Trial and error with cedar plank salmon

easygoinjay

So I have done cedar plank salmon twice before with fantastic results. I followed a recipe out of Weber's Real Grilling cookbook which I adapted for egg cooking. Wonderful honey lime dijon sauce, very smokey, excellent both times...

I decided to cook a big ol' piece of salmon for some friends that were in town, so I soaked a plank and got the grill hot. I like to get my plank just below the point of combustion so that we get a lot of smoke and smoldering.

As I was preparing, a friend called and wanted to come by. I didn't have enough salmon, so he stopped by a store and got some for himself. I soaked another plank and waited for things to be ready.

One thing I didn't think about was that putting 2 planks on my grill was going to be different than using one. I had lots of smoke going, just as I like it, so I opened the grill.

You can guess where this is headed. Both planks burst into flames. I closed the vents and put out the flames. I tried to open it several more times but the flames were now worse because I got flashback and the fireball was huge. Thank god the salmon wan't on yet. Thank god I wore my welder gloves.

Anyway, I got the fire out, but the planks were not salvagable. I cooked the filets (skin on) on the raised half-moon rack of my XL and, of course, they were awesome. The only thing missing was the cedar smoke flavor and I was the only one who missed it. I told my guests that this meal was actually a screw up and they thought I wasn't being serious.

So, things were well-salvaged, but I have learned to be careful when using multiple planks. Not sure I will even try multiple planks in the future. Just thought I'd warn anyone who might think about it and cooks with high heat like I do.

Of course that's the great thing about the egg...you can screw up and still wow them!

"Sparky"

You're not supposed to tell them it was a screw-up unless they didn't like it :laugh:

stike

you shouldn't have to shut the vents to snuff the fire. i notice this all the time.
if your egg is cruising along at a fixed temp, and you have chips pr chunks or anything flammable in there, you'll only get flames when you open the dome (adding oxygen). shut the dome, and even with vents open, the flames should go out very quickly.

it's counter intuitive, but the reason the flames go out is that the oxygen is restricted to the lower vent, and it must pass thru the coals. when you are at a fixed temp, your coals are burning all the incoming o2, and the fire can't get hotter. there's no spare O2 above the coals.

steaks, chicken, anything fatty won't flare, even ay nuke temps often, because the incoming oxygen is used up, and the other stuff can't burst into flame.

next time, just keep the lid shut.

sounds like you have your own method, but FWIW, i do planked salmon around 400, and don't really try to get them smoking like crazy. in fact, if you like a lot of smoke, you might not even bother soaking them, because the only rationale for soaking is to delay the smoke til the end of the cook.

easygoinjay

It's true, I shouldn't have shut off the vents. I just got afraid because every time I "burped" the egg, flames shot out the sides. Funny how huge flames cloud your logic and reasoning sometimes.

As far as doing them at 400, I'm sure that's probably a more practical (not to mention safer) way to cook the salmon. I do them at 500 for the smoke (I like more than most people) but also because it makes a slight carmelization of the honey dijon sauce on the salmon that is to die for. The fish remains moist on the inside, but browns slightly with the reflected heat. You still might be able to get it around 400, I don't know. I think I will try to be more careful in replicating my first two cooks.

The fish is really nice. I mean, it's nice when it's not incinerated.