Smokin'

Am I the last one to try this grilling technique? In case there were more of you living under the rock with me, this is really how easy it is!

I soaked two cedar boards in my sink all day. I weighted them down with a jar to keep them submerged.

Placed the wet wood on the grill started on medium. Closed the lid and let "cook" for 15 minutes. (next time, I will only do 10 minutes). You will see smoking occur - this is supposed to happen.

Because I used two different pieces of meat, I used the wood two different ways.
1. For the salmon (left), I turned the cooked wood over - so the blackened side was the cooking surface. I placed the salmon skin-side of the side down onto the blackened surface (you're not gonna eat the skin). You will hear the sizzle. I topped the salmon with salt/pepper and a few crumbles of brown sugar.
2. Ribeye steak (right), I did not turn the cooked wood over, and cooked the steak on the plain side. I didn't want the meat to touch the blackened wood Don't worry, this wood is still very hot, and will grill the steak.
I cooked the meats for 15 minutes - turning the steak half way through @ 7-1/2 minutes (the steak was "medium"), but left the salmon alone. **I kept a small squirt bottle of water on hand to extinguish any flame ups. **
When cooked, removed the full boards onto a heat proof surface (plate, another board, etc)

OMG, this was delish! For the salmon, you just slip the spatula between the meat and skin (which is cooked to the wood) and lift the meat right off. The steak just lifted off its plank (shown to the right). Discard completely cooled wood.

These were the only size planks I had, but would use wider ones next time. I'm not going to spend gourmet dollars at a cooking store, but go to Home Dept/Lowes and buy the size UNtreated cedar plank I want and cut to size I want - much cheaper!

Makes your mouth water, huh? Super easy clean up and great presentation. Let me know if you try this. Have a great weekend!