fe428623 wrote:Au contraire! Wood, has a natural antibiotic property. Plastic cutting boards on the other hand, once they have cuts and scratches in them, provide excellent places for bacteria to hide and live.

Glass cutting boards, besides being hard on knives, are the best if bacteria is what you are worried about. But hey, that's what our immune systems are for. That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.

Wood tends to have less bacteria for sure, but if you heat them up, all bacteria dies at 165 degrees, so use your head folks, they are NOT killer cooking board if know how to reuse them, please do! I'm in for a dozen since that will last me for a couple summers!

I think about the only way you'll get these cheaper is by buying untreated cedar shingles...but shingles are usually only sold by the square, which would be a *lot* of planks.

GMR1337 wrote:wow...Ok so space is NOT the limiting factor of sustainability. We have plenty of space, no one who is educated is saying that lack of space = human overpopulation. Its the vast amount of resources that each individual uses (with the problem being mostly in developed countries like USA and China). If we lived like some cultures do in the African continent it's estimated that Earth can support over 10 billion people but if everyone lived like America then the planet would only be able to support 1 billion. Humans don't create resources we use and manipulate them. In fact, your example of Texas oil is not creating but using. Please don't be offended, just be aware that more and more resources are being used and the planet can't give much more.

[edit] and your example of planting trees is manipulation.

Then of course there's Global Warming... er... Cooling... er... What day of the week is it? Oh yeah, Tuesday. I think that's a Global Cooling day if I'm not mistaken.

Let's face it, nature has a way of cleansing. If that means wiping out half the world population, then so be it. If it means a bunch of people dying from bacteria trapped in their cedar grilling planks, then so be it.

Eventually resources will be used up and the population will thin through attrition. Oh well... It's inevitable. Let it happen.

I'd never heard of cooking like this until today.

flamespear wrote:I'd never heard of cooking like this until today.

It's apparently a traditional native method in the Pacific Northwest, although the wood of choice there is usually alder.

I do salmon this way pretty often. It comes out delicious. I use a marinade of dijon mustard, honey, vinegar, and dill.

flamespear wrote:I'd never heard of cooking like this until today.

It's actually more common than you'd think. Heck, I think even Olive Garden and Red Lobster offer entrees cooked in this fashion occasionally.

Can a person get slivers from these?

I hate slivers.

evilbusdriver wrote:If I cook Burgers on the part that says "Woot!", will it leave my burgers printed with "Woot!"?

Wootburgers...so good.

TIP: for oven cooking, soak the plank about 4 hours and liberally oil it. no problems with food sticking to the plank and never had a flare-up.

Okay, all the recipes convinced me that I need to try this cooking method. I'm in for one. If the first cooking experiment doesn't turn out, I'll use the planks to ward off moths. I hear the Woot! logo is like garlic to vampires for moths.

kelliedn wrote:Can a person get slivers from these?

I hate slivers.

Slivers?
'round here we call em "splinters".

100proof wrote:the costco near me has fresh multigrain tilapia that turns out killer when you use these!

Do you have a recipe for the talapia?

Thanks

The ball is bouncing. Hurry up, guys, get in now if you want some before it's too late.

bsmith1 wrote:Slivers?
'round here we call em "splinters".

That's what we call 'em....slivers. We also call soft drinks Pop.

fe428623 wrote:Then of course there's Global Warming... er... Cooling... er... What day of the week is it? Oh yeah, Tuesday. I think that's a Global Cooling day if I'm not mistaken.

Let's face it, nature has a way of cleansing. If that means wiping out half the world population, then so be it. If it means a bunch of people dying from bacteria trapped in their cedar grilling planks, then so be it.

Eventually resources will be used up and the population will thin through attrition. Oh well... It's inevitable. Let it happen.

yeah but at what cost? when the earth is a wasteland and theres nothing but concrete and most of the other living things are gone?

mingh88 wrote:The ball is bouncing. Hurry up, guys, get in now if you want some before it's too late.

Is that what the bouncing ball means? I never knew that! good to know! thanks!

In for one, as cedar grilled anything is tasty

nom nom nom...

Greshmahg wrote:OK, since there's a lot of confusion on this, the grillmaster will hold session.

(Yes, it's an earned title. I've won national awards).

The idea behind planking is that it gives off some of the flavor of smoking without actually having to smoke. Cedar is particularly well suited for strong-fleshed fish such as salmon, swordfish, marlin and shark. You can cook other things on cedar, but frankly, there are better woods for each type of meat out there (for the record, alder also works really well with the above mentioned fish).

Yes, they can be reused - once, safely. Flip the board over and cook that way a second time. Do NOT cook on the same side of the board more than once, as you don't know what sort of food-borne problems you can create. Salmonella isn't just a state of mind, folks. Trust me, you WHERE ARE MY PANTS?! to be in the bathroom in front of the porcelain god and be facing the choice of either your vomit or what's about to blow out your rear end making it into the bowl and the other one making it to the floor. I can tell you from firsthand experience, that's a difficult choice nobody should have to make.

As to whether you can do this with other types of woods? The short answer is yes, but you want to always stay with hardwoods. Woods such as pine have too much tar in them, which gives the food a bitter taste.

Mesquite is particularly well suited for chicken, hickory is king when it comes to pork, if you've got some lamb you're gonna wanna reach for either the cherry or apple chips. Lemon and walnut work really well on beef, and I'm yet to find a food that pear chips don't make better - it's like the bacon of the smoking world.

Class dismissed.

I will have you folks know Gresh is an NFL employee, A WSOP Champion, owns $80.00 socks, Has beat Tiger Woods in golf, drives one of a kind cars, owns the best golf clubs money can buy and is my personal FRIEND. I love you Gresh.

100proof wrote:the costco near me has fresh multigrain tilapia that turns out killer when you use these!

Farmed tilapia is killer ! The inflammatory potential of hamburger and pork bacon is LOWER than the average serving of farmed tilapia!

Snapster wrote:yes but in 32 bit mode you can only use 4 planks at a time.

LMAO, you are humorous.

BlackbeardBen wrote:I'm totally disappointed in you, Woot.

Western red cedar is NOT actually a cedar.

It's a member of the cypress family, along with the white cedar (arborvitae) that's common in northern forests east of the Mississippi and widely used ornamentally. The eastern red cedar (usually known as a red cedar in the Eastern US) is actually a species of juniper. None of them are closely related to the famous old world cedars.

Confusing, isn't it?

So sadly, all your allusions to Gilgamesh and the Cedars of Lebanon are quite inaccurate.

It's kinda like saying... Well, I couldn't come up with any decent analogies off the top of my head. Maybe something like selling moccasins as advertised made by