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Planking Salmon

abundell
abundell Posts: 62
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I've planked a side of salmon on the Egg a number of times. It's possibly my favorite meal.

Here's what I'm wondering. Most of the time I've gone down to Costco and bought one of their standard salmon fillets. I believe they're farmed. I very lightly dust them with some kind of rub... BGE or other.

I plank them on cedar and leave them in a closed Egg for 17 minutes at 425 degrees (though the temp drops when the salmon goes in). The basic drill is that I preheat to a steady 425, put the plank on the grill (no plate setter or raised grill). I have tried soaking the plank, wetting the plank, and leaving it dry. I think my favorite is to wet the plank but not soak it. I leave the vents wide open top and bottom and during the 17 minutes, it pretty much never gets all the way back to 425.

The salmon comes out perfect... It is barely crusty on the top and creamy in the middle. It is just barely "set". It is to die for.

Occasionally you can find wild caught salmon and steelhead at Costco. It's always more money, and a couple of times I've bought it for company because it seemed special. Well, maybe it's happenstance, but after doing this a bunch of times, I'm finding that I like the cheaper farmed salmon best. And so do the guests. I thought about why, and all I could think of is that it may have a higher fat content or maybe it's thicker or maybe the cedar works best with it.

Any thoughts?

Also, I'm considering alder planks and maybe even maple planks. The flip side is not to spend all that money and just throw a chunk of alder or maple in there. Whatcha all think?
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Comments

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    as far as farmed vs. wild. well if you are happy with farmed, stay with it. i don't buy farmed for a number of reasons, none of which have to do with flavor. i just think there are too many nagatives with farming salmon.

    that issue aside... planking is a visual feast, and it makes clean-up easy. but you would achieve essentially the same cook by using a platesetter and just adding a chunk or two of wood.

    food isn't just about flavor, is it? so i planke salmon. it's much more of an experience than using the platesetter and tossing in a chunk of cedar. and guests like it. what the heck.

    i don't get to do it often because wild salmon is about 20 a pound out here at cheapest (NE)
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Chochi
    Chochi Posts: 16
    FARMED-did you say FARMED? Oh that is not good. I would google Farmed fish and see what the results are. I know fresh Alaskan King Salmon is not cheap, however it is not a fish that has been pumped full of chemicals and god only knows what else.
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  • Fluffyb
    Fluffyb Posts: 1,815
    I just got an order of wild salmon from Great Alaska Seafood yesterday. We're planking some tonight. We buy it from Costco in the summer, but order it in the off-season. I get their e-mail specials. The order I just got was $99, including overnight Fed Ex delivery, and came with some rub and 2 cedar planks. Works out to about $12.38 a lb with free planks. It is some of the BEST salmon we've ever tasted. I don't work for the company, or know any one that does, but here is there website: http://www.great-alaska-seafood.com
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  • Fluffyb
    Fluffyb Posts: 1,815
    Just realized I didn't put how many pounds! This special was for 8, individually vacuum sealed in portions.
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  • Chochi
    Chochi Posts: 16
    There are so many seafood companies in Alaska that will ship fresh seafood anywhere. The winter king salmon season for SE Alaska opens Oct 1. I suspect the price for king salmon will go up and buyers will see a price somewhere around $20. Maybe lower the first couple weeks of October. If they said it was fresh king salmon-they are wrong. The king salmon season has been closed since Mid August-there are still a couple days left of the coho (silvers) until it closes till next year. If they have tiny little scales, it is a coho-larger scales-king.
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    lessee...
    one post, newbie, "cho" in the username, vehemently defending alaskan salmon... could it be?!?!?1

    welcome abord Cho!
    say hi to ol' what's her name, too.

    (i agree. the farmed stuff is bad voo doo. i'll offer just one little thing, though there are more. saw a package of farmed salmon the other day that said "artificial color". yikes!)
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Egg And I
    Egg And I Posts: 110
    I've found that the wild salmon has more flavor. It's also leaner, and thus easier to overcook and dry out. I pull it at about 110* internal temp; but we're partial to a medium-rare type of salmon...the inside is still a bit translucent.

