Cedar plank salmon simulates a pacific northwest potlatch salmon bake on a backyard grill. Cooking salmon on a plank adds a touch of smoky flavor to the fish, and it makes cooking a snap. No fish sticking to the grill - put the plank on the grill, grill roast for about a half an hour, pull the plank off the grill, done.
Now, it's not perfect. You will have to deal with the smoking hot cedar plank. Make sure you have a sheet pan or something like it, and a heat proof trivet to put it on when you are done cooking.
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What You'll Need
To cook salmon on a cedar plank, you need a grill, a piece of salmon, and an untreated cedar plank. The safest way to get untreated cedar is to buy grilling planks
at cooking store...but they are expensive, and they tend to be on the small side if you want to cook an entire salmon fillet. The cheaper, but riskier way is your local hardware store. I used to buy untreated cedar 1x8 boards and cut them into 16 inch lengths. But, be aware: there is a risk that untreated hardware store cedar was piled up with treated wood while it was in storage, and the toxic chemicals used to treat that wood have leached into the cedar.
Use your own best judgement. Like I said, I used to buy untreated cedar boards from the hardware store. I've been cooking on cedar planks for years; when I started the ONLY option was the hardware store. Nowadays, I buy cedar planks that are made for grilling. They're more expensive, but I prefer the peace of mind to the savings.
*If you want the best of both worlds, check high end cookware stores at the end of summer. I don't like paying $20 for 4 feet of wood at a cooking store...but at the end of the grilling season, when it's on sale for $5, I snap it up.
How to Make Cedar Plank Salmon
- Soak the plank in water: Put an untreated cedar plank in a pan or dish, cover it with water, and weigh it down with cans. (I use a rimmed baking sheet). Let the cedar soak for at least an hour.
- Prepare the salmon and sour cream sauce: After you have soaked the cedar plank, remove the plank from the water. Put the salmon filet on the plank, skin side down. Sprinkle the salmon with kosher salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and lemon zest. Mix the sour cream sauce ingredients (sour cream, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, chopped capers) in a small bowl.
- Set the grill up for indirect cooking at high heat (450°F or higher): For my Weber Summit gas grill, I preheat the grill for 15 minutes with all the burners on high, then I turn off the middle burners (leaving burners 1 and 6 lit and on high heat). For my Weber Kettle charcoal grill, I light a chimney full of charcoal, let it get covered with ash, then pour the coals into charcoal baskets on two sides of the grill, leaving the center of the charcoal grate clear.
- Cook the plank of salmon: Remove the plank from the grill with tongs. (Heatproof gloves are a good idea too.) Move the plank to a rimmed baking sheet or other fireproof surface, and set that on a heatproof pad. Cut the salmon crosswise into 2 inch wide pieces and serve, passing the sauce at the table.
- Serve: Using tongs, remove the plank to a sheet pan or other fireproof surface, then set on a heatproof pad. Cut the salmon crosswise into 2 inch wide pieces and serve, passing the sauce at the table.
Recipe Tips
Simple Salmon
The simplest version of this recipe is salmon, salt and pepper, and the cedar plank. Everything else in the recipe improves the flavor, but simple smoked salmon is still sensational.
Sizing the plank
When I can, I get the plank first, then take it to the grocery store and ask for a piece of salmon that will cover it. If the salmon is a little too wide, I'll trim off the thin side of the fillet so it doesn't hang over the edge.
Different plank woods
If you can find it, Alder is more traditional. It's the original wood used in northwestern salmon cooking. The difference between Alder and Cedar is subtle. I have a slight preference for the flavor of alder over cedar. But, it is hard to find alder planks where I live, and when I can, they are more expensive. So I usually go with cedar wood.
Maple, cherry, and oak planks will also work for this recipe. Again, no matter what type of wood you sue, make sure it is untreated.
Indirect Heat
When I'm cooking with a plank, I use indirect high heat. Cedar planked salmon, cooked over direct heat chars the board and generates way too much smoke. The cedar taste overwhelms the fish. Also, with indirect heat, I don't have to worry about the plank going up like a torch, taking my salmon with it.
What's that popping sound?
While the plank is on the grill, you will occasionally hear a loud popping noise. This is normal.
Keep an eye on the grill, looking for smoke. A little white smoke rising from the grill is what you want; if you see smoke pouring out of the grill, especially black smoke, the plank is on fire. Use tongs to move the plank away from the heat on the grill, and the plank should extinguish itself.
You are working with a piece of wood on a grill grate over an open fire, so there is the chance the plank will catch on fire. (The hint of danger helps make this recipe a show stopper.) Make sure you have tongs to handle the hot (probably smoldering) cedar plank, and a heat-proof surface to move it to. Also, the charred wood from the plank will make a mess - think of drawing with charcoal on a sidewalk - so I move the wood plank to a rimmed baking sheet, then put that on a heatproof pad to protect whatever is under it.
Related Posts
My other Salmon Recipes
Inspired by: Ted Reader Sticks & Stones: The Art of Grilling on Plank, Vine and Stone (The Game & Fish Mastery Library)
Easy Cedar Plank Salmon Recipe
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Cedar Plank Salmon. Cedar-wood smoked salmon from your backyard grill.
