Cedar Plank Salmon

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JHZR2

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We got a nice piece of salmon, and had a little more charcoal left, so we decided to do cedar plank salmon on the charcoal grill.

So we wet the cedar plank, put a little seasoning on the fish...

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Got the charcoal going, on top of which I put little bits of mesquite that I soaked in water (is it against the rules to mix your woods?). We just have a tiny charcoal grill, but its perfect. We cook with gas more, though I love charcoal, but this is perfect for just a few things once in a while.

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Got it all placed on and then sat the lid overtop. The plank is bigger than the diameter of the grill, but the lid just sat on top and it was no big deal.

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To accompany, we heated some spinach and beet greens (from our garden), with olive oil, salt and garlic (also from our other garden).

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I checked some of the other crops, we have a lot of strawberries that look beautiful. My wife even made a batch of homemade strawberry ice cream with strawberries from our garden today.

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Cant wait for our blueberry crop to be ready... Here are a few of our bushes:

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And after surveying everything, and putting a little lemon thyme from the garden on the fish, it was ready:

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Removed it, added some more lemon thyme that didnt dry out (I wanted dill but realized that we didnt have much at our closer garden, and it was dinnertime), and I loved fresh, non dehydrated lemon thyme on the fish... The flavor it gives off with the fish is just awesome.

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It was so delicious. I must have done something wrong, because the cedar plank was pretty well shot on the bottom after cooking...

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Outstanding. Cedar planks are usually a 1 shot deal. Normally I just buy a couple of cedar fence boards and cut them up. Much cheaper than buying the plank at the bbq store.
 
I love cedar plank salmon. I've heard of people using planks 2-3 times, but I've never been able to.
 
That looks good! I'd like to try it but i don't care for salmon or tuna. What other fish would be good like that?
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
That looks good! I'd like to try it but i don't care for salmon or tuna. What other fish would be good like that?


Thanks!

Ill bet most any white fish will take on a nice smoky flavor if you cook it this way. Probably the challenge because the fish flavors tend to be more mild, is to avoid salting or anything other than the smoke and some fresh flavors, like dill.

Smoked whitefish is popular in Jewish circles, I believe. You might try some from a kosher supermarket to see how you like the taste.
 
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Looks wonderful. How on earth do you have 28,000+ posts? That's a lot of screen time.


That's low compared to some others...

I have been on here for over 10 years... It doesnt take a lot of quick responses to threads to get enough posts per day to hit such a number...
 
That looks delicious! And yea I've never been able to re-use a cedar plank.

Reminds me of my grandfathers carp recipe. He used hickory planks. He'd soak the fish in olive oil, lemon or lime juice, and garlic. Grill it on the hickory plank, toss the fish, then eat the plank
smile.gif
Atleast thats what he said...
 
While it looks ok, you used way too much direct heat or had the plank too close to the flame if you charred the wood. All you're getting is a smoked flavor rather than the real rich flavor of the cedar or oak. If you were going for smoked salmon it was probably pretty good.

The idea of cedar plank salmon is to allow the steaming action of the moist plank to impart the flavor of the wood to the fish rather than allowing the smoke from the burning plank to add flavor. It's an entirely different flavor dynamic.

I normally get 3-4 uses out of the planks I use before they begin to lose their flavor, and they never end up charred like that when I dispose of them. The only reason I dispose of them is because they begin to lose flavor.

Originally Posted By: dernp
Normally I just buy a couple of cedar fence boards and cut them up. Much cheaper than buying the plank at the bbq store.


That's an exceedingly bad idea. There's no telling what chemicals have been put on the fence boards during manufacture. Cedar (or other planks) that are intended for cooking use will be free from added chemicals if purchased from a reputable source.
 
It's 8:30 in the morning, and I'm sitting here with my mouth watering. How am I going to make it to lunch, and what am I going to eat? Somehow Mickey D's just doesn't seem palatable right now...
 
Reminds me of the local joke here in Amish country in PA. How do you cook carp? (The Amish do eat quite a bit of carp that they catch).

1. Find a high quality cedar wood board.

2. Rub the board with virgin olive oil and sea salt.

3. Fillet and skin the carp and place it on the prepared plank.

4. Grill slowly in an enclosed smoker at 25o F for 20-25 minutes.

5. Take it off the grill, remove the carp and eat the baord!
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
While it looks ok, you used way too much direct heat or had the plank too close to the flame if you charred the wood. All you're getting is a smoked flavor rather than the real rich flavor of the cedar or oak. If you were going for smoked salmon it was probably pretty good.

The idea of cedar plank salmon is to allow the steaming action of the moist plank to impart the flavor of the wood to the fish rather than allowing the smoke from the burning plank to add flavor. It's an entirely different flavor dynamic.



Actually smoked salmon is one of my favorite things in the world. Of course it was too close to the direct heat, I was using a tiny charcoal grill where I didnt have much flexibility, but wanted to give it a whirl. Had I done it on the Weber, spacing and everything else would have been way different. Even with the plank soaked for 24 hours, it got hot, as one would expect, in the geometry I had.

But that's OK because it was exactly the flavor I was looking for.
 
If you spread the charcoal in a circle with empty space about 6-8" in the middle then the heat will not be so intense in the center to burn the plank. Just imagine the tire, if the charcoal is spread like the tire the center will be a lot less heat.
 
Good advice, thanks!

Next time I may try it on our Weber gas grill... Then again, I just bought a bag of charcoal...
 
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