Clemson Cooperative Extension

Authority

Academic

Territories

US

Primacy

secondary

Commercial interest

none

Retrieved

2026-08-18

State

Read and citable

Original document

Retrieved for the seafood-depth programme and read in full. Supplies the doneness cues BBQHQ had only from the FSA, from a second and independent publisher: shrimp "turn pink and firm", scallops "turn milky white or opaque and firm", and clams, mussels and oysters "will open when cooked". It also supplies the sentence behind a troubleshooting cause that had none — "Shrimp, crabs, scallops, clams, mussels, oysters or lobster become tough and dry when overcooked." WHAT IT DOES NOT SUPPLY IS A GRILLING TIME FOR ANY OF THEM. Its figures are 3-5 minutes to boil or steam a pound of medium shrimp and 3-4 minutes for scallops, and the page names boiling, steaming, frying and baking without naming grilling once. BBQHQ does not move a boiling time onto a grate.

Culinary practice, Technical, Safety

• “Raw shrimp turn pink and firm when cooked”

  Clemson states that raw shrimp turn pink and firm when cooked, and gives 3 to 5 minutes to boil or steam one pound of medium-sized shrimp.

  Method:

  The time is for boiling or steaming, and is not transferred to a grate. Clemson names boiling and steaming here and does not name grilling anywhere on the page.

  The figure is per POUND of shrimp in a pan, not per prawn on a grill.

  How it was measured:

  A colour-and-texture cue rather than a temperature.

• “Scallops turn milky white or opaque and firm”

  Clemson states that scallops turn milky white or opaque and firm when cooked, and that they take 3 to 4 minutes to cook thoroughly.

  Method:

  No cooking method is stated for the 3-4 minute figure. The surrounding section names boiling, steaming, frying and baking; grilling appears nowhere on the page. An unmethoded figure is not a grilling window and is not converted into one.

  How it was measured:

  A colour-and-texture cue rather than a temperature.

• “will open when cooked”

  Clemson states that clams, mussels and oysters in the shell will open when cooked, and that shucked clams, mussels and oysters become plump and opaque with the edges of the oysters starting to curl.

  How it was measured:

  The same mechanical signal the FSA gives, from an independent publisher. Clemson states the SUCCESS condition; the FSA additionally instructs discarding the failures, and BBQHQ keeps the regulator as the source of that half.

  Method:

  Its times — steaming 4 to 9 minutes, boiling 3 to 5 after opening — are for pans.

• “Shrimp, crabs, scallops, clams, mussels, oysters or lobster become tough and dry when overcooked”

  Clemson states that shrimp, crabs, scallops, clams, mussels, oysters and lobster become tough and dry when overcooked.

  What it covers:

  Named for seven shellfish at once, which is unusually broad and is why it can carry a troubleshooting cause covering prawns, scallops and squid — although SQUID IS NOT IN CLEMSON'S LIST and the cause must not claim it is.

• Clemson's seafood factsheet gives cooking times only for boiling, steaming, frying and baking, and states no grilling time for shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, oysters or squid.

  What it covers:

  A recorded absence, not a claim about cooking. The same extension service publishes the fish factsheet that carries the ten-minute rule and its explicit grilling setup, so this publisher plainly does write grilling guidance when it has it. It did not write any here.

  The shellfish half of BBQHQ's seafood catalogue stays cue-only on the evidence, and what would change it is recorded as an open question.

• Shrimp, crabs, scallops, clams, mussels, oysters and lobster become tough and dry when overcooked, and their doneness is read from cues rather than a clock: shrimp turn pink and firm, scallops milky white or opaque and firm, and bivalves open.

If this source changes, these are the claims that need rechecking. That is the point of recording provenance per claim rather than per page.