Recipe: Snapper on a Plank

[SamFamAustin]

DrRalph,
If you think this is any good move to the Recipe section ...

Snapper on a Plank
Sam Wells

After burning up or under-cooking fish on the BBQ for years I found a good way to cook fish such as snapper filets. The method uses a cedar plank soaked in water overnight, or at least a few hours. This took some experimenting and not a few trips to the lumber store. The best is California cedar used for wood fencing, six-inch wide. We planed (sanded down to make smooth) one side and then cut them crosswise 12 inches long. Pine is worthless and treated wood cannot be used.

The idea is to cook the fish on the soaked cedar plank, with cooking time depending on the thickness of the filet. About a half-pound or more per plank seems to work best. Use more planks if you cook more than a pound of filets. You can experiment with marinades, sours, and hots to your heart's content. The plank should be allowed to gently smoke but not catch on fire very much, which will impart a slightly smoky twang to the fish, especially if you have a top for the BBQ. Serve the fish plank directly on the table; a 14-inch Pyrex pan works best. Please don't eat the wood.

[DrRalph]

Good work, Sammie, it's on the recipe page (http://www.drralph.net/Recipes_Food.html).

[Willy Landham]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]We cook redfish from the Texas coast directly on the grill all the time. We call it

[SusieAndAl]

That does it! I spent the morning building a bench for our new work shed, and was going to finish this afternoon, but now I simply MUST go fishin' and try both of these techniques!

So when my better half gets home this evening, know full well that Sam and Willy will be blamed and must accept full responsibility!

[Henz]

I like that plank idea, never thunk of it before..good way to not burn the fish. Might try that sometime with some of my fresh water walleye.:o

[Gayleupstairs]

North Pacific Coast Indians have been preparing their salmon on cedar planks for centuries. Several of the seafood restaurants here in the Seattle area offer cedar planked salmon on their menus. Not a new idea, but certainly a very tasty method of preparation!

[SamFamAustin]

Appreciate the message. You might call it poor man's salmon, but some of us are partial to snapper, too. Nothing is more dramatic than to wield a large spatulal and present fish on a hot smokin' plank to your guests. It gives new meaning to the expression "walking the plank." Arrrrggghh! /Sammie

[Gayleupstairs]

Truth be told Sam (this is close to heresy here in the Pacific Northwest and could get me run out of town on a cedar plank!) I prefer snapper to salmon. I've eaten soooo much salmon in my lifetime that there's absolutely nothing special about it for me anymore.