Cedar Plank Salmon

Fill the kitchen sink with water or you can fill a 5-gallon bucket. Submerge untreated cedar planks in water, weighing them down with something heavy like a saucepan, wine bottle, or stack of plates to keep them fully submerged. Soak for 2 to 6 hours or overnight if there is time.

When ready to grill, pat planks dry with a clean kitchen towel and rub the top surface with a little olive oil or canola oil.

Preheat an outdoor charcoal or gas grill for high heat. Preheat the grill on high for 10 minutes with the lid closed. Reduce heat to 350 to 400 degrees F. Place prepared planks on the grill, close grill and preheat the plank for about 5 minutes or until it begins to crackle and smoke.

Sprinkle plank with kosher salt.

Rub salmon fillets with olive oil. Arrange them on planks.

Season salmon fillets with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Cook salmon, with grill covered for 20-30 minutes, or until opaque and salmon easily flakes with a fork. (You will notice some white fat surfacing, that’s OK.)

Check salmon quickly about every 5 minutes keeping an eye out for flare-ups. For flare-ups reduce the heat and spritz the grill with a spray bottle of water to put out the flames.

TIP: Depending on how your guests like their salmon, use an instant read thermometer to check for desired doneness. Place it in the thickest part of the fillet. Rare=120F, medium=125F and well done=130F.