Scallops - a few questions for the experts

nlt35

Just got my BGE this week, going to try scallops this weekend.  Was planning on cooking them on lodge cast iron griddle pans.  Should I preheat the griddle pans on the grill first and then put the scallops on them?  Temp for the grill?
Thanks for the help, I will be back with more questions! 

Wolfpack

Preheat the skillet to 350-400. Dust top and bottom with flour/rub/whatever you like.

Melt butter on the skillet and sear both sides.

Won't take long.

Sure you will get other suggestions shortly-

Big_Green_Craig

When you drop the scallops into the skillet, leave them alone and let them sear. Initially, they will appear stuck to the pan. They will tell you they are ready when they release from the pan. 

fishlessman

preheat pan, dry off the scollops with paper towells (this is important for a good sear), salt and sear immediatly, dont wait til the center turns hard white(just slightly translucent in the middle, they will finish cooking off the egg). i sear in oil and i want it shimmering hot, maybe 450. i also started doing pan sauces with them a few years back, remove cooked scallops, add diced shallots and brown, add a 1/4 cup white wine, a dash worcestershire, a squirt dijon, a tbls butter and reduce. im priced out of scallops, 22 bucks the other day a pound, thats crazy

nolaegghead

Typical sea scallops take about 90 seconds per side on a hot skillet. They should barely be uncooked in the center, they will finish cooking in the minute after you take them off.  You're not going to pick up much, if any, smoke.  You want the skillet 300-400F. If oil smokes it's too hot.  I wouldn't bother using the egg if you're just cooking scallops unless you want the ambiance for guests or as an excuse to get out of the house.   Scallops do release water when cooking, so you want cast iron on the hot side and don't try to cook too many at once.  Bring the pan back up to temp between batches.

Make some brown butter in a separate pan - melt butter and stir constantly. When it starts turning a rich brown, pull it off and put aside.  Warm it up with some very fine lemon zest and capers and a dash of white wine.  Pour this over the scallops before serving.  Brown butter has a very complimentary nutty taste for the scallops. Delicious.

tazcrash

+1 on the above. Hot skillet, and dry that scallop off, also leave space between them in the pan so that the water can evaporate. 

SGH

@nlt35‌
Everyone has given you excellent advice above about how to produce awesome scallops using a pan. Here is a alternative way if you are interested in something a little different. Instead of pan searing, I sometimes sear on the grid close to the lump. This produces great scallops as well. The procedure.
If you have a spider so that you are real close to the lump, the egg only needs to be around 500 degrees or so. If you are cooking at regular grid level bump the temp on up to 700 or so. As soon as I place a scallop on the grid I start basting with melted butter. Baste it constantly until you flip and then continue basting with the butter. The cook is so short that I do this with the dome open the whole time. Depending on the temp of the grill, the sear can be as short as 30 seconds a side. Just remember to pour the melted butter to them while they cook. Once I pull them I like to give the cooked scallop a quick dip in the remaining melted butter. They turn out quite good my friend.

nlt35

Thanks all, I used lodge cast iron skillets with melted butter and when done I drizzled melted orange vanilla butter over the top, came out awesome! Thanks for all the advice!