5 Deliciously Smokey Wood Plank Recipes

You’ve probably heard of planked salmon. Chances are you’ve even enjoyed this taste treat yourself. The wood for the plank on which the salmon is cooked is traditionally western red cedar, and the results are very, very good. But adding a second or even a third flavor of smoke takes salmon to the next level even in the short cooking time to keep it moist and tender. By adding a Smoke Sack or BBQ Drop, Soak & Smoke … or two … to the grill on which you’re plank cooking the salmon gives you that option conveniently and easily. With the salmon on a cedar plank, we suggest supplemental smoke of alder, apple, or peach.

The fastest two ways to mess up a good rib eye steak is to 1) over-season it with too much spice that masks the combination of the beef and the light smoke you get from grilling it, and 2) over cooking it. Medium rare is heaven. Anything beyond medium is a mortal sin. Beef can handle more powerfully flavored smoke. In fact, it benefits from it. For the first time out, try a blended plank of maple and cherry or cherry and cedar. For an authentic western smoke flavor boost, add a mesquite smoke sack or BBQ Drop, Soak & Smoke to the heat. In the short period you’ll cook the steaks to get them up to medium rare, it will add just the right amount of mesquite smoke flavor.

As seafood goes, shrimp have very mild flavor. It’s there, but it needs to be coaxed out and complimented. Some recipes are delicious in overpowering the taste of shrimp – like the heavy garlic in scampi for example. But stoking is about bringing out the best from all kinds of food through seasoning by the smoke and the steam. Multi Flavored Planks are about experimenting and finding your own favorites, but a great starting point for this recipe is the combination of cedar and maple. If you like shrimp, you’ll love this preparation.

You may not think of meatloaf as a dish to make over a campfire, but with some prep ahead and using a plank to cook it directly on the fire, meatloaf can be nearly as convenient as plain ol’ hamburgers. You can get as exotic as you’d like in mixing meats, but remember you need fat to make this recipe work and the meatloaf hold together. We used a combination of ground venison and ground pork sausage, but use any ground meat that provides a 15-20 percent fat content across the mix. Use your remote thermometer to make certain you achieve proper internal temperature for the meat(s) you select.

Cooked over a campfire or on a grill, with the subtle smokiness provided by the Family Griller Plank, this chicken pizza will become a family camping favorite – and it’s so easy.