled shrimp (just use a regular knife)
- Tiny shrimp (too fiddly, not worth it)
- When grilling whole shrimp (use the toothpick method)
- Cooked shrimp (should’ve deveined them raw!)
The Bottom Line
Getting good at using a shrimp deveiner takes a bit of practice, but it’s worth mastering if you cook shrimp regularly. Start with a few pieces until you get comfortable with the motion, and soon you’ll be deveining shrimp like it’s nothing!
Remember, the goal isn’t speed – it’s clean, well-prepared shrimp that’ll make your dishes shine. Take your time at first, and the speed will come naturally.
Need more seafood prep tips? Drop a comment below! I’d love to hear your experiences with shrimp deveining tools and techniques.
P.S. – Don’t forget to check out our guide on what to do with those leftover shrimp shells. No waste in our kitchen!
Would you like me to explain any part of the guide in more detail?
What does it actually mean to “devein” shrimp?
This is an important question, if not a tad misleading. Deveining shrimp refers to removing the dark-colored membrane you see along the outermost curvature of the shrimp. That said, you’re not actually removing a vein at all, rather the intestinal tract of the shrimp. Most people do this to avoid the ick factor of eating what their shrimp already has, if you catch my drift. But it raises the question: Is deveining shrimp actually necessary? Will omitting this step in my shrimp preparation harm the people I’m cooking for or make the finished dish taste bad?
Do you need to devein shrimp?
No! If you’re cooking your shrimp fully (to an internal temperature of 145°F, according to the FDA), you likely do not actually need to devein shrimp from a safety perspective. If you are planning on eating the shrimp raw, the advice gets a little more complicated. Because the shrimp’s intestine contains some bacteria, some experts say that eating it raw will expose you to the risk of foodborne illness. By removing the tract, you reduce your risk of exposure. If the recipe you’re cooking calls on you to steam, boil, roast, sear, or grill, the vein is not likely to pose a health risk.
Eric Ripert, the chef and cookbook author of the soon-to-be-released Seafood Simple, makes the point that the size of the shrimp determines how he handles the cleaning. “If the shrimp is very tiny, it is not necessary to devein them because there’s usually nothing visible to remove,” he tells me.
Andrea Nguyen, the author of, most recently, Ever-Green Vietnamese, resoundingly agrees, noting that the size of the shrimp has everything to do with her choices around shrimp preparation: “Sometimes with Vietnamese cooking we use those very small shrimp, like 51–60s, and we’ll use them with the shell on. I don’t devein those, because we’re eating those shell-on. It’s not a big deal to me tastewise.”
In her cookbook Rambutan, Cynthia Shanmugalingam leaves the option to devein entirely up to the reader in recipes like her shrimp and seafood kool stew and her prawn curry with tamarind. While acknowledging that it is a common practice, she herself doesn’t bother with it, writing, “I’m usually too lazy to devein them, and the membrane isn’t harmful.”
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FAQ
Are you supposed to devein both sides of shrimp?
No, you typically only need to devein one side of the shrimp.
Why is the black vein in shrimp not safe to eat?
The “vein” is actually their digestive track/intestines. There’s a lot of bacteria in there, so if the vein would be left in and the shrimp cooked improperly, you could get sick.