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See why.Seafood Scissors
Do seafood scissors live up to their promise in making it easier to cut through hard shells?
Published July 1, 2014. Appears in Cook's Illustrated July/August 2012, America's Test Kitchen TV Season 21: Salmon Steaks Done Right
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What You Need To Know
Kitchen shears are ideal for butterflying chicken and snipping herbs but not so great for thick, curvy seafood shells. When we’re cooking lobster, crab, or shrimp, we reach for seafood scissors, designed with small, curved blades that snip open shells without marring the seafood within. Our previously winning pair was recently redesigned, so we bought the updated version plus four new products, priced from about $7 to $15, and snipped our way through pounds of shellfish.
Sadly, the redesigned pair was a bust. While it had excellent blades, the new, smaller handles cramped even the most petite hands. Of the remaining models, two had either comfortable handles or strong, sharp blades—but not both. The final two contenders fared better, but one model was the clear winner. These scissors had comfortable, sturdy handles and strong, sharp blades that snipped through tough lobster claws and delicate shrimp shells with ease, leaving the meat within pristine and ready for plucking.
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
This pair of scissors had everything we wanted: comfortable handles, sharp and sturdy blades, and a durable design that stood up to the thickest shells. The gently arched blades were very slightly serrated, which helped with crunching into shells, yet they were still slim enough to reach up narrow lobster legs without damaging tender meat.
Recommended
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
These scissors have comfortable, rounded handles and razor-sharp, gently curved blades that were lightweight and maneuverable; testers raced through piles of shrimp with ease using these scissors. The scissors’ only fault: They were fairly lightweight and we felt them “give” a bit against thicker shells.
Recommended with reservations
- Comfort: 1 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
The redesigned version of our former winner dropped in the rankings this time because of new handles, which were so small and cramped that even the most petite hands were uncomfortable after a few moments. That’s too bad, because their short, sharp blades were incredibly sturdy and snipped through even the hardest shells with ease.
- Comfort: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 1.5 stars out of 3.
These scissors were sturdy, with sharp, strong blades that chomped through shells of all thicknesses, but the handles were too long, putting our hands farther away from what we were cutting, so we had less control and leverage. A few testers found the firm plastic handles uncomfortable.
Not Recommended
- Comfort: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 1 stars out of 3.
These sharp seafood scissors easily cut through lobster and crab shells, but their thick blades were too bulky to extract meat from spindly lobster legs and too large for shelling shrimp. The top blade was fitted with a wide plastic splatter guard that blocked our view, making it difficult to cut, and the wide, stiff handles were uncomfortable.
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 0.5 stars out of 3.
These scissors’ roomy handles comfortably fit a wide range of hand sizes, but testers struggled with their sharply upturned blades. Our favorite blades have a curve, too, but these were bent so far up that we had to position our arms awkwardly no matter how we held them.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
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