First attempt at fish was a success!

[Danblacksher]

I was gifted 6 cedar planks for cooking last weekend so I broke them out tonight. I did smoked salmon covered in hollandaise sauce on a bed of cous cous with mini potato's, asparagus and fresh baked new Orleans French bread. wow it was good. Those cedar planks work incredible for getting fish on and off the smoker. Smoked them on my top rack with white oak and it worked perfect.

 

[JLeonard]

Dang buddy! Thats a meal i'd pay good money for. Looks mighty good!

Jim

 

[Danblacksher]

It was fine dining for sure. I was a little nervous considering that fish was as much as a brisket lol.

 

[Winterrider]

Nailed it ! Haven't used my cedars for awhile, may need to get them out again.

 

[clifish]

looks great, do you soak or prep the cedar before the smoke?

 

[Danblacksher]

looks great, do you soak or prep the cedar before the smoke?

Yes you soak them in water for 1 hour before cooking. My first time to use them and my hesitation with doing fish was getting it on and off the grill and these things are great for that. You just pick the plank up and nothing sticking to the grates.

 

[cmayna]

Awesome work. Haven't done cedar plank Salmon for such a long time. This is pushing me to do it again. Nice.

 

[bmudd14474]

Looks successful to me. Great job

 

[Buckeye1]

That meal looks awesome!

Are the planks one and done or can they be reused.

 

[Danblacksher]

That meal looks awesome!

Are the planks one and done or can they be reused.

Reusable

 

[Colin1230]

Oh yeah, that looks good!

 

[crazymoon]

DBH, Very nice job, I'll be over for dinner next time ! :)

 

[PulledPorkSandwich]

Do you let the cedar smolder while the fish is cooking? I've done it that way and really enjoy the complementary flavor the cedar smoke imparts to the fish.

Then someone told me you're not supposed to let the cedar smolder.

What's the right way?

 

[Danblacksher]

Well did it on my offset so there was no fire that hit the cedar. You soak the cedar, but it will dry out and catch fire over a direct flame. I know Cedar is not suggested for use as a smoking wood.

 

[thirdeye]

Well did it on my offset so there was no fire that hit the cedar. You soak the cedar, but it will dry out and catch fire over a direct flame. I know Cedar is not suggested for use as a smoking wood.

If you enjoy plank cooking, there are other flavors out there. I've seen both alder and hickory. And with those planks you can let the edges smolder and the smoke rolls over the fish. The alder planks can be re-used at least once, the hickory are more durable.

The planks are really handy when taking smoked salmon to a party. I vacuum seal the fillets on new planks and the fish will not get smashed. When serving, the plank acts as a cutting board.

 

[Danblacksher]

That is awesome thank you

 

[fxsales1959]

I was gifted 6 cedar planks for cooking last weekend so I broke them out tonight. I did smoked salmon covered in hollandaise sauce on a bed of cous cous with mini potato's, asparagus and fresh baked new Orleans French bread. wow it was good. Those cedar planks work incredible for getting fish on and off the smoker. Smoked them on my top rack with white oak and it worked perfect.

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that looks real good, and I don't even eat Salmon. wonder if those boards would work with Mahi

 

[PulledPorkSandwich]

Just following up on my previous post, I see from thirdeye that allowing the cedar (or other wood) plank to smolder is acceptable. I'll emphasize that the cedar smoke flavor is an excellent complement to the flavor of the salmon itself. It's fairly strong. I can understand why it's not recommended for a long smoke.

I use my Weber to plank mine. I set up the plank between the two outside burners, leaving the middle one off, hence I use indirect heat. With the settings on "medium", the plank will start to smolder in about 10-15 minutes. That's when I put the salmon on. I don't turn the fish, and it's finished cooking to medium rare in 10-15 minutes of so, depending how thick the fish is.

With this approach, the salmon skin will stick to the plank, and you'll have to scrub the plank to use it again. I usually get 2-3 uses out of a single plank.