As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I did a cedar-plank salmon bakeoff to determine the best cedar for cooking
I only got to test two 'cedar's -- Western Red, and Eastern White. The results are that more people preferred the taste of the Red, but everyone found both enjoyable.
The URL is :
Thanks for your report on planking the salmon. Eastern White (EW) has pretty potent allergens in it as I discovered while beltsanding the cedar walls in the sauna I had just built. I know, it would have been much easier to do the sanding before the walls were up....it was an afterthought. I wore a mask but the allergen is a gas that goes through a filter. Symptoms were asthmatic wheezing for about a week. The pulmonologist told me that cedar was formerly called lignum vitae, meaning tree of life, and that all kinds of medicines have been extracted from the wood over the years. Fortunately for me, the allergy problem resolved itself and the sauna is a joy on cold winter nights. If you ever need some more EW, let me know, I have unlimited supplies down the road at $1 per board foot.
Where you at?
JP
Maine, on the coast.
The pulmonologist told me that
Certainly lignum vitae means "tree of life" and has been used for medicinal purposes for ages. But I can't find a reference that links lignum to cedar. Lignum is extraordinarily hard, heavy, and dense. So dense, in fact, that it sinks in water. Cedar, OTOH, is a lightweight softwood. Anyone have further info?
whoops, sorry, Eastern White Cedar is Arbor Vitae. Dave
Nice research. I use regular cedar fence boards (Not treated, obviously. I'm in S. California, so I guess it's western red). Cooked in the barbeque. I recommend a pat of butter and a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning. Always a big hit.
Bob
The Bob Meyer entity posted thusly:
Do you turn it once? Do you put only half the burner on and use the other side to cook? If not, how do you keep the plank from burning to ashes?
No, don't turn it. It only takes maybe 10 minutes to cook. Use low heat directly under the board, and higher heat on the other burner so it cooks mostly from the top. You want to board to create smoke. The board is soaked in water so it doesn't burn up (too much). The board will be charred on the bottom. I've seen boards for sale that say you can re-use them. I don't see how, burned on the bottom, and fish goop on the top, yuk.
Bob
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