Cedar Plank Salmon

There is no need to soak or preheat the plank. Preheat the grill to high, put the salmon on the plank skin side down, close the top, and cook 12 minutes. The plank will burn around the edges, creating a nice smoke, but the portion with the fish on it will not catch fire. (You can boil water in a paper bag set directly on a bed of coals -- try it sometime.) To remove the fish, slide a spatula between the skin and the flesh; the skin will stick to the plan and the flesh will come away in a slab.

I marinate my salmon in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and chili flakes beforehand. The flavours compliment the cedar smoke. I also cook down the remaining marinade until it is a thickened syrup so as not to waste pricey ingredients.

The key to good salmon is to not overcook it. Remove from the heat when the internal temperature reaches ~130 degrees. Once off the heat, it will continue cooking to perfection.

Alder planks are not only an acceptable substitute for cedar, but preferable, with a more subtle flavor.

I like to slather the salmon fillet in Trader Joes chimichuri sauce before grilling on the cedar plank. Absolutely delicious!!!!

No need to put the planks over the fire, so no need to soak. Somehow the ‘indirect’ rule, only cover the grill when fat is not directly over the fire, is no longer followed by the Times.

A light glaze of maple syrup as done at Joe Fortes Seafood in Vancouver is the perfect finishing touch to cedar plank grilled salmon.

Lowes or Home Depot have 6' cedar planks that you can cut to the size of the fish. Make sure the cedar planks are untreated:) Can use a cooler filled with water and a brick/rock to keep it submerged.

We had center cut fillets of steelhead trout which worked well here. Kept a close eye on them, thermapen at the ready. Threw some pre-cooked buttered cob corn on the side for a little caramelization. Definitely will do this again.

I have a variant on this that people love. I top the fish with a blend of chopped parsley, sun dried tomatoes, tomato pesto, olive oil, salt and pepper. Similar cooking time. With the oil in the mix it is going to catch fire. That is no big deal. Just don’t let the fire get to the fish itself. But it does add smoke that enhances the flavor.

This has been a standard in my home for 20 years. I split my planks ahead from cedar logs on hand, saturate a day in a bucket, then drip-dry, wrap, and into the freezer. It only takes a few minutes to thaw and re-hydrate. They are 1/2 inch or more thick, and do not split in the freezer I’ve prepared the salmon for the plank many ways, but now do Kenji’s dry-brine first, then coat with a sweet & tangy BBQ sauce that caramelizes. Inspired by a BBQ Salmon dish at Chotto Matte in Miami (May 2023).

We love this....have been doing it for years. I recommend weighting the plank and soaking it for at least 6 hours. You can't over soak it. When we don't do this, the plank itself burns, and occasionally catches on fire.

Sprinkle coarse salt on both sides of the salmon about when you start soaking the plank. Dab it off the meat side when you start grilling. You get the most delish salmon crackling.

I use untreated cedar shingles, soaked well and cook on the cold side of the grill until done then on the fire side to make some smoke flavor if it hasn’t happened on its own.