Do You Really Need to Devein Shrimp?

Removing the digestive tract of a raw shrimp is actually pretty easy, though a little tedious. Starting at the head end, make an incision through the shell down the back of the shrimp to the base of the tail, either with a sharp paring knife or scissor, then spread the shell and meat apart and fish out the tract with the tip or your blade or a toothpick. Pull it out and repeat with the rest of your shrimp.

How to devein cooked shrimp

The procedure for deveining cooked shrimp is pretty much the same as deveining raw shrimp. Cook and chill your crustaceans, then make that same incision down the back of your shrimp, split it open, and pull the vein out.

The smaller the shrimp, the harder this will be, but the amount of effort you wish to exert in your quest for grit-less, waste-free shrimp is between you and your god. (I personally wish to exert no effort, and will continue to buy bags of frozen deveined shrimp. Frozen is fresher anyway.)