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I’ve been doing cedar planking for a while now, and really like it with some fish. It’s ok with chicken, and it’s pretty good with pork, but I’ve mostly done Scottish or wild caught salmon that way. It’s a great way to do salmon, and the plank makes a great presentation. |
Other fish is pretty good that way, too. In fact, one of our favorite
appetizers is cedar planked scallops wrapped in proscuitto, and
skewered with rosemary twigs.
If you haven’t done any plank cooking, nothing could be simpler. You
can use different types of planks, but just make sure you get untreated
wood. In the northwest, alder is used for cooking salmon a lot, and
works great. You can also get apple planks and some others online
different places. I’m going to do a blog on woods soon, and I’ll list
some of the online places I like to use.
For cedar, I go to Home Depot and get cedar boards that are 1" X 10" X
8′, then I have them cut the board into 4 X 18" boards and 2 X 12"
boards. I use a large kitty litter tub (trust me.. it’s new, never been
used for its intended purpose!) to soak the boards for an hour or two
before using them.
I season the fish before anything else. For the scallops, just some
grey salt and black pepper. For salmon, I use grey salt and pepper, but
I then put a coating of brown sugar on it. The brown sugar mostly melts
off, but it leaves a really nice, simple glaze on the fish. I want the
cedar to do most of the flavoring, so I don’t get too fancy with it;
otherwise, why waste the money and effort of using the board.
After seasoning, I start up a chimney of coals, and when that’s ready,
I let the grill heat up a bit, then put the board right on the grate,
with the fire at a good medium-hot. I apply a coating of canola oil,
then put the lid down. Once the oil starts to pop a bit, I put the fish
on the wood plank, and I put the lid back down.
I check it after 15-20 minutes, depending on how thick the fish is…
For decent sized salmon, 20 minutes seems good. For good salmon, I
don’t like to cook much past medium rare.
I take the whole plank off the grill, and let it sit on the stove with
the hood fan going until it stops smoking… if you have a smoke
detector, disable it until it’s safe! I put a copule of silicone pads
on the table and put the whole thing right on that… It looks great
with a sprig of parsley or whatever garnish you like.
Tonight, I tried the same seasoning with red trout… I think I liked
it even better than the salmon. It had a great mild flavor, and took to
the cedar really well.
Anyone can do plank cooking… if you haven’t done it, give it a try!
I’ve had nothing but compliments on it, and a friend of mine mentions
it every time we see him.
