Salmon

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Cath4420

Senior Cook
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
177
Location
Mid-North Coast, NSW Australia
This probably has been asked before but....

You all have a great way of smoking a salmon fillet using a board on the bbq. I think it is a cedar board, correct me if I am wrong.

If I cannot find one of these, is there any other substitute I can use and what is the technique.

Would love to try this out with DH on the weekend on the 6 burner.
 
The only other thing I can think of is a stove-top smoker. Follow the directions for proper operation and cook for about 20 minutes.

OR, you could do an indirect method of cooking (one side turned off on your grill) and use some wood chunks, hickory, alder, or mesquite. You soak your wood chunks for about 30 minutes (chips just don't have much flavor unless you are using your stove-top smoker), remove from water and place directly on the hot coals. Place your fish on the other side and cook until done.
 
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I endorse the stove-top smoker. Buck and I have two of the Cameron models. The small one and a large one. Love them. Easy to use and don't "smoke" up the house as many are afraid of. I've seen them at our area Ace Hardware store.

Can smoke everything from poultry, meats, fish, cheese, veggies.
 
Cath, they are indeed cedar planks, and they can indeed be tricky to find. **sometimes** your local hardware store will carry them very cheaply as cedar shingles, but they MUST be completely raw (untreated!!!! dried, "kiln dried" only!) which can be hard to find, and a really bad idea if they're not.

fortunately, they're pretty darn easy to find online. a search on amazon gives you plenty of options to pick from.
 
Your big home supply stores have cedar siding - like fireweaver said - just make sure it's untreated. For a small fee they will also cut them in smaller pieces for you. For any leftover you could give them as a host/hostess gift the next cookout you go to. You also need to soak these before using.
 
a roasting dish, a cooling rack, some woodchips or shavings and some tinfoil works very well also. just sit it ontop of your heated bbq for aporx 15-20 mins depending on the size of your fillet.
 
thank you all for your advice. I will check with Bunnings, our nationwide hardware supermarket, on the weekend. DH says that they probably would have some, although whether they will be treated or not is our mission for the weekend. Otherwise I might check with smaller distributors and see what I can come up with. I have seen Sandi Richard do it and thought it would be sooo tasty. We both love fish and seafood.
 
I have just scouted the internet, apparently we can get cedar smokeboards here but they also have made bluegum smokeboards as well, all able to be purchased on the net. But I will try our local hardware first. Once again thanks for the advice, I will post when I have successfully tried them out.
 
Just as a curiosity, I would be really interested in what woods are used for smoking in Austrailia. I don't think they have native American hardwoods there.
 
in new zealand we use a wood called manuka ( a moari name) which is most commonly used i am not sure if it has any other names. apple tree woods and apricot trees also give a good flavour.
 
AllenOk, as I mentioned before we don't tend to use smoking boards which is quite strange since we are a nation of bbq lovers, but I have found the bluegum eucalypt boards available on the net. These are apparently are a harder wood and only last 3-4 uses. Wood chips are sometimes used for smoking here.
 
Smoking salmon in a smoker and grilling salmon on a cedar plank are really two different things. I use a cedar plank to grill salmon just as though you were putting it on the grill itself. Soak the plank in warm water for 30 minutes, dry, then oil the topside. Place the salmon filet or steaks on the plank then close the lid. When the salmon is done, the plank is smoking a little and imparts a woody flavor to the salmon. Excellent. I use applewood or alderwood to grill trout the same way.

You can find these cedar planks specifically for this purpose at Lowes, Home Depot etc. or any shop that carried barbequing equipment and supplies. This method of cooking fish is becoming increasingly popular and I'm seeing more and more stores carry the planks. You can only use them once - at least I do.
 
AllenOk, as I mentioned before we don't tend to use smoking boards which is quite strange since we are a nation of bbq lovers, but I have found the bluegum eucalypt boards available on the net. These are apparently are a harder wood and only last 3-4 uses. Wood chips are sometimes used for smoking here.

I agree Cath, and a lot of our fish doesn't lend itself to smoking because of it's mild flavour. Whenever I've done any smoking I've just gone for a 5 min drive and striped some paper bark from a tree. I think any of our Eucalypt trees would work well and because they are so freely available there isn't a market in place for smoking wood.
 
I agree Cath, and a lot of our fish doesn't lend itself to smoking because of it's mild flavour. Whenever I've done any smoking I've just gone for a 5 min drive and striped some paper bark from a tree. I think any of our Eucalypt trees would work well and because they are so freely available there isn't a market in place for smoking wood.


I never thought about paper bark Attie, may have to send DH out into the bush on the weekend. I agree with the mild flavour fish, when you think about it, barramundi, flathead, snapper.
 
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