Comparisons · Two cuts
King prawns in the shell or Scallops
Two small quick shellfish that behave nothing alike over fire, and the pair that shows the shape of BBQHQ's seafood problem: both are cooked to a cue rather than a clock here, because the duration evidence for shellfish over live fire is not something BBQHQ has been able to source.
What each one is
King prawns in the shell
Prawns grilled in their shells, which insulate the flesh and hold moisture in. The FSA's cue is firm and opaque flesh rather than a temperature.
Scallops
A single muscle with the narrowest cooking window in the catalogue — firm and opaque within a couple of minutes, rubbery shortly after.
What actually differs
| Aspect | King prawns in the shell | Scallops |
|---|---|---|
| Typical weight | 20–35 g | 20–40 g |
| Typical thickness Thickness governs timing more than weight or cut name does — Weber's own chart roughly triples the time between a one-inch and a two-inch steak. | 20–30 mm | 15–25 mm |
| Skin | Skin on | No skin |
| What tends to go wrong From BBQHQ's troubleshooting index. Choosing between two cuts is partly choosing which failure you would rather risk. | came out tough | came out tough, stuck to the grate |
Can one stand in for the other?
Not a substitute for this
BBQHQ does not treat these as substitutes. They want different methods, and swapping them without changing the cook is how one of them comes out badly.
Food safety — read this first
This swap changes the safe endpoint
These are different food forms — shell on and shell off — and form governs the safe endpoint rather than species. Do not carry a temperature across this swap; check the endpoint for the one you are actually cooking.