From backyard grilling to fine dining, adding a little bit (or a lot) of smoke to the cooking is a secret weapon that every cook and chef needs to have in their arsenal. Especially if you don’t have a full-blown smoker on hand, it can be tough to know how to achieve this widely popular flavor. Even more so, it can be tough to add some smoke to a wide variety of foods, including more delicate dishes like fish or vegetables. Luckily, if smoke is the secret weapon, white cedar planks are the secret strategy.
From delicious, mouthwatering salmon to juicy, red steak and a whole bunch of smokey dishes in between (LINK TO RECIPE BLOG IF AVAILABLE), white cedar planks are a great way to infuse your cooking with a ton of smokey, woody flavor. That being said, what exactly are white cedar planks, and how do they work?
What Are White Cedar Planks?
The answer to this question is pretty simple. White cedar planks are planks of white cedar—that’s it! In fact, one of the best parts of planking is that the planks are completely natural. In particular, this means you can easily chuck them into the campfire when you’re done and ready for some smores.
Just because they come from nature doesn’t mean they aren’t carefully made, however. Our white cedar planks are carefully cut and prepared to ensure consistency in your cooking, as well as to make sure you get no harmful toxins in the mix. Whenever you want to use planks for grilling, make sure they haven’t been treated with toxic chemicals first.
How Do White Cedar Planks Work?
White cedar planks coming from nature isn’t just a fun trivia fact. Although the exact origins are a bit fuzzy, a popular take has these wooden planks originating from Indigenous cooking traditions from the Pacific Northwest. Indigenous persons would essentially slow cook fish by using wooden planks, much in the same way we use them on our grills.
This natural simplicity is also what makes cooking with white cedar so easy and efficient. Soaking the planks before grilling is important for keeping them from burning, but as that moisture evaporates, it’s also helping cook your dish. The heat from the hot plank itself also cooks the dish through direct contact, and the plank serving as a barrier between the food and the heat allows the dish to cook in indirect heat. The direct contact with the wood lets the food absorb some of these natural flavors, and as the wood begins to char and smoke, this gets added to the flavor of the dish as well. Some even advocate for charring the plank on one side and flipping it before adding the food, so the food will have direct contact with the char.
All of these elements put together make for an efficient and tasty cooking method that delivers mouthfuls of smokey flavor. Not to mention that serving your dish on a charred plank of wood is going to make your guests’ jaws drop!
Now that you know what white cedar planks are and how they work, get some for yourself and see the magic of nature in action. Happy grilling!
Cedar 4 Sale has been manufacturing high-quality white cedar grilling planks and grilling papers for high-end restaurants and chefs for decades. Now, you can experience these same products at your own home. Check out the store or contact us here.