Egging Tuna

Unknown

For tuna set on a cedar plank should I go with a direct or indirect setup? I do realize that by using the plank I am already set up at least semi indirect. Any other tips would be welcome. TIA.

Metalhead

Zee,
I had three tuna steaks cut fresh at my local farmer's market and marinated in sesame oil, honey, red pepper flakes, and S&P. I intended to sear the outsides and leave the center rare. Wow....talk about quick. My 3 steaks were done in a flash......so I don't know the direct answer to your question....but I can say w/confidence....they cook fast!!!!!!![p]oh and when I say done...these 2" steaks were well done in a flash.

stike

Zee,
the whole idea behind a plank is to get a hint of smoke from the plank itself, and to keep the meat from being cooked direct. it is essentially a 'primitive' indirect set-up.[p]soak the plank so that it doesn't smoke the whole time.[p]that said... it's usually associated with salmon simply because where the salmon are, the cedar is. [p]also, tuna is best seared and served rare. if you do it on a plank, you will not really develop any sort of browning on the exterior. well, not if you cook it to 'rare'. if you do cook it on a plank long enough to get browning, you will have overcooked the tuna.[p]many recipes like this aren't contrived, but came about as a logical cooking method. grab some local salmon, cook it over a fire, but how to do it in a manner that doesn't burn the underside before it's done? well grab a plank of some cheap wood. since it's a softwood, which doesn't taste great if it smokes too much, you soak the plank to delay smoking and give the fish a good chunk of time to essentially bake.[p]toward the end, it smokes and gives you some extra flavor.[p]now, you certainly should try to mix and match things, and recipes, but i'm not sure tuna on a cedar plank is gonna be that perfect match, simply because tuna's whole deal is it is almost perfect raw, and needs minimal cooking. it also has mild flavor, and will likely get lost in the cedar smoke.[p]don't mean to pee on a parade. i just remember when i got the egg i wasn't thinking very critically, and just assumed everything would be better lo-and-slo, or T-rexed, or cedar-planked, etc. etc.[p]let us know how it turns out. i have been wrong many times. i'm so used to being wrong, in fact, i'm one of the few people around here who has the stones to admit it!

Unknown

stike, thanks for the heads up, I have never que'ed fish before, I just thought all fish went on a plank. Thanks for the heads up.