Has anyone out there tried smoking salmon with cedar? I've used alder and hickory of course, but haven't heard of anyone using cedar for smoke. I've used cedar planks for cooking fillets on the BBQ. It's one of my favorite ways of cooking salmon. I smoked up a small batch using cedar (three pans worth of smoke) and didn't keel over. I thought it turned out pretty good. Before I self inflict any more brain damage (relatively speaking of course), I thought I'd ask the questiong if anyone knows or has heard if the natural preservatives in cedar make it toxic if you use it to smoke fish with?

My understanding is that evergreens (cedar, fir and hemlock) are toxic due to the pitch

I heard the bark from the alder is bad for you also.That's why I alway's strip the bark off before putting in the smoker,it's less bitter also.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Just DON'T do it, Creosote my friend doen't taste so good, either will your fish, now if you were to used GREEN vine maple..that's the ticket!

UMMMM,Cedar.....No!

And cedar plank cooked salmon isn't cooked on a peice of cedar that you go chop in the woods either.......NO.

I bet that the indians just went to lowes back in the day to get their cedar planks too... not from a tree in the woods

don't smoke with cedar though. unless you want your fish to look like the inside of a chimney.

I'm sure the Native Americans didn't cut a plank and throw a slab on the cook there fine salmon feast......ever seen how cedar and fire mix???/

I would never try to smoke salmon, or any other fish, on cedar. And I don't advise anyone to try it.

However, why is it that cooking salmon over cedar planks on the BBQ is widely accepted? There are plenty of receipes for doing it.

But I don't get it. If cedar it's lousy for smoking, how can it be okay for planking? I presume the cedar planks are from Western red cedar. I cook my salmon on alder planks, not cedar, for the same reason that I use only alder or applewood for smoking. Perhaps someone else can provide some insight.

spart. i guess you have never seen one of the ways native americans cooked salmon then
the way most people do it now is not even close to the way it was done. the salmon was cooked on a cedar plank next to a fire

Truthfully i have never seen a Native American cook salmon next to a fire. In fact.....I have never seen a Native American even catch a fish without a net! I do know any cedar I leave next a fire......ignites!

I would also have to strongly suggest against smoking anything with cedar.

For the BBQ the planks are soaked in water for about 2 hours and you are supposted to put out any flames with a water bottle. In this process there is very little smoke delivered from the cedar. It mostly keeps the fish from being charred and transfers the heat well because cedar is very porous. I don't believe there is any reason why you can't cut and use any piece of cedar from the woods. As long as it is very well seasoned. The boards they sell in the store are nothing special. But I could be wrong.

The cedar planks that you can buy at the grocery store for cooking salmon on are simply western red cedar boards. Save yourself some cash and buy a cedar fence picket. Make absolutely sure that the wood is not treated with anything before use. You could also use any locally grown cedar that you can get into planks. As far as using that cedar for smoking I can only imagine that it would taste very strong. I would not reccomend that.

When cooking with a plank of cedar the fish is not exposed to that much smoke. Smoking the fish takes a long time - several hours. Cooking is done in a few minutes with a plank soaked in water. Much less opportunity for the smoke to strongly flavor the fish.

Steve

you can buy untreated cedar planks at most local lumberyards, unless you like to pay $30 bucks for some nice sanded ones from williams sonoma.

6' planks $1.99 at most yards. cut 'em to any size you need...

Cedar has naturally high concentrations of the compound commonly known as tannic acid. As for how this will affect fish if used for smoking, I couldn't tell you. All I know is that in certain concentrations, tannic acid is toxic to humans. There are other plants besides cedar that also harbor some amount of tannic acid.

Well back in the day probably 30 years or so ago. Our power went out for 13 days We had a insert wood stove and heated the house with it. We were pretty hungry as we couldnt cook anything and the insert was flush with the fire place. My brother and I decided if he were to wrap some left over pizza in foil and put it in the woodburning stove we could warm it up. Well We put a big old slab of cedar probaly 14 x 14 in thier along with our foil covered pizza. Pull the pizza out and take one bite it was nasty. tasted like smoke strongly. So with that learning experience I would do it. The rule of thumb is hardwood is ok softwood isnt. Or better yet if it has leaves use it if it has needles dont.

The process of cooking on wood does intrigue a lot of folks.

First I woulde recommend that the cedar plank be soaked prior to using. This in itself will not be a measure to retard ignition but it does affect the flow of aromatic oils in the wood which impart the unique flavoring.

There are two things required for combustion heat and fuel. The planks generally do not ignite when used with a covered grill at a setting less than high. You will notice the tendency of the cedar to ignite whenever the lid of the grill is opened. When the grill lid is down it reduces the amount of oxygen and therefore retards the combustion process. Most people tend to want to observe the planking process and consequently keep opening the grill lid. That is when you can observe the plank to start to burn at the edges. When that happens it is necessary to use a spray bottle to extinguish the flare up. To prevent flare ups some users use the indirect method of planking which is nothing more than having the board away from being in direct contact with the heat source.

I hope this answers your question and of course if you are smoking meats in a gas, electric or bricket smoker the same applies as the gas grill mentioned above.