Kabob Skewers: Bamboo or Metal?

Twice in the past week I've wrapped scallops in bacon and threaded them on skewers for Greg to grill. We've used the same type of all-natural, nitrite-free bacon each time, fresh sea scallops from the same seafood market, and lightly sprinkled the kabobs with Big Daddy's Superb Herb Seasoning before grilling. The only thing different was the type of skewer we used.

For the first dinner, I threaded the bacon-wrapped scallops onto very slender bamboo skewers that I had first soaked in water for about 20 minutes. Although the weight of the bacon-wrapped scallops (5 per skewer) made it a little tricky to turn the kebabs while grilling, all of the scallops and bacon remained threaded during cooking and they easily slid off the skewers when we served them. The second time, I used standard metal skewers that were beveled and were about twice as thick as the bamboo skewers. Each of these metal skewers easily supported the weight of 5 bacon-wrapped scallops, and I didn't apply any grease to the skewers as I figured the bacon would provide enough to keep the scallops from sticking to the skewers (this hadn't been a problem with the soaked bamboo skewers). Unfortunately, some pieces of bacon as well as some scallops managed to fall off the metal skewers when moving them during grilling. Additionally, instead of easily sliding off like the bamboo-skewered bacon-wrapped scallops, the ones cooked on the metal skewers tended to stick or unwrap during removal.

Luckily, both the bamboo-skewered and the metal-skewered bacon-wrapped scallops were delicious. Using the soaked bamboo skewers, however, proved to be easier and produced better-looking, more evenly-cooked results. So, my question is: Has anyone else experienced such a difference when using bamboo vs. metal skewers when grilling any foods? Any thoughts on why we had such different results? Please feel free to leave a comment.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria