I destroyed a Copper River Sockeye last night...

[Joe Hell]

…and by ‘destroyed’ I mean DEVOURED!

A buddy of mine picked this up from the store yesterday ($7.98/lb.) and asked if I could cook it for him on the Pit Boss. “Yes, but it’s going to cost you!”, I replied. Simple prep of salt, pepper, lemon, fresh dill, garlic and Irish butter. It took approx 1 hr. 40 minutes to reach 140 with the grill set to 200. The cedar plank was a nice heat shield to guarantee a slow warm up. There was almost zero loss of fat during the cook. The fish turned out perfectly moist and flaky with amazing flavor and slight smokiness.

[Jonathon]

Joe Hell Do you often cook on planks? I have tried it a time or two and never noticed a difference. Is it only supposed to be used for heat shielding?

[Joe Hell]

Jonathon I have used them many times and I’ve always noticed a distinct cedar character although that depends on the temps you are cooking at. To get the most of it I will soak in water for a bit and cook over pretty high temps…the wood should scorch and smolder a little bit. I’ve had a few catch on fire. lol.

When it came to cooking on the Pit Boss I wanted as low and slow as I could get away with. Due to the the size of the fish I figured the cedar would shield against any hot spots I might have and slow down the cooking process as much as possible. I doubt there was much if any of the cedar that was picked up by the salmon although I didn’t eat much of the side that was resting on the plank. The pellets I was using were apple.

[Jonathon]

Joe Hell Okay, I would have understood if it was used as a heat shield but I gotta say I’ve tried salmon and some sort of white fish o cedar planks and I didn’t notice any type of advantage. Maybe my pallet isnt sensitive enough or I was doing it wrong. Either way, I’ll try it again!

[Joe Hell]

Jonathon My dad just raced to the store to buy one for me to cook after seeing my photo! Darn…That means I’ll have to eat more Salmon this week. Woe is me.

[gerry johnson]

Joe Hell , just back from the copper river dip netting salmon, slow day , we only got 27 reds and 3 kings… yum

[Joe Hell]

gerry johnson Oh man! I’m jealous…that is bucket list stuff right there!

[tarp]

Man that is fun stuff. Miss some of the high country for sure. We used to get those sent fresh to Colorado once in a while MMMM. Now its about staying warm lol
Enjoy while you can!

[twilliams]

Joe Hell was told if cooked fish in smoker then next meat would taste like fish since it is so strong smelling and tasting. Thoughts?

[Joe Hell]

twilliams I think Jonathon may have brought up that topic when I was smoking a bunch of trout on a couple of runs. I haven’t used it since but I didn’t notice any lingering smells. It was suggested that I use the smoker cleaner that Walton’s offers which I intend to purchase on my next order.

I’m sure one bottle will last forever with my production

https://www.waltonsinc.com/smokehouse-cleaner

[Jonathon]

twilliams Fish can absolutely make your smoker taste like fish the next time you use it. Joe’s recommendation of the smokehouse cleaner will work well for you. If its a pellet grill just be careful not to get any in your heating box on pellets and let it run for a few minutes at least after youve cleaned it before adding any meat.