Cedar-smoked salmon last night. Not bad. Questions

[nabril15]

Good afternoon
I got creative last night and used a Weber cedar plank to smoke some salmon pieces. They tasted very good, but I couldn't quite taste the smokiness. For a first attempt, they were ok.
I ask:
1. The plank soaked for 3 hours or so, and I heated the grill to close to 500 degrees. When i put the plank on the grill, I didn't see much smoke if any. I had it directly on top of the grates and flames, but the flames were on low since the grill maintained the 500 degrees well. The board is not charred at all.
Should I have had the flames higher which would have led to more smoke and flavor?

2. Since it didn't char much, I plan to reuse it once or twice more. I know to freeze it, but can I just put it in the freezer on its own? Or should it go inside a freezer bag?

3. My wife washed the board last night and probably used dish detergent to scrape it well; she didn't know. Is that board now garbage because of that? I've read that you only need to rinse it with warm water.

thank you

 

[edmonds]

I usually soak for one hour, put over charcoal and lightly char, then turn over and put fish on chared side. I don't get a lot of smoke flavor either, nothing like putting wood chunks into the coals. I think the main advantage of using is that the fish doesn't stick to the grill.
I don't think washing would hurt plank. I just scrape off residue and reuse. And I have never put my planks in freezer.

 

[thirdeye]

You put the plank on without the fish for a few minutes, then add the fish. It will start to smoke, and the smoke will make kind of an envelope of smoke surrounding the fish.

I camped for 50 years in the Rocky Mountains and we burned pine, so I don't use cedar planks, but they sell alder and hickory planks. I get at least 2 uses out of each plank. Washing is fine, just rinse well. Pro tip, don't leave your grill cover off too long trying for a good photo..., or you risk flashing the plank. :laugh:

Another use for planks is serving salmon at home, or transporting smoked salmon to a party. Snip off the vacuum bag, and the plank is your cutting / serving board.

 

[Smoking Piney]

I soak my planks for about an hour before cooking. I toast them over the fire for a little over a minute to dry them out, both sides. I put a little olive oil on them, put the filets on that, and cook. I cook at 400 on my BGE. I do get some smoke. I get around 3 cooks per plank.

I wash the used planks with a scouring pad, water. and some lemon juice to clean, rinse and repeat the next cook.

 

[Itsdone]

Never tried Cedar Planks. Always seemed like a gimmick to me.

 

[Smoking Piney]

Never tried Cedar Planks. Always seemed like a gimmick to me.

Not a gimmick. It's real and delicious. :-D

 

[Itsdone]

Not a gimmick. It's real and delicious. :-D

So, here's the thing. I like to slow smoke with Alder. You can get a good hour of smoke and pull at 135F. Toss in a hot pan with brown butter to finish. But here is where im going to call BS on this plank gimmick.


First google search:

[FONT=&quot]There are many different kinds of woods used in barbecue, and the variety of flavors you’ll find are incredible. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In fact, the only types of wood you shouldn’t use in smoking meat is cedar or any kind of softwood such as pine because of how resinous they are.[/FONT]

https://www.dyersbbq.com/the-4-best...any different kinds,of how resinous they are.

 

[Nuco59]

Never have I ever- but I probably should put it on my list of things to do.

There are some woods that you should not smoke with...but I'd think that cedar plank grilling would be a different animal.

 

[cholloway]

First google search:

There are many different kinds of woods used in barbecue, and the variety of flavors you’ll find are incredible.
In fact, the only types of wood you shouldn’t use in smoking meat is cedar or any kind of softwood such as pine because of how resinous they are.

I'm sure they're referring to using the cedar and pine (or any soft wood) as fuel
during a long smoke... putting the fish on a plank of wood and cooking, near a heat source, is a different process.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Some of the best salmon I have had was cooked on a cedar plank. I have been told that you put the plank on the grill and when it begins to smoke add the salmon. Ross from Ventura posted a lot of Cedar Plank Salmon cooks that were done on his Egg