    The farmed salmon is more forgiving, but I won't eat it...for the reasons already mentioned. You really don't want to know what's in it...
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  • Egg And I
    Egg And I Posts: 110
    Argggh...double post. :(
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    I've noticed the same thing with my (cured and) smoked salmon. The farm raised is more popular, both with me and others, for some of the reasons you mentioned. I guess I do close to 50 pounds a year, so I get a lot of feedback. ;) When planking salmon, my seasonings are usually much milder than when smoking. I am able to get wild salmon about 40% of the time. So I cook and enjoy some of each.

    DSC03865a2.jpg

    For choices of planks, I don't care for cedar and use alder. In addition to fillets, I also will cook smaller pieces or steaks on planks, but a plate setter with parchment works well too. Of course grilling, or frying or meunier style is popular at my house too. I just really like salmon.

    I understand the pro's and con's of wild verses farm raised salmon, and feel lucky I do have a choice, but there are only 2 markets here that have an actual seafood counter. Which means some limitations sometimes.....I'm fortunate enough to keep 40 or so of the trout I catch each year, so I get a good balance in that regard.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • AlaskanC
    AlaskanC Posts: 1,346
    Heyyy

    aren't you supposed to be watching for forest fires?
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  • Chochi
    Chochi Posts: 16
    Nope, we were cruising in the gem car instead...figured it's been raining so much-nothing will catch on fire.
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  • Chochi
    Chochi Posts: 16
    Oh yeah it's me. I'm so excited, my cousins are taking me to EGGTOBER!!!! It is going to be one heck of a good time!
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  • abundell
    abundell Posts: 62
    Y'all have ruined my day! I just googled farmed salmon and, well, not any more. I guess I'll just have to pony up the dough for the real deal.

    Anyone wanna send me some money?
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  • AlaskanC
    AlaskanC Posts: 1,346
    Yep its going to be fun!!

    Stike wouldn't know - he never shows up for these things.
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  • AlaskanC
    AlaskanC Posts: 1,346
    that is one wikkid ride!!

    maybe you can come pick up Garrett in the morning - his bike has a flat tire.

    electricparkcara.jpg
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  • Chochi
    Chochi Posts: 16
    Oh well, guess Stike won't get any fish...
    >´¯`·.¸¸..>·´¯`·.¸¸..>
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  • Chochi
    Chochi Posts: 16
    Hahaha, oh I totally would. We had a CD in...bumpin out.
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    it's tough. i mean, i don't have ready access to "idealistic" beef, and chicken, and pork, so i'm hypocritical that way. i'd like to buy it all as healthy and green and kum ba yah, but not yet.

    i do have a chicken farmer north of me, but i dunno if he's doing it in a healthy way. i'd love to get a freezer, and stock up on some good stuff. but the salmon is an easy one to avoid. for one thing, we don't eat it once a week like beef and chicken or pork.

    don't think of it as ruining anything for you, we just turned you on to the wild stuff, right?
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    Jeffy-
    check Shaws in Wakefield- I've been seeing "WILD" in the seafood department next to just about everything lately! The price (Atlantic Salmon) was below $10/lb, I seem to think it was maybe even below $8 when I was in there paying close to $14/lb for Haddock!

    I'm told Market Basket now has Haddock for $5/lb.

    For a long time everything they were selling was "Farm", now since August I've been seeing "Wild". Maybe it's the time of year?
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    you are right.... i keep forgetting about the Trash Basket. they have good seafood. well, most times. somtimes it's hit or miss. i got scallops and cherrystones last week and they were sub par. but yeah. i've noticed they've even had farmed right next to wild sometimes.

    i'm remembering Wild Harvest. that place. yikes. a bag of groceries there was easily a hunnerd bucks. their salmon was never less than 19 a pound.

    now. as for "jeffy". i'ma hasta kick yo azz for THAT.

    hahaha
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    We had one of those GEM cars, paid around $7500 for it, gave it to junk for Jesus last year. -RP
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  • RCJ
    RCJ Posts: 1
    Hey everyone, first post here, first egg meal (kebabs) yesterday!

    Anyway, about the salmon, sometimes the wild salmon is previously frozen during shipping (even if it's thawed by the time you get it). It really does ruin the taste and texture IMHO. Make sure you get wild salmon that has never been frozen and you will taste the difference!
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