Bacon Wrapped Maine Sea Scallops on the Big Green Egg

Ingredients

• 1lb Fresh Maine Sea Scallops
• 1lb Thick Cut Bacon
• John Henry’s Maple Bacon Rub
• Toothpicks

Cook Times

• Bacon – 15 minutes
• Scallops – 8-12 Minutes

Temperature

• Grill temperature – 275-300 (bacon)
• Grill temperature - 350 (Scallops & Bacon)
• Target internal temp – 130 degrees

Preparing the grill

Although this recipe calls for a Big Green Egg, you can achieve the same cook on other grills so long as you have an area to cook with indirect heat. Set the grill for 275-300 degrees with diffuser and a drip pan.

Preparing the bacon

Begin by laying out bacon on a cookie sheet or some heavy-duty tin foil. Lightly drizzle John Henrys Maple Bacon rub on both sides and set aside.

Preparing the scallops

Rinse the scallops under cold water then pat dry. Remove the side abductor muscle. This part will feel a little tougher than the rest of the scallop. They are easy to remove, simply pinch the abductor muscle and tear it away.

Precook the bacon

Scallops will cook much faster than bacon will, so it is important to precook the bacon. Laying the bacon flat across grill grates, cook until the bacon starts to stiffen up.  This part can be tricky if you don’t have grill mat, but it can be done.

Wrapping the scallops

Once the bacon stiffens up, take it off the grill and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then, depending on the size of your scallops and bacon, I recommend cutting the bacon in half so that you don’t end up double wrapping the scallops. While we are all for MORE bacon 😊 we also want to balance the flavors. Simply wrap the bacon around the scallop, then secure with a toothpick.

The cook

Finally, increase the temperature to 350 degrees on the Big Green Egg, then place the scallops on the grill and let them cook for about 8 minutes. Scallops cook quickly so it is important to check internal temperature at this point. The target internal temperature is 130 degrees. Pull the scallops at 127-130 as they will continue to cook when resting. I highly recommend a good thermometer, our preference is the ThermaPen  Mk4 by ThermoWorks. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve.