Cedar Plank Salmon

Ingredients

• 1 (untreated, food-grade) Western red cedar plank, Thuja plicata; not treated lumber, not cedar shingles, not Eastern red cedar
• 800 g salmon fillet, king/Chinook, sockeye, or coho — Pacific species; skin on, pin-boned
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• Optional glaze
• 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey, brush lightly over the flesh before cooking
• To serve
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Method

1. 1
   Submerge the cedar plank in cold water for a minimum of 1 hour, overnight if time allows, weighting it down so it stays fully submerged — a saturated plank smoulders and steams rather than igniting, which is the mechanism that perfumes the fish. When you lift it out, it should feel noticeably heavy and the surface should weep water. A dry plank will catch fire on the grill and ruin the cook.
2. 2
   Prepare the grill for two-zone indirect heat: one side with live coals or burners on high, the other side unlit or on low, so the plank sits over gentle heat rather than fierce flame that would char its underside and cook the fish unevenly. Close the lid during cooking to create an oven effect. The plank will remain on the cooler side throughout.
3. 3
   Season the flesh side of the fillet with fine sea salt. If using a glaze, brush maple syrup or honey lightly over the flesh. The cedar provides sufficient flavour complexity, so do not over-season.
4. 4
   Place the soaked plank on the indirect-heat side of the grill and close the lid for 2–3 minutes, until the plank begins to smoke and you detect the first release of cedar resin on the air — a background note of sweet wood, not an aggressive char — so that when the fish goes on, it immediately begins drawing that perfume rather than sitting on cold wood. This priming moment determines how deeply the cedar note will penetrate the fillet.
5. 5
   Lay the salmon skin-side down on the smoking plank, close the lid, and do not flip the fish at any point, because it cooks from the bottom through heat conducted by the plank and from the top through heat trapped under the lid — turning it would break that balance and expose the flesh to direct char. Cook for 15–25 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: pull the fillet when the edges are fully opaque and the centre holds a thin, glassy, slightly translucent seam at its thickest point, knowing that carryover heat from the plank will finish it — an overcooked fillet cannot be recovered.
6. 6
   Lift the plank from the grill and rest the fish on it for 2 minutes, so the heat stored in the wood quietly finishes the centre without any further flame driving it past that glassy seam. When you lean in to serve, the cedar aroma should be present but not dominating — a resinous, slightly sweet background note beneath the salmon's own smell. Squeeze lemon over the fillet and serve directly from the plank.