Seafood News
Understanding Shrimp
This chart depicts the change in shrimp size from shell-on through peeling, cooking and breading.
| Sizing Reference Guide | ||
| Shell-On Size | P&D Size | Cooked Size |
| 6/8 count | 8/10 | 10/12 |
| 8/10 count | 10/12 | 13/15 |
| 10/12 count | 13/15 | 16/20 |
| 13/15 count | 16/20 | 21/25 |
| 16/20 count | 21/25 | 26/30 |
| 21/25 count | 26/30 | 31/40 |
| 26/30 count | 31/40 | 41/50 |
| 31/40 count | 41/50 | 51/60 |
| 41/50 count | 51/60 | 61/70 |
| 51/60 count | 61/70 | 71/90 |
Glossary of Terms
C: Cooked
UC: Uncooked
Head-On: Head, shell and tailfins on.
Headless/Shell-On: Only the head has been removed and the shell and tailfins are still on.
Tail On: Headless, peeled & deveined shrimp in which the tail has not been removed.
Can be cooked or uncooked.
Tail Off: Headless, peeled & deveined shrimp in which the tail has been removed.
Only available cooked.
P&D: Peeled & deveined, round, tail off. All shell and tailfins have been removed, with segments shallowly slit to the last segment.
P&D/Butterfly: Peeled & deveined, fantail or butterfly, tail on. All shell has been removed except last shell segment and tail fins with segments deeply slit to last segment
PUD: Peeled and undeveined. All shell and tailfins have been removed with the segments unslit.
Butterflied: The shell and digestive track have been removed and a deep cut has been made that “butterflies” the shrimp without splitting it into two pieces.