I went out for dinner recently and ordered planked salmon. The salmon
came on what looked like a piece of scorched shingle. The salmon was
pretty good but I didn't understand the "plank"
is it the way the salmon is prepared? Or just how it is presented?

Grawun > wrote:

>I went out for dinner recently and ordered planked salmon. The salmon
>came on what looked like a piece of scorched shingle. The salmon was
>pretty good but I didn't understand the "plank"
>is it the way the salmon is prepared? Or just how it is presented?

Supposedly, salmon was traditionally cooked on a plank in the
Pacific Northwest. However there is no mention of this method
in _The West Coast Cookbook_ (Helen Brown, 1952) so I suspect
it's a fake tradition. A few restaurants in Seattle such as
Iver's persist in doing this.

Steve

Grawun wrote:
> I went out for dinner recently and ordered planked salmon. The salmon
> came on what looked like a piece of scorched shingle. The salmon was
> pretty good but I didn't understand the "plank"
> is it the way the salmon is prepared? Or just how it is presented?

This usually refers both to preparation and presentation. The plank
can be cedar or alder. You can buy thick pieces at gourmet kitchen
stores (or tourist shops in Alaska) that don't need to be soaked or you
can buy untreated cedar pieces at the lumber/hardware store. These
will probably be thin and need to be presoaked so they don't catch on
fire. The fish is placed on the plank and then either baked in the
oven or grilled (covered). If you get lucky with it, a subtle flavor
is added, but more often it's just a neat presentation. A pretty good
recipe has been posted here a number of times. Look for "MAPLE SYRUP
CEDAR-PLANKED SALMON WITH MAPLE GLAZE." -aem

Grawun wrote:
>
> I went out for dinner recently and ordered planked salmon. The salmon
> came on what looked like a piece of scorched shingle. The salmon was
> pretty good but I didn't understand the "plank"
> is it the way the salmon is prepared? Or just how it is presented?

It is an old style of cooking on canoe trips. You split a piece
of cedar and soak it. Clean a trout or salmon and butterfly it.
Then stick it next to the fire. You can eat it right off the
log, and instead of having to wash plates you just toss the log
into the fire. Lately they have been selling pieces of cedar at
the fish department for outrageous prices. The cedar is supposed
to impart a flavour. We always used cedar because it would soak
up lots of water and not catch fire while the fish was cooking.

In article >,
(Steve Pope) wrote:

> Grawun > wrote:
>
> >I went out for dinner recently and ordered planked salmon. The salmon
> >came on what looked like a piece of scorched shingle. The salmon was
> >pretty good but I didn't understand the "plank"
> >is it the way the salmon is prepared? Or just how it is presented?
>
> Supposedly, salmon was traditionally cooked on a plank in the
> Pacific Northwest. However there is no mention of this method
> in _The West Coast Cookbook_ (Helen Brown, 1952) so I suspect
> it's a fake tradition. A few restaurants in Seattle such as
> Iver's persist in doing this.


It's a Native American tradition. They didn't have metal grills:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5733135

I sometimes make cedar planked salmon on our outdoor gas grill. I use
1/4" thick planks that we buy at the grocery store. The trick is
regulating temperature. Too low and the salmon cooks, but the plank
adds nothing to the process. Too high and the plank burns, giving a
charred taste. At the right temp, the plank emits wisps of smoke, and
that adds a nice flavor to the food.

OK, you ask, what's the magic temperature? I have not done this in a
few months, so I can't remember a numnber. Probably around 325F. But
it will probably depend on the thickness of the plank, how long it was
soaked in water, and the characteristics of the grill. You need to
experiment.

Not sure I would want to do this with an indoor oven, unless the room
had very good ventilation.

--
Julian Vrieslander

Dan Abel > wrote:

> (Steve Pope) wrote:

>> Supposedly, salmon was traditionally cooked on a plank in the
>> Pacific Northwest. However there is no mention of this method
>> in _The West Coast Cookbook_ (Helen Brown, 1952) so I suspect
>> it's a fake tradition. A few restaurants in Seattle such as
>> Iver's persist in doing this.

>It's a Native American tradition. They didn't have metal grills:

Helen Brown goes into great detail of the methods Native
Americans used to *skewer* salmon on wooden spits, and says
nothing about planking.

> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5733135

This article asserts Native Americans planked salmon, but
that's just an assertion.

