Searing scallops

Little background. I have been trying to perfect my technique with searing scallops. I have always done the following:

1 - get the scallops as dry as possible (avoid those soaked in that nasty white liquid, yuck!)

2 - hot pan, put a little EVOO in the pan, then a small pat of butter, melt

3 - scallops in 2-3 minutes on the first side, about 1-2 on the second side.

This works OK but never get a really great golden sear. I suspect my pan may not be hot enough. I recently got an IR temperature gun and would like a little input to make the end product a bit more consistent. How hot should the pan be to get a good sear on scallops? 350-ish?? Other suggestions more than welcome. Thanks!

350 really isn't that hot and olive oil and butter aren't the right oils/fats to start with as they have a low smoke point. And the idea of mixing butter to with an oil to raise the butter's heat tolerance is a myth. The butter solids still burn at the same temperature they always do.

Heat the pan 'til HOT. Add the oil and use a neutral tasting oil with a high smoke point. If you want some of that butter flavor, once you've turned them, you can add some butter to the pan and then butter baste them. The pan should have lost enough heat at this point that the butter won't burn.

If you use clarified butter for your fat at the start of cooking, that's fine. It can take the heat, but it doesn't have the flavor you seem to want from the butter.

First get a clear understanding of the science of cast iron skillets. Don't be confused by :"good heat retention". what it really means is "poor heat conductor"

They make cast iron cookware thick and heavy because thin cast iron cracks. Being thick, it keeps a lot of BTUs, being a poor heat conductor, it can't get heat up fast enough to sear both sides of the scallops.

So, when I have to sear scallops well, I use two cast iron skillets.

Sear one side of the scallop on one skillet when the other gets red hot, then move the scaollps to the other hot skillet to sear the other side.

In the past I was using a SS CIA pan to sear scallops but just got a Le Creuset cast iron pan so think I will give that a run instead. Sounds like you want to flip the scallops onto a previously unused part of the pan and leave lots of room between them. As with a lot of cooking, it is really simple but the devil is in the details. Poaching a egg should be the easiest thing on earth but getting it right is another matter. Thanks for all the input. I will try grapeseed oil the next go round.

Focus on giving the scallops a fantastic crust on one side, and don't worry too much about the other side. No one ever checks to see if you have a good sear on the bottom side. But they will notice right away if you over cooked the scallops.

my personal choice would be safflower as it is very taste neutral - and easy to find, as least in my area.

also note there are various 'sources' that will differ on oil to temp; descriptive modifiers may or may not be used - for big differences that the usual source; 5-10' differences I consider "the same"

I've done them (on a gas top) in stainless and in cast iron - I think the cast iron is a bit easier after it is well seasoned.

a part of this is also what your goal is - I've seen scallops I would not describe as seared - "charred" would be a better description - getting the medium brown crispy isn't too difficult, getting the 1/4 thick charred layer takes mega-heat - frankly don't care for that approach but it sometimes appears in eateries to demonstrate the kitchen proficiency thing . . . .

If i am cooking diver or sea scallops I dredge them lightly in flour.....sometimes with with a bit of polenta in the mix as well as it adds a nice little crust, texture and insures by protection, a wonderful and perfectly moist scallop inside. I use a
canola /olive oil blend at the restaurant because that's what i use at the restaurant for sautéing. at home, i use grapeseed oil, cuz that's what i have at home.

I don't think you need really high heat or a special pan or oil specifically just for scallops. At the country club we would preheat a large aluminum pan with a veg oil blend and herbed butter. The sear was simple and easy and quick. Cooking them perfectly was easy. The crust always turned out perfect. Too much heat with any oil will char the outside and undercook the middle. There's nothing to it really.

my personal choice would be safflower as it is very taste neutral - and easy to find, as least in my area.

also note there are various 'sources' that will differ on oil to temp; descriptive modifiers may or may not be used - for big differences that the usual source; 5-10' differences I consider "the same"

I've done them (on a gas top) in stainless and in cast iron - I think the cast iron is a bit easier after it is well seasoned.

a part of this is also what your goal is - I've seen scallops I would not describe as seared - "charred" would be a better description - getting the medium brown crispy isn't too difficult, getting the 1/4 thick charred layer takes mega-heat - frankly don't care for that approach but it sometimes appears in eateries to demonstrate the kitchen proficiency thing . . . .

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I know there are more oils i have friends who work in this business ,and my town hosts an oil festival yearly <_<

I just listed the few i use ( and are more common and easier to find internationally and here where i live) that popped into my head.

At the restaurant we use an Olive Oil blend , at home its usually soybean or cotton seed oil.

Joey i too use the flour dusted technique at home , works like a charm

once upon a time I kept a pantry full of various oils. after many years of sheepoling after 'the current fad" I learned for the home kitchen, one off use, no deep fryer with 50 gallons of oil to filter and/or replace, it's as you say, not all that terribly important.

and plain ole olive oil - a brand with a nicely neutral flavor profile - which I use for everything except pan-southern-fried chicken and deep frying the odd batch of batter/butterflied shrimp - using a pot full of oil one-time-tossed makes olive oil too expensive, I use a low cost vegetable oil.

high smoke point is important where the oil is used and reused - long-term/repeat exposure will cause low temp oils to taste funny.

well, there's also the "free radical" issue for some; I'm thinking something else will kill me before any of those freed radicals reach my neighborhood.