Cedar plank salmon

Larry McSass · May 2006

I am having a hard time with this one...I got the egg at about 375 with a soaked plank. I put the plank on for about 20 minutes before adding salmon. The salmon just takes forever to cook. I was told to let the cedar actually char and pop before putting on fish, but at that point smoke is pretty much gone. Any suggestions?

stike · May 2006

Larry McSass,
dunno who toldja THAT![p]tell them to buy you replacement planks.[p]soak them and then toss the fish on them, then straight into the grill.[p]you want the barest hint of cedar. it's a soft wood, and resiny, and can give you a strong 'refinery' taste if there's too much smoke.[p]

Stewchi · May 2006

I cooked Cedar plank Tilapia on my Lg Egg last night. This is my first week with the egg, and my first fish cook with it, it was also my first cedar plank cook. I soaked the plank in water for over an hour, shook the water off, drizzled it with olive oil put 4 filets on it and stuck it on top of the grill extender with tin foil underneath (indirect) I also put 4 ABT on the grill with them, plus 3 tomatoes and a large portabella mushroom. Our entire meal was cooked on the BGE and it was amazing. My 2 year old that will not eat anything, ate 2 Tilapia filets, I could not believe it. I used small filets I get from Wallmart supper center. They come in a 4 pound box individually vacuum packed and frozen.
I put the egg at 300 and cooked the filets for 20 minutes (10 per side) then turned it up to 400 and cooked the rest of the food for another 20 minutes.
The Tilapia was really easy, coat in olive oil and sprinkle with Tony’s seasoning Really Really Really good.
When I was done the cedar plank was still in great shape, no charring, it warped a little but that was it. I just washed it and plan to re-use it again.

ronbeaux · May 2006

stike,
Your right about that! I have four very large cedar trees in my yard. Cut a piece of some dead dried limb and threw it in the egg. WOW! Very over powered with smoke. A little goes a long way.

Haggis · May 2006

ronbeaux,[p]Unless you have strange tastes, you do not want to use cedar for smoke - only for planking. Remember that cedar is an evergreen and evergreens are what they make turpentine from [or are you too young to be familiar with turpentine as the all-purpose solvent? ]

Haggis · May 2006

stike,[p]I think the "wait until they pop" method is what most sources recommend for cedar planking. I don't know why that is because I rarely plank, but my guess is that it means the plank has heated up enough to assist the cooking process and maybe the fish doesn't stick or something. And if you put the plank and fish in cold, I wonder if you are getting anything from the cedar -- I'd think it'd be about the same as putting it on a cold pizza stone or something (which may not be a bad idea, as I think about it.)

ronbeaux · May 2006

Haggis,
At 50 I'm not too young, just a short mental lapse in judgment. It's not permanent, I hope. I did make sure it was not "green." Only advantage was that most every kind of insect known to man, except mosquitos, left town! I figure as tuff as them skeeters are they were camping out in the branches of my trees.

Cedar plank salmon

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