Alder baking planks... how to?

[phallstrom]

Hi all -

My wife wants me to make her some alder baking planks (for cooking salmon). Something like this:

pretty straightforward... it's a simple board, but then I started wondering if there's a special finish, how thick, and saw one reference to running bolts through it length wise to stop it from warping... which I'm not sure makes sense in my head.

Anyone know if these are more than just a short piece of unfinished wood?

Thanks!

[Doug Winterburn]

Just get some 4/4 alder and cut to length the day before using. Finish by submerging overnight in a 5 gal plastic bucket of water and held down with a big rock or concrete block. Slap the salmon skin side down on the plank that has been heated for about 5 minutes in the closed BBQ. Keep a squirt bottle of water handy to douse the flames and don't worry about reusing the plank as there won't be enough left to worry about. The salmon is done when the white fat rises to the surface and the meat flakes easily with a fork.

A good book on the subject is "Sticks and Stones".

[Rob Stokes]

I bought a bunch of alder from a veneer mill..planks are between 8 and 13" wide, and they're 8 1/2 ft long. I paid a whopping $1.25 each (not per bd ft..each) CDN for them..sounds like I should go into business for a while :)

Rob