Ingredients
- Salmon fillet (2- to 2½ pounds, about 1¼ inches thick)
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher salt(or 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt)
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- zest of ½ a lemon
Sour Cream and Caper sauce
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- 2 tablespoons capers, chopped
Instructions
- Soak the plank: Put the plank in a large container, weigh it down, and cover with water. (I use a rimmed baking sheet.) Soak for at least one hour, or up to overnight.
- Prepare the salmon and sour cream sauce: Remove the plank from the water, and pat dry. Put the salmon fillet on the plank, skin side down, and sprinkle with the kosher salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and lemon zest. (The brown sugar and zest tend to clump together; gently rub the seasonings onto the fish until it is evenly coated.) Mix the sour cream sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Prepare the grill: For my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill for 15 minutes with all the burners on high, then I turn off the middle burners (leaving burners 1 and 6 lit and on high heat). For my Weber Kettle, I light a chimney full of charcoal, let it get covered with ash, then pour the coals into charcoal baskets on two sides of the grill, leaving the center of the charcoal grate clear.
- Cook the plank of salmon: Put the plank on the grill grate over the unlit burners, and cook with the lid closed. Cook until the salmon reads 135ºF in its thickest point, measured with an instant read thermometer, about 30 minutes. (30 minutes is for a 1 ¼ inch thick salmon filet - thicker filets can take up to 40 minutes.)
- Serve: Remove the plank from the grill with tongs. (Heatproof gloves are a good idea too.) Move the plank to a rimmed baking sheet or other fireproof surface, and set that on a heatproof pad. Cut the salmon crosswise into 2 inch wide pieces and serve, passing the sauce at the table.
Notes
Simplest cedar plank salmon: Skip everything but the salt, pepper, salmon and cedar plank.
Tools
Grill (I use a Weber Summit. Here is the current version of my grill.
)
Cedar plank (1"x8"x16", roughly)
Sheet pan (for transferring hot plank from the grill)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: American
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice of salmon
- Calories: 205
- Sugar: 0.7 g
- Sodium: 372.6 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 0.9 g
- Protein: 28.1 g
- Cholesterol: 77.9 mg
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Recipes
For different takes on grilled salmon, try my Grill-Smoked Salmon, Grilled Mustard Crust Salmon, or Grilled Salmon with Coriander-Fennel Spice Rub. Other ways to cook salmon are my Sous Vide Salmon or Sear-Roasted Salmon in the oven.
Inspired by:
Ted Reader, Sticks & Stones: The Art of Grilling on Plank, Vine and Stone (The Game & Fish Mastery Library)
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Dana P says
This was amazing. Thank you for sharing - it got rave reviews at my dinner party!
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome, glad it was a hit at your party!
Howard says
I've been making cedar planked salmon for a few years now. The sauce caught my attention here so I tried it when we had some new friends over this evening. Wow! Delicious!
Mike V says
Thank you!
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@TVisconti:
You're welcome, again!
TVisconti says
Great recipe and loved the sauce too?
My charcoal variation:
Although I could have used gas for this I chose the charcoal side of my CG Trio. I followed all directions*, yet when it came time to grill I took the indirect route, splitting a chimney's worth of coals (Kingsford Comp. Briquettes) in half on each side of my grill and used the center to cook on. I used a RediChek ET85 that shows both inner food temp and grill temp, so I let the fish get to 138 which was about 40 minutes. I also had the lid closed the majority of the time, yet every now and then I opened it so that things wouldn't get too hot. Opened the whole time would never have worked with charcoal. A few minutes before I I pulled the fish off, I drizzled some melted butter over it, a nice finishing touch.
*I also treated the plank with olive oil prior to putting the fish on it.
This was some of the best fish we've had in quite a while. Thanks again.
Live 2 Cool says
Thanks. By the way, I came across this site that sells cedar plank seconds for pretty cheap, free delivery too. I thought you might be interested:
http://www.barbecuewood.com/-strse-Cedar-Wood-cln-Factory-2nds/Categories.bok
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@LiveToCook:
Other than the "Sticks and Stones" book I reference in the recipe itself, I would recommend...
Ted Reader's more recent The Art of Plank Grilling: Licked by Fire, Kissed by Smoke looks like the updated version of "Sticks and Stones"
Steven Raichlen's Beer-Can Chicken: And 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill is also good, if you emphasize the "Other Offbeat Recipes" part. There is a cedar plank Camembert recipe that I use as an appetizer a lot.
Hope this helps!
Live to Cook says
Any recommendations on cedar cooking cookbooks? Thinking of getting my Dad some fish, planks and a cookbook for father's day. He's not much of a cook but I think he might like to play around with this.
Jim Tolar says
THANK YOU for a well written, detailed (just detailed enough) description of cedar plank salmon. I've heard about it over and over and couldn't for the life of me imagine why you would want to do that to salmon. I love salmon prepared almost any way, but my favorite is just lightly seasoned and then seared on both sides.
But your explanation of the process and the reasons behind it has convinced me that cedar plank salmon is in my near grilling future!