Maple-Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

Why This Maple-Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Scallops Works

In the oven, the bacon and scallops cook at the same time and sort of take care of each other. The bacon gives off fat as it heats up, and that fat coats the scallops so they don’t dry out. At the same time, the scallops give a little moisture back to the bacon, so the bacon can crisp without turning tough. The wire rack lets the extra fat drip away, so the bacon can brown instead of steaming.

As the maple syrup and soy sauce warm up on the outside, they thicken and stick to the bacon. The sugar in the maple syrup starts to darken, so the outside becomes glossy and slightly sticky instead of runny. Turning the scallops halfway through lets every side see the heat, so the bacon crisps all around while the center of each scallop stays soft and a little springy. By the time they come out, the bacon is firm and crisp, and the scallops stay juicy inside.

Mistakes To Avoid

Letting the scallops bake too long dries them out. The centers go from tender to tough and rubbery, while the bacon gets hard instead of crisp-chewy. The result is a tray of pretty bites that are awkward to chew and lose that soft, bouncy texture scallops are known for.

Wrapping the scallops with bacon that is too thick or overlapped in several layers keeps the bacon from cooking through. The outside may brown, but the inner part of the bacon stays soft and fatty while the scallop inside is already close to overdone. This leaves a greasy bite with uneven texture.

Skipping the wire rack and placing the scallops straight on the foil causes the bacon to sit in its own fat. The bottoms then stew instead of crisp, so the bacon turns floppy and the maple coating can burn onto the foil while the underside stays pale and soft.

Adding the maple glaze too early in a much hotter oven leads to quick burning. The sugar in the syrup darkens fast and forms a bitter, sticky crust while the bacon is still undercooked and the scallop center hasn’t fully set.