Grilled Cedar Shingle Salmon
You can spend $10 for a couple of cedar planks for grilling salmon. Or, you can buy a bundle of #4 grade untreated undercourse shingles. Cost: about $25 at my local lumber yard which yielded about 65 shingles—enough to grill an equal number of full sides of salmon. When cedar shingling a house, these less-than-perfect undercourse shingles are used as a cheap first layer. Since they’re not exposed directly to the elements, it means they’re not usually treated but ask before buying.
by: Three Many Cooks
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1 # 4 grade untreated undercourse cedar shingle, rinsed thoroughly under running water.
- 1 whole wild salmon filet (2 to 2¼ pounds), skin removed (see photo)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest, plus lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
- Heat gas grill igniting all burners on high for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly brush skinned fish bottoms with 1 ½ teaspoons of olive oil and place, skinned side down, on soaked cedar shingle. Mix remaining 1 ½ tablespoons of oil with paprika, salt, pepper, and zest, and rub over salmon top.
- Place planked salmon on hot grill rack and set timer for 10 minutes. Staying within eyeshot of the grill to observe any flare-ups (I’ve never seen one, but just in case) cover grill and cook until wood is fragrant and salmon is still a little soft when pressed, about 10 minutes. Re-cover grill, turn off burners, and continue to grill until salmon is lightly firm when pressed, about 5 minutes longer.
- Let salmon stand on plank until ready to serve. Salmon can also remain on cedar shingles for serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with lemon wedges.
Beautiful piece of salmon and the preparation sounds wonderful too. I definitely need to get a cedar plank.
Pam – super tip on the planks! It irks me to buy them 3 for $10! I prepare my plank salmon with garlic, dill and a few shakes of lemon pepper. I do believe my dinner planning for this eve is complete with this new take on the salmon.
Good plank tip. Another way to go if you dont want quite so many is to buy untreated cedar fencing. Its about a dollar for a 6 ft piece and you can cut it to a bunch of planks.