Cedar plank salmon

while I was pulling my tour in iraq, a warrent officer assigned to my unit who was from Tacoma told me that restaurants around there served salmon sandwiches that had fillets grilled on a cedar plank...I never heard of that and wondered if other fish can be grilled this way, does the plank have to be soaked like hickory chips and can you do it on a gas grill?

I am not sure about other fish but we have done this with salmon several times. We soaked the cedar plank over night and cooked it on a gas grill. This method is derived from the Indians of the Northwest.

You can do other fish besides salmon this way. Trout is often grilled on a plank. You should soak the plank for about an hour, and you can use a gas grill. Make certain, though, that any plank you use has never been treated in anyway. Here is one place you can order cedar and alder planks and be sure you are getting untreated wood:

http://www.thewhitewhale.com/nwplanks.htm

By the way, there's an old shad recipe in which you nail a shad to a plank and grill it till the shad starts pulling away from the nails. Then you throw away the shad and eat the plank.

Thanks for the info...my youngest brother was stationed with the Coast Guard in Seattle for 5 years (two assignments) he mentioned smoking salmon but not plank roasted, I'll try this with Gulf grouper and see how it comes out....is there sauce you serve with this style or just squeezed lemon?

quote:

Originally posted by backfrmIraq

Thanks for the info...my youngest brother was stationed with the Coast Guard in Seattle for 5 years (two assignments) he mentioned smoking salmon but not plank roasted, I'll try this with Gulf grouper and see how it comes out....is there sauce you serve with this style or just squeezed lemon?

If you're going to do grouper be sure to leave the skin on. Grouper's a pretty delicate fish and the skin will keep it together. I just like my fish with butter and lemon.

This brings back Boy Scout memories. We didn't have salmon, but sunfish filet worked if one was careful about bones. I have had cedar planked salmon in restaurants. It was good, but I consider it sort of a gimmick like steak served on a sizzle platter. BTW bckfromiraq, welcome home.

What were bones doing in a sunfish fillet?

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

What were bones doing in a sunfish fillet?

Lack of skill, I suppose Maybe somebody out there knows how to properly filet a 6 inch sunfish, but I don't know him (her?)!!

When the family went to Nova Scotia, they cooked the salmon this way. They sell the planks in 'foodie' or good kitchen stores.

Just go to the hardware place and get a cedar shake shingle. Make sure it isn't treated like pre-treated lumber. I soak my cedar in water for several hours, place the salmon skin side down on it and smoke it in the grill at about 225 till done. Use indirect heat. Wonderful flavor.

quote:

Originally posted by tmiles

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

What were bones doing in a sunfish fillet?

Lack of skill, I suppose Maybe somebody out there knows how to properly filet a 6 inch sunfish, but I don't know him (her?)!!

As someone who hardly ever catches anything over six inches in length I certainly know how to properly fillet them.

Seriously, you fillet a small sunfish exactly the same way you fillet a 40-pound Chinook.