Dummy-proof scallops

[Anonymous]

I love my cast iron skillet and use it for just about everything, but I would not use it for scallops. I want to make a little pan sauce once the scallops are done (deglaze with white wine, then whisk in butter and maybe a squeeze of lemon or maybe a bit of an herb), and that's not going to come out well in cast iron. I use a heavy stainless steel skillet for scallops or fish.

PP who does scallops in cast iron with no oil, you must keep your skillet seasoned to absolute perfection at all times. I'm not quite so perfect; if I tried that I'd be concerned about sticking. Good for you, though.

[Anonymous]

Update from OP requested

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Update from OP requested

OP here: not good. I didn't know what kind of oil to use. I got them browned and cooked, but all I could smell was cooking oil, so therefore that's all I could taste. Also oversalted them. Some of us are not intuitive cooks.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear that, OP.

You want an oil that's good for high heat, and with light-to-no flavor. Grapeseed oil is ideal, but non-foodies are unlikely to have that around. I use high-heat canola oil, which can be found in most supermarkets. "Canola" is a fake engineered oil and not the best health-wise, but the high-heat version (it says so on the label) does do a good job with, well, high heat.

I only use it for applications like this one; for general use I use olive oil. (Which smokes at high heat so you can't use it here.)

[Anonymous]

Use butter

[Anonymous]

Butter makes browning the scallops a good bit harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Update from OP requested

OP here: not good. I didn't know what kind of oil to use. I got them browned and cooked, but all I could smell was cooking oil, so therefore that's all I could taste. Also oversalted them. Some of us are not intuitive cooks.

OP, oh no! It sounds like your oil burned. Try again with some safflower oil. I like peanut oil too. The pp is right about canola but I consider it highly toxic and won't use it.
You can do this!

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm the grapeseed/canola oil PP. I had this happen to me yesterday--the overpowering cooking oil smell. It turns out the oil was bad.
I have two oil cruets by the stove--one canola, one olive. I use the olive all the time, so it gets cycled through regularly. I use the canola oil rarely. Yesterday when I used some, as soon as it hit the heat, I got that "old fry whiff" through the whole kitchen. I was really surprised how instantly nasty it was. I figured the oil must have gone rancid sitting there unused. I emptied and washed the cruet, and tried again with new clean canola from the refrigerator -- problem gone. It was the oil.

I think your problem might not have been the type of oil (or your intuitive cooking abilities), but just old rancid oil. Try again with new and see how it comes out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost as important is the wine. Don't overwhelm them with a big oaky chardonnay. But a lightweight like pinot grigio won't stand up either.

Think chenin blanc, muscadet, white bordeaux (Graves), something from the Loire Valley (Vouvray or Sancerre), or Virginia viognier. Not French viognier from the Rhone, which will be heavier in style.
If you must have chardonnay, make it Macon villages.

You are now my Lord or High Priestess of the cooking forum. I bend down before you and will follow your directives throughout the realm.

[Anonymous]

this is the most useful food thread ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember that scallops, even expensive ones, were frozen on the boat while still at sea. If you're not buying them frozen, then that just means they were thawed prior to your buying them. Might as well save the money and buy frozen and thaw them yourself. This applies equally to shrimp.

Important, with scallops, to get the excess moisture out. After thawing, LIGHTLY salt them and leave them on a paper towel for 15m, then pat extremely dry with paper towels. Don't skimp on the paper towels -- these scallops costs $10/pound and paper towels cost a dollar for a whole roll.

Agreed that the way to go is a high sear, extremely briefly, on both sides. DO NOT cook until cooked completely through -- there is this thing called carry-over cooking -- they will be overcooked by the time they get to the table. Instead, cook until still raw in the middle. You basically cannot undercook a scallop because they are delicious even raw, you are just searing off the outsides for texture purposes. In order to get a high sear, you need to use a flavorless oil with a high smoke point (so not olive oil and DEFINITELY not butter) -- I go with canola oil.

On the side, a fresh tomatillo salsa or something of that nature.

Your kids will not eat this. Make chicken nuggets to go with it. One night of "being a short order cook" and making chicken nuggets will not kill them.

Oh bleah. My child has eaten seared scallops since he ate food from our plates. Don't sell the kiddos short.


To the PP commenting about the "small" scallops...those are bay scallops, not sea scallops. Use the tiny ones in pasta dishes, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this is the most useful food thread ever.

+1
Can we do one on fried chicken?