Now that the humidity has abated somewhat, it is wonderful to enjoy a meal on the veranda. Grilling fish is a yummy way to celebrate the beginning of autumn, with its cooler evenings. I’ve had fish grilled on cedar planks in restaurants and liked it, so when I got these planks as a gift, I decided to try this at home. I like salmon, and DH likes ahi tuna, so those were the first experiment.
There are lots of different kinds of Cedar Grilling Planks available in multiple sizes of packs. These are the ones we used. They are single use planks.
The package says to soak them for at least one hour. I figured more was better so I soaked them several hours, weighed down with a little ceramic dish to keep them underwater.
Place the planks on the grill for 5 minutes to heat up the bottom. Then turn the planks over and place the fish on top.
These took about 25 minutes to fully cook. There wasn’t a lot of smoke, and the planks didn’t burn.
Although the fish looked great, and was cooked well, the cedar flavor wasn’t there.
I thought it might be that I soaked the planks too long. After all, you want some smoke to flavor the fish.
Another night we tried this again, this time I only soaked the planks for barely one hour. You can see the planks are showing signs of fire damage and there was more smoke.
This time, what a difference! The cedar flavor was delicate, but discernible, and added a wonderful dimension of taste to the fish.
DH liked his better this time too. His cod filet really took up the smoky flavor well. My Grilled Vegetables would go well with the fish too. And here is a Quick Sewing Project idea for those who like to use their cast iron pans on the grill for beans or corn.
Have you ever tried cooking with cedar planks?
Cedar Grilling Planks on Amazon.
From My Carolina Home 
Looks delicious! Have wanted to experiment with the planks since my hubby doesn’t enjoy fish much. Thought this might be a way for him to like some.
We use planks for grilling salmon. If we don’t have planks, we also use wood chips. My husband soaks them and then puts them in a type of box made just for them. (I don’t even know how to turn the grill on, it’s completely his thing!)
Carole, thanks for sharing your plank grilling experiences. I have never done this before, but want to try. Fish looks soooo good!
We cook fish with cedar planks all the time…though never on a gas grill. We cook/smoke over wood chunks….the planks have been soaked a min. of 6 hrs. The more moist they are, the more smokey flavor we believe they impart. The rule of thumb for cooking fresh fish is 10 mins. for every inch of thickness (measured at the thickest part). Turn half-way through….if less than an inch, no need to turn. We do a variety of fish: cod, salmon, trout, even crab cakes this way. I season with Old Bay and sometimes garlic salt (If it was good enough for my idol Julia Child, it’s good enough for me!) Freshly squeezed meyer lemon is usually our substitute for tarter sauce. Cooking using cedar planks adds such a nice flavor and keeps the fish moist….it’s great that you brought this subject up Carole!
We don’t do much fish here, the only way to have anything fresh is to catch it yourself, and we are both poor trout catchers! This looks so goo, though!
Your planked fish looked gorgeous. At our house, we are lucky to find someone to agree to grill food, and that’s as much as we ask for. Grilling on a plank will remain a visual pleasure.
Hello Carole, Wow this looks so delicious! We both love a variety of fish, only we do not own a grill. LOL. I will have to keep my eyes open for these planks as both my Mom and our Daughters enjoy grilling and I have not seen them use one of these. A great stocking stuffer idea. Thank you for sharing and have a fantastic day!
We have grilled on planks before with good results. Usually my bbq-ing husband uses chips to get that smoky flavor. I love most kinds of fish so we have it fairly often. Looks yummy Carole.
This is not something we see done very often here. I may have to follow this up when we next visit family in SC, because it looks delightful.