To devein, peel shrimp, stick a fork in it

Let’s be honest: Shrimp are great when you don’t have to deal with them in their raw glory. All those little legs and shells and veins — who wants to mess with that slippery stuff ?

Fortunately, cleaning fresh shrimp is a lot easier than most of us make it. This week we’re going to teach you the quickest method and explore how to safely store shrimp if you aren’t cooking them right away.

Forget painstakingly peeling off shells by hand and carefully running a paring knife down the shrimp’s back to pluck out the vein — technically the shrimp’s digestive tract — in a process that can take forever if you’ve got more than a pound to prepare.

Easily and quickly peeling and deveining a shrimp in one swift movement is as simple as grabbing a fork from your utensil drawer. There’s no need to buy specialty tools or sharpen your knives.

This only works if the heads are already removed, the way most fresh shrimp are sold in stores.

Hold the shrimp in one hand with its back facing away from your hand. With your other hand, place the bottom tine of the fork under the shell right at the spot the vein appears.

Now, gently push the shrimp along the fork, which will simultaneously clear out the vein and pop off the shell, leaving a cleaned shrimp ready for the skillet, gumbo pot or whatever you’re using to cook them.

A few spots of the vein may be left, but they’ll be easy to pick out or rinse away under cold water.

There’s good reason to clean shrimp yourself. For starters, you’ll save a dollar or two per pound if you’re willing to do the work. Also, the leftover shells can be simmered into a hugely flavorful shrimp stock perfect for a batch of paella, risotto, fideo, seafood stew or just about anything else in which you want an intense taste of the sea.

Fresh shrimp are highly perishable and need special attention if you’re not going to cook them right away. For starters, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it’s only safe to keep them refrigerated for two days at

the most, and they have to be in a refrigerator set at 40 degrees or cooler.

To be safe, fill a colander with ice and set that inside a large bowl. Place the shrimp on top of the ice, cover it loosely with wax or parchment paper, and set the

bowl in the coldest part of your refrigerator. Be sure to periodically drain the melted ice out of the bowl as you don’t want the shrimp sitting in water.

Shrimp can be stored in the freezer, but at a cost. Even when well-packed inside plastic bags,

they’ll lose some moisture and their texture will suffer once thawed out.

Staff file photo Fresh shrimp should be stored on ice in the refrigerator for no more than two days.