Plank cooking

Bordello · November 2006

Found these instructions about plank cooking at............
http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/seafood.asp
I have omitted part of it as it was not of my interest.[p]Do those of you that have Eggsperience plank cooking do it this way or even close???[p]Thanks,
Bordello
Would be plank Egger[p]Instruction:
Plank-Cooking[p]Plank-cooking, originally used by Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest for cooking salmon and on the East coast for cooking shad (herring) next to an open fire, is now one of the hottest trends in gourmet cooking. Most up-scale restaurants now feature some sort of plank-cooked entrée on their menus.[p]There are two methods of plank-cooking: use a special heavy-duty plank designed for repeated oven use that is about an inch thick, or use lighter-weight and thinner planks on the grill. While most gourmet shops carry specialty planks designed for oven use and most barbecue shops offer grilling planks, you can get untreated planks from a local lumberyard and cut your own. Grilling planks should be about 14-inches long, 7-inches wide and about 3/8-inch thick. If apple, alder or cedar grilling planks aren’t available locally, several Internet sources exist.[p]The planks—untreated virgin alder, maple, oak, hickory, mesquite or apple—char during cooking and impart a unique smoky flavor, more subtle than traditional smoking in an offset or bullet smoker.[p]Soak the grill planks in water for two to four hours. Preheat the grill on high or prepare a direct-heat charcoal fire. Once the grill is hot, brush the planks with olive oil and place them on the cooking grate. Heat the planks until they begin to smoke. When the planks begin to smoke, flip the planks over so the charred side is up and reduce the heat to medium, or move the planks for indirect cooking on a charcoal grill.[p]Place the food on the plank and cook, with the grill covered to retain the smoke, until done. Because the wood also acts as an insulator, most plank-cooked foods will take longer to cook than grilled foods.[p]

Pharmeggist · November 2006

Bordello,
Plank cooking is Egg-citing! Tonights cook was my first... My wife kept asking me if the Salmon was cooked enough because it was so moist. Anyway, it was done perfect even for my 1st ever attempt. I figure I will keep buying the alder planks from my local Big Green Egg dealer just to keep him some business coming during the winter (family business excellent BGE dealer). Anyways, I was told I could get about 6 cooks from each board with no problem. Directions for cooking accompanied the planks... almost identical to your message posted. [p]Best regards, Pharmeggist

Spring Chicken · November 2006

Bordello,
It's 3:52 AM and I'm up "learning" stuff. Your post is great because I just learned a lot more than I knew about plank cooking. Now I'll add it to my list of cooking options.[p]Thanks.[p]Spring "3:00 AM Rooster In A 6:00 AM World" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

stike · November 2006

Bordello,
couple things don't make sense, though. why brush with olive oil, only to flip them charred side up and THEN to put the meat on? the meat would be set on the char? that leaves the other side to char now, while the meat cook. odd.[p]also, if you soak it, only to wait for it to smoke before introducing the meat, all you did was make for more standing-around time. ...you also are putting the meat in with smoke for the entire cook, not always good with cedar.[p]seems to make more sense (to me anyway) to soak the planks in order to delay the smoke so that it's not smoking and eventually flaming) the whole time (unless you WANT it to). then oil the food (the plank is wet, try oiling water), put on the food, and let it cook (direct over coals). about a third to halfway thru the cook it'll start smoking.[p]when the fish is done (skin side down, no flipping), you'll have a plank charred slightly on one side, and not-too-overly-smoked fish. you can then resoak/reuse the plank, assuming you clean the meat side.[p]the other way, the meat sits on char, which no longer smokes (since it's face up), while the other side now gets charred, and smokes the entire time.[p]that's just my opinion, but it seems alot more in line with the whole anthropological bit at the beginning of the piece.[p]i don't have a ready source for alder, but there's no reason to buy special planks of cedar. i use cedar shingles (yes, untreated, unfinished) that are about 18" long. i take a utility knife and snap off the thinnest end. use once and toss. if you buy a bag of cedar shims (culled shingles), you'll pay about $2 for a paper grocery bag's full. something tells me the native americans didn't pay $28 for two boards at williams sonoma![p]it's an incredibly easy cook, always a crowd pleaser. should be mandatory for egg owners. [p]

Plank cooking

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