Foods & cuts · Scallop
Scallops
A single muscle with the narrowest cooking window in the catalogue — firm and opaque within a couple of minutes, rubbery shortly after.
What it is
- Form
- Shelled
- Typical weight
- 20–40 g
- Typical thickness
- 15–25 mm
- Cut
- Not a cut of anything
Why it behaves as it does
A scallop is one muscle with very little connective tissue, so it passes from translucent to firm to rubbery over a short span with no forgiving middle. The FSA's cue — firm and opaque — is the whole of the guidance and is more useful here than any duration, because the difference between right and wrong is measured in tens of seconds and depends entirely on the heat of the fire.
When is it done?
Food-safety endpoint
Food Standards Agency
In the UK, prawns, scallops, crab and lobster are cooked when the flesh has become firm and opaque.
The rule and its source
In the UK, prawns, scallops, crab and lobster are cooked when the flesh has become firm and opaque.
Well established
Food Standards Agency — States this directly
“prawns, scallops, crab, and lobster flesh should become firm and opaque”
- How it was measured:
- A cue, not a temperature. No figure is given for any of the four.
- Where it applies:
- England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-16
When it goes wrong
- It came out tough
- Prawns, scallops, squid, lobster or octopus came out rubbery — 3 distinguishable causes.
- It stuck to the grate
- Food sticking to the grate — 2 distinguishable causes.
Afterwards
Cooling, keeping and reheating what is left is general guidance for barbecue leftovers. Neither UK authority publishes anything specific to scallops, and BBQHQ does not invent a distinction they do not make.