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Sea and Bay Scallop Facts

Interesting Scallop Facts to help you when Buying Scallops

sea scallops

The two most known scallop species are Sea and Bay scallops, a third less known of Scallop is the calico, found along the South Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico.

What is A Scallop?

A scallop is a mollusk that propels itself along the the bottom of the ocean by opening and closing it's shell. The sweet, delicate meat that we eat is the muscle used to open and close the shell.

Both Bay and Sea scallops are ivory white in color, but can have a orange tint to them. The orange comes from the algae they eat. They should have a sweet distinctive aroma, with a firm, translucent color.

Sea Scallops

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The largest of the scallops, these are found mainly in deeper waters from Newfoundland down to North Carolina. Canada is also a main source for sea scallops. They can range from 10 to 40 per pound, common sizes that you may find in markets are 10-20, 20-30 or 30 to 40.

Some sea scallops can be 2 inches in diameter, so when shopping for Sea Scallops remember that a 10 to 20 scallop will be close to the size of a half dollar.

Sea scallops are usually shucked and chilled on the boats after they are caught, due to the fact that they cannot survive out of water to long.

Once they are delivered to the buyers and processors they will be either shipped fresh or be frozen.

Bay Scallops

These are found in bays from New England to the Gulf of Mexico. Smaller in size the muscle reaches a size of a half inch. Common market sizes for bays are 40-50, 50-60 and smaller up to 90 per pound. But 9 chances out of 10 the bay scallops that you will buy frozen, has come from China where they are farm raised.

Preparing and Buying Tips

Unless you know for a fact that the scallops are actually fresh never frozen, I would buy frozen scallops and thaw them myself.
Don't thaw them in the microwave, they are to delicate and you will start to cook them.
The best method for thawing is to place them the refrigerator for 24 hrs, and then rinse lightly before cooking them. If time doesn't allow for an overnight thaw, place your scallops in a zip-lock bag and run cold water over the bag tilled thawed.
If you are doing Bacon Wrapped scallops and can only find bays, you can put two or three scallops together and wrap in bacon for a more impressive look.
When buying Scallops make sure you are purchasing dry packed scallops. A phosphate solution is often used for soaking scallops. This solution makes them whiter and at the same time makes them absorb more water, which increases the weight of the scallops. So you end up paying dearly for the added water to the scallops.

Soaked scallops do not cook as well as a dry packed, for instance if you are pan-searing this excess liquid will drain out of the scallops while cooking, so you start to steam them instead of searing. If you fry them the water comes out and can blow your breading off while frying.