Plank Cooking

[mbasiszta]

Today I am going to make an attempt at plank grilling. I am amazed I never even heard of this method of BBQ smoking in the past. Geesh!

So have soaked the cedar plank, coated the meat side with oil, salt and pepper, then covered it with thinly sliced lime. Placed the fish skin side down (along with a few gizzards for the cook - lol).

Here we go . .

[Paymaster]

Sounds good so far! Post some pics when it is done!

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

If you place the fish flesh against the cedar plank, you will get an infusion of the sweet wood flavor in the fish, as well as some smoke flavor. I have also made skewers of cedar, and used them to make pork kabobs. The kabobs were deliscious.

Other plank wood that can be used includes sugar maple, cheery, Apple, and white oak. You can't use red oak because it contains a lot of tannins that impart a very bitter flavor into food. That's also why you can't use red oak to smoke meats. The smoke is bitter.

Seasoning the wood is a great idea. I never thought to do that. I will have to give it a try.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

[LPBeier]

Have fun with it mbasiszta! I would really love to hear your experience with it. I have done it once or twice with varying degrees of success.

On that subject, I am looking for a cookbook I saw a few years ago at Costco and Chapters that was all on Cedar planking and had two boards attached to it. I really want it for my BIL's Christmas present but can't find it anywhere - stores or online. Anyone heard of it? I don't know the author or publisher.

[Savannahsmoker]

Using a ceder plank during grilling temperatures works great because the plank chars and give a sweet smoke flavor. Not so much when doing low and slow BBQ.

[mbasiszta]

OMG! It was great. I coated the plank with a light coating of olive oil (not extra virgin), salt and a little pepper, and then a layer of thinly sliced lime. Cooked at 350 for 20 minutes (no peeking - closed for full smoke effect). It was moist and fantastic (P.S.: the gizzards were fantabulous, too!).

I will definitely start experimenting with this type of barbecuing/smoking. Oh, this was done on a gas grill using indirect heating. I cooked a bunch of wings on the direct heat area.

Best to all, Marty.

[roadfix]

Glad to hear it turned out well!
Once I wanted to save money the cost of planks so I bought some untreated cedar fencing at Home Depot. It didn't turn out too well as it was not the right kind of cedar and the flavor was off.

[mbasiszta]

Wow, Roadfix, you have all the toys in your backyard, some of which I don't even recognize. lol "Yes", the plank I used was from Kingsford. Do you believe I found that here in the Republic of Panamá?
Happy here to be still traveling and moving around.
Happy Cooking to all,
Marty

[CWS4322]

The DH has a sawmill, so I set aside slab wood to dry. I have pear, hickory, white cedar, white oak, and cherry. If you know anyone that has a sawmill, that might be a good place to get the wood for the planks. I also have some chunks of apple wood--I'll have to try Chief's technique. (I soak mine in the bathtub...). Last time I planked salmon, I seasoned the wood much the same and marinated the salmon in a lime-based marinade. It was really good.

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Originally Posted by mbasiszta

Today I am going to make an attempt at plank grilling. I am amazed I never even heard of this method of BBQ smoking in the past.

It is much more fun than plank walking, matey. Argh!