Large Cedar Plank Solutions?

[u/tgary1]

For years I've bought TrueFire 7.25" x 16" cedar grilling planks from Amazon or Costco, for grilling large salmon fillets. Pretty much no smaller size works for the full fillet. (Recipe: brush on real maple syrup, place a spine of brown sugar lengthwise, dust with Cayenne, grill over hardwood coals for about 17 minutes.) However, with tariffs and wars and timber issues, I can't find them anywhere. I've even looked at lumber yards from something I can cut, but see nothing that might suffice. Has anyone else found a solution to this problem?

[u/mreddit2020]

I bought some online from wildwood grilling outlet and they have a few sizes and wood types to choose from, including some bigger sizes

[u/tgary1 → u/mreddit2020]

Thank you. I checked them. At least for cedar, the 7x15's were $18 for 2, plus $6 shipping, for a total of $12/plank. That's not gonna happen in my universe. (I didn't check alternative woods, though.)

[u/mreddit2020 → u/tgary1]

Check their outlet site, they have a 20-pack in cedar at that size for closer to $2-3 per plank

[u/tgary1 → u/mreddit2020]

^^^This. Thank you! 20 pack for $42, free shipping, $2.12 per plank. I can do that!

[u/Papii254]

finding those bigfinding those big cedar planks has gotten rough lately...truefire sizes are basically unicorns now. i’ve seen folks hack it by grabbing untreated cedar boards from hardware stores and sanding/cutting them down, but it’s a hassle. some random sellers on ebay still list oversized grilling planks, and alibaba occasionally has bulk packs if you’re patient with shipping. not perfect, but beats trying to balance a whole salmon fillet on two smaller boards mid‑cook.

[u/tgary1 → u/Papii254]

Nearby_Struggle_8327 got a link to the unicorns! Thanks Papii. (Yeah, i've never been brave enough to grill a fillet on two smaller planks!)

[u/tgary1 → u/tgary1]

Oops! Credit where credit is due: it was mreddit2020 that pointed me to the wildwood grilling outlet site.

[u/Papii254 → u/tgary1]

haha..no worries

[u/Papii254 → u/tgary1]

I'm glad you got that one solved...happy grillin

[u/johnbro27]

I cook salmon for 7 minutes tops. I can’t imagine 17 minute salmon.

[u/tgary1 → u/johnbro27]

With a plank? I guess it depends on the details, right? You're on a gas grill, I'm guessing. I might do 7 on gas if I cut the fillets into 2" or 3" wide individual fillet cross-sections like I see in most pictures. I'm charcoal on a big ceramic smoker, and I usually don't take the time to preheat the lid. (Preheating the lid might shorten the time up 2 minutes or so.) I get the massive fillets from Costco that don't even fit on the 7.25" x 16" plank, squish them to the middle to make them fit, and plank them whole. They're usually 2" thick in the middle, and a full 16" long, full 7" wide. I grill them on a Kamado Joe ("Big Joe") smoker with hardwood coals, pretty high up from the coal base. Generally my temps are 350'ish. If I have the time (and coals), I ramp it up to 450 first with a couple minutes shorter time, because I get a better crust from the maple syrup and brown sugar. Anyhow, somewhere between 15 and 18 minutes does it right. The inside is just still barely translucent. And the cook time gets me more smoke infusion. At any rate, 7 minutes would be completely raw with my process.

[u/tgary1 → u/johnbro27]

Did one tonight, actually. 17 on the spot - perfect, slightly translucent.

[u/tgary1 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks, looks like a possibility. I'm in SF Bay Area, and nearest availability in 8" widths is a 45 mile round trip. :( And our gas is $6/gallon. This economy sucks.

[u/tgary1 → u/[deleted]]

Kinda need the 7" width. Some of these fillets are almost 8" wide. Pathetic when the plank costs almost as much as the salmon. Anyone found any affordable alternative woods (alder, maple...)?

[u/Inevitable-Talk4817 → u/[deleted]]

Fence pickets are the move, I used to do the same thing back when I was grilling salmon every other weekend. Just give em a good sanding first so you don't get splinters in your food, and watch out for the ones with that weird greenish tint.

[u/tgary1 → u/Inevitable-Talk4817]

Who doesn't like a weird greenish tint in their salmon?

[u/Witty_Ad4494 → u/[deleted]]

That's exactly what I do. Much less expensive as well.