Description
Planking is cooking food directly on a piece of hardwood. When cooking this way, the surface of the food touching the wood picks up some of the plank’s natural flavors. Although there’s some debate on the origins of planking, it’s been documented that Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest pinned their salmon to large wood boards, then slow cooked them—planking. Grilling on a hardwood plank keeps your food away from the direct heat of the grill. The plank serves as a heat shield and helps flavor your food. Many people stick with grilling salmon or other types of fish on a plank, but you can grill almost anything: other meats and seafood, vegetables, sausages, fruits and even cheese.
Using: Soak the plank in water for at least 30 minutes before putting it on the grill. Make sure the plank is fully submerged by putting a heavy pot on top of it. To flavor it more, add spoonful of salt, glass of white wine, apple juice or beer to the water. If cooking fish with the skin on, spray or brush the skin with cooking oil before adding it to the plank with skin facing the plank. Depending on what you’re grilling, you can try different types of untreated wood planks — beech, cedar, oak, alder, hickory, maple, cherry and apple.
1. With indirect grilling, like planking, it will take longer for your food to cook because it will not be directly above the heat, but the results are unlike direct grilling.
1.1 If you have a gas grill, turn half of the burners on.
1.2 If you have a charcoal grill, push the charcoal on one side of the grill and place the plank on the grate on opposite side.
Close the grill for cooking.
1.3 Second method is to start with a two-zone indirect fire and place an empty plank over the hot side of the grill. Let it go until it just starts to blacken and smoke, then flip the plank, place the food on the charred side, and move it to the cool side of the grill, cover, and cook. Starting on a scorched and smoking plank gives a deeper wood flavor compared to the pure indirect method.
2. Along with these methods, it’s possible to grill on a plank over direct fire, which might kill the plank beyond reuse, but also produce more smoke and potentially more wood flavor. Another option is searing prior to planking, which would be preferable for something like steak that would just not be right without a well-developed crust.
Serve food directly on a plank. You can reuse a grilling plank two to three times or crumble the charred pieces and use as smoking wood chunks. To reuse it, simply rinse it in water and store it in a clean, dry place. Don’t use soap — it can alter the flavor of your plank.
NOTICE! It’s normal for plank to catch fire. Keep a spray bottle handy and use water to put out any flare-ups or flames on the plank if it starts to burn. Make sure you place your plank in water after grilling since a heated plank can contain glowing embers that could reignite.
Extra information: search the Internet and YouTube for „grilling planks“ You will find tons of instructions, videos and recipes!
Good luck and Bon Appetit!
