A glass of single-malt?
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Look at you, with your fancy haute cuisine and such!
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Well hereabouts I can get some 1x6 rough cut cedar planks for about .70c/foot direct from the mill.
At the hardware store itās a little more, but I imagine you could just buy a bundle of cedar shakes and use them instead, and they are pretty cheap in bulk.
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Instead of using the wood of the tree, try the sustainable route, and try a cedar jelly or syrup, made from the leaf and twig bark. They have the same flavour as planked salmon without the cutting down of trees part.
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I always wanted to measure my barbecue in Planck lengths!
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I prefer alder planks. I use them with salmon and pork chops.
I didnāt think of using shakes - that makes more sense than 1x6.
The only cedar plank grilling I did was on off-cut from planed cedar 1x6 we used for our ceiling - a good use of the off-cut, but not economical otherwise.
The extra thickness is actually useful. It makes the plank less likely to warp over time, and less of it will burn up during use. A too thin plank is far more likely to just catch flame and burn up with your dinner, though more likely just carbonize straight through by the time your done. Meaning you only get a single use out of it. This is one of the primary problems with the store bought cooking planks, theyāre always cut very thin. It means theyāve got limited uses (Iāve only gotten 2 or 3 at best) before they need replacement. Which just makes the cost less justifiable if you canāt find them cheap. A thicker board will only scorch superficially in the first couple of uses, so you can get a lot more out of them before they start to hopelessly warp, burn through, and crack.
Iām betting it would work. But not particularly well. Most of the shakes Iāve used are pretty rough hewn. Lots of splinters, more than a few cracks. Which is gonna cause some sticking, and might leave some spiky bits in your fish. But sanding them down would solve that. And as far as I know theyāre untreated out of the box. The bigger issue is in the shape and thickness. The thick end of a shake is about as thick as commercially produced cooking plank. Which is fine, like I said 1-3 uses in most cases. But the thin end of the shake is often pretty damn thin. Thin enough to catch a flame or burn through till its gone before youāre done cooking. Buying a whole box of shakes just to use for cooking is probably gonna require you to sort through for the thickest ones, sand them a bit, and/or trim off the thinnest parts. And youād still likely have a bunch left over that werenāt suited to the task. All that waste is going to up the cost per usable plank. And cedar shakes arenāt exactly cheap these days. You can get smaller bundles. And there are cheaper grades of shingle. But the cheaper ones (in my experience) are less consistent. More of the thinness, splits, and rough surface I mentioned than the pricier ones.
Iād say its worth a try using some low cost ones, or if youāve got left overs hanging around. But if I was trying to avoid the commercially packaged cooking planks Iād rather go with the 1x6 and cut it down myself. Cheaper and less frustrating
I just have an electric oven - do you think it can work even without a grill?
Every time Iāve ordered fish cooked on a cedar plank itās been raw on the inside. And cold. Granted Iāve only ordered it a couple of times. The second time I said, āWell, I wonāt make that mistake again.ā And itās never been salmon, which I donāt mind on the rare side. Trout sushi aināt all that appetizing.
But that leads to my question. Does planked salmon get thoroughly cooked or even warmed all the way through? A trout fillet is pretty thin compared to a salmon steak.
Ever try 'em on the half shell?
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Donāt buy shakes unless you know they arenāt treated. Most arenāt but some are. If you know they are untreated, shakes are the best deal for cooking cedar. Lap siding is a good choice if you can only find treated shakes. They cut down easily and are thick enough to be used 3-4 times (wash them please).
If you are looking for a nice way to grill whole oily fish (like mackerel), try placing a bed of bay leaves underneath. Itās a really unique flavour for smoking. It can get a bit messy, but the end result is excellent finished off with a bit of lemon zest/juice.
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Soylent green.
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Just remember there are many types of bay leaves, with the two most commonly used in the U.S. being Mediterranean (milder) and Californian (pungent).
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Didnāt know that. Iām in Canada, so likely both varieties could be found here - though Iāve never seen a supermarket carry more than one type or brand. I wonder which type Iāve been using?
I only cook with locally-sourced, free-range organic road-kill.
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Well thatās justā¦ bad cooking. The plank blocks the direct heat, so itās not that different from baking. I have done it once successfully, once not so successfully (the plank burned too quickly); It did take longer (IIRC something like 20 minutes) than straight baking in the oven.
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Well if your doing it right the planked food is cooked over indirect or very low heat, rather like an oven (the board will burn and char too fast otherwise). So yes it should work in an oven. But youāre still likely to have to deal with some charing and smoking of the board, so I donāt know that Iād do it indoors. If you give it a try you should definitely have some good ventilation. And Iād go with a lower temp, nothing over 300f. Youāll miss a good portion of the smokey effects, but you should still get well cooked fish with some cedar flavor.
You can also do it over a campfire. The original method for doing this (its a Native American method for smoking or cooking fish IIRC) is done that way. The boards are pounded into the ground or otherwise placed vertically around the fire (often tilted away from the heat). The fish is then attached to the boards, by nailing or tying or what have. The fish goes between the heat and the board, and then its left to roast/smoke till its done. You control heat by the distance and tilt of the boards. So its potentially something you can save for a camping or beach trip if you donāt want to try it in your oven.
Yes it can and should. Its supposed to be an indirect cooking method, so it takes a while. Even if you toss these things over a high fire, the board absorbs a lot of the direct head from the fish. And wood takes a while to get hot. So it slows everything down. Which is one of the points, cooks the fish more gently. But the fish should certainly be cooked and warm through the center. Whether youāre cooking it to a specific temp (rare or mid rare) or just cooking it through. That sounds like the fault of the restaurant. Iāve found that the trend for cooking certain fish to temp or only very lightly (especially with Tuna) has lead to a lot of people and places with less experience cooking seafood taking it too far or applying it to every fish. Most fish shouldnāt be cooked that way.
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