Steve

In article
<julianvREMOVE_THIS_PART-3170DD.20384326122006@customer-201-125-217-207.
uninet.net.mx>, I wrote:

> At the right temp, the plank emits wisps of smoke, and
> that adds a nice flavor to the food.

I forgot to mention something. You want to get the plank smoking before
you put the salmon on it.

Also, you can reuse the plank a few times, until it gets seriously
charred.

--
Julian Vrieslander

On 2006-12-27, Dan Abel > wrote:
>
> It's a Native American tradition. They didn't have metal grills:

But, they had sawmills to make planks?

nb

notbob wrote:

> On 2006-12-27, Dan Abel > wrote:
>
>>It's a Native American tradition. They didn't have metal grills:
>
>
> But, they had sawmills to make planks?

I don't think you'd need a mill to make them. An axe
would do.

The National Museum of the American Indian in DC has a
fire pit where they demonstrate traditional Native American
cooking techniques, one of which is cedar planked salmon.

--
Reg

The salmon is cooked on the plank, but some restaurants also present it
on the plank. I've done it at home, on the outside gas grill (I
wouldn't recommend doing this on a charcoal grill, because the heat is
too intense and the flames are exposed). I've used untreated cedar
planks. I understand that you can also use untreated hickory, alder,
mesquite, maple, cherry, apple, or pecan, instead of cedar. Use a
plank between 1/2 to 1-inch thick, 8 to 10 inches wide and 10 to 12
inches long. Again, I emphasize that you must use untreated wood, not
the stuff that has been treated to resist weather and insects. Whole
Foods usually sells these planks. Here's what I do:

Soak the untreated plank in water for 1 to 4 hours.

Heat the gas grill to medium. (I brush the fish with a Mustard Glaze,
but I think that rubbing it with a good vegetable oil would be
sufficient.)

Place the plank on the grill, close the lid, and heat until the plank
begins to smoke and crackle (approximately 2 minutes for a thinner
plank). Place the salmon, skin side down, on the plank. Close the
lid, and cook until the salmon is cooked through (approx. 12 minutes).

Grawun wrote:
> I went out for dinner recently and ordered planked salmon. The salmon
> came on what looked like a piece of scorched shingle. The salmon was
> pretty good but I didn't understand the "plank"
> is it the way the salmon is prepared? Or just how it is presented?

Ray wrote:
> Place the plank on the grill, close the lid, and heat until the plank
> begins to smoke and crackle (approximately 2 minutes for a thinner
> plank). Place the salmon, skin side down, on the plank. Close the
> lid, and cook until the salmon is cooked through (approx. 12 minutes).

What is the difference between this and putting a few soaked hardwood
shavings in a pan in your grill while your fish is cooking?

Unless maybe you're going to eat the skin and get a direct transfer
of flavor from that, it looks like just another smoking method.

--Blair

notbob wrote:

> On 2006-12-27, Dan Abel > wrote:
> >
> > It's a Native American tradition. They didn't have metal grills:
>
> But, they had sawmills to make planks?


They had the WIMMIN to do that, nb, the wimmin had to have SOMETHIN' to do
back in the day...

--
Best
Greg

On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:51:03 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
et> wrote:

>They had the WIMMIN to do that, nb, the wimmin had to have SOMETHIN' to do
>back in the day...

Yeah, and that's what they did all the long damned day unless they
were taking care of kids, making clothes or breaking/setting up camp.

--
See return address to reply by email

In article >, sf says...
> On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:51:03 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
> et> wrote:
>
> >They had the WIMMIN to do that, nb, the wimmin had to have SOMETHIN' to do
> >back in the day...
>
> Yeah, and that's what they did all the long damned day unless they
> were taking care of kids, making clothes or breaking/setting up camp.
>
>
And occasionally they'd fix plonked shaman, I'm told, just for a change
of pace.

Bob

Hmm. Haven't tried that method, so I can't really comment. I should
say, however that the end result of the plank method isn't what I would
call smoked salmon. The plank method does impart a cedar or hickory
taste, but the taste doesn't permeate the fish as in smoking. Also the
salmon is only cooked for about 12 minutes using the plank method,
whereas I believe that smoking takes an hour or more (but I could be
wrong).

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> Ray wrote:
> > Place the plank on the grill, close the lid, and heat until the plank
> > begins to smoke and crackle (approximately 2 minutes for a thinner
> > plank). Place the salmon, skin side down, on the plank. Close the
> > lid, and cook until the salmon is cooked through (approx. 12 minutes).
>
> What is the difference between this and putting a few soaked hardwood
> shavings in a pan in your grill while your fish is cooking?
>
> Unless maybe you're going to eat the skin and get a direct transfer
> of flavor from that, it looks like just another smoking method.
>
> --Blair

On 27 Dec 2006 17:52:55 -0800, "Ray" > wrote:

>Hmm. Haven't tried that method, so I can't really comment. I should
>say, however that the end result of the plank method isn't what I would
>call smoked salmon. The plank method does impart a cedar or hickory
>taste, but the taste doesn't permeate the fish as in smoking.

thanks for that information. <s>

>Also the
>salmon is only cooked for about 12 minutes using the plank method,
>whereas I believe that smoking takes an hour or more (but I could be
>wrong).
>
I have never tried it. ICK! I don't like the *smell* of cedar....
so what does that tell you about at least one of my past lives?

LOLOL!

--
See return address to reply by email

sf wrote:

> I have never tried it. ICK! I don't like the *smell* of cedar....
> so what does that tell you about at least one of my past lives?
>
> LOLOL!

That you hated Lebanon? Or was that Lepidoptera?

Bob

In article >,
notbob > wrote:

> On 2006-12-27, Dan Abel > wrote:
> >
> > It's a Native American tradition. They didn't have metal grills:
>
> But, they had sawmills to make planks?


Good question. I have no answer.

Dan Abel wrote:
>
> In article >,
> notbob > wrote:
>
> > On 2006-12-27, Dan Abel > wrote:
> > >
> > > It's a Native American tradition. They didn't have metal grills:
> >
> > But, they had sawmills to make planks?
>
> Good question. I have no answer.

Cedar splits easily. The west coast Indians made large homes with
weed planks. They used stone or hard wood wedges to split wooden
planks from logs. Early pioneers were able to square lumber to
build their cabins and out buildings. They used a tool called an
adz, an ax-like tool with an offset blade.

On 2006-12-29, Dave Smith > wrote:

> Cedar splits easily. The west coast Indians made large homes with
> weed planks. They used stone or hard wood wedges to split wooden
> planks from logs. Early pioneers were able to square lumber to
> build their cabins and out buildings. They used a tool called an
> adz, an ax-like tool with an offset blade.

Good points all, Dave. I did a little more research and tend to agree
with you. I wasn't thinking cedar so much as redwood, not realizing red
Western cedar is native to the Northwest. You also bring up a good
point on the use of stone wedges. I should have known this, having
taken WA history the year I spent as a senior in a WA HS. I fall on
the geezer/alhzee sword as an excuse knowing the benevolent regulars
will let me off with a couple tsk tsks, even if only to thumb their
nose at the aggregate new wave.

nb ...can you tell I've had a couple

notbob wrote:
>
>
> > Cedar splits easily. The west coast Indians made large homes with
> > weed planks. They used stone or hard wood wedges to split wooden
> > planks from logs. Early pioneers were able to square lumber to
> > build their cabins and out buildings. They used a tool called an
> > adz, an ax-like tool with an offset blade.
>
> Good points all, Dave. I did a little more research and tend to agree
> with you. I wasn't thinking cedar so much as redwood, not realizing red
> Western cedar is native to the Northwest. You also bring up a good
> point on the use of stone wedges. I should have known this, having
> taken WA history the year I spent as a senior in a WA HS. I fall on
> the geezer/alhzee sword as an excuse knowing the benevolent regulars
> will let me off with a couple tsk tsks, even if only to thumb their
> nose at the aggregate new wave.


As I pointed out in an earlier response, this was a popular
method for cooking fish on canoe trips. We split logs, usually
cedar because they can be soaked and retain enough water that
they don't burn. Split the fish open and nail it to the plank
and then stand it up by the fire. When the fish is cooked the
plank can be tossed in the fire to burn..... no cleanup. BTW...
the fish was very tasty cooked like that.

yetanotherBob wrote:

> In article >, sf says...
> > On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:51:03 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
> > et> wrote:
> >
> > >They had the WIMMIN to do that, nb, the wimmin had to have SOMETHIN' to
do
> > >back in the day...
> >
> > Yeah, and that's what they did all the long damned day unless they
> > were taking care of kids, making clothes or breaking/setting up camp.
> >
> >
> And occasionally they'd fix plonked shaman, I'm told, just for a change
> of pace.


:-)

--
Best
Greg