Sous vide scallop recipe?

Anyone have a favorite s.v. scallop recipe? Otherwise I’ll try the basic Anova one with S&P and a bit of olive oil.

Thanks, Bruce

If you can get a bit of smoke in the bag that helps.

I use sous vide as part of my toolset but I have to ask - Why Sous vide scallops when they cook in a minute or two and sear so well

+1

I can cook scallops without sv with great results, but the best scallop dish I’ve eaten was cooked sous vide. Sadly I don’t know the time and temperature…

Here’s the finished result.

Do you have to use SV for scallops? No. But it’s VERY easy to overcook scallops when you simply sear them. The advantage of SV is that you get the interior perfectly done. Then you can very quickly sear each side on high heat without having to worry whether the interior is underdone or overdone. The interior of the scallops was just right and moist.

Bruce
Scallops #1a.jpg

I usually do 125 for 30 minutes.

The key is really drying the heck out of them before you go to sear.

Yeah, the Anova recipe I used called for 51 C/123 F for 30 minutes so basically the same. And yes, you must dry the scallops thoroughly before the sear.

Bruce

If you sous vide until the middle is at perfect temp any searing will result in overcooking. I could see sous vide for bay scallops then a scorched earth 5 second butter sear, but bigger scallops are going to be overcooked.

Look at this photo from last night and you’ll see that they are in no way overcooked. When you SV scallops, you let them completely cool down before you sear them in the pan.

Bruce
scallops #2a.jpg

At risk of being critical, I’d say they look under seared to me. But personal preferences…

If I were doing them the old fashioned way (without sous vide), I would lightly dust each side with flour (with S&P). When I sear scallops
with a dusting of flour, then they tend to brown up a lot more. Since this was an initial SV experiment, I decided to skip the flour.

Bruce

Chefs will often use a little sugar too…

Butter makes it better. I can get a damn good crust with it, no flour or sugar needed.

Only the edges are peeking out, but you get the idea.
scallops.jpg

I prefer a little crust on mine.

clarified butter, smoking hot pan over easy on the second side…

Duck fat can make a nice alternative to butter

Yes, the Thomas Keller (Ad Hoc at Home) approach.

the secret to scallops at home is 20 minutes in brine, then dry on a wire rack in the fridge. this work best for larger scallops (u10 or so). hard sear in neutral oil and then butter baste, don’t need to ever flip.

Dredging the scallops in powdered sugar, which contains some corn starch, works well too, before pan-searing in butter.
Also, you can lightly poach the scallops in wine (yes, white, not red [swoon.gif] ) and then sear with an acetylene torch.

The caption is mis-worded, but the cartoon makes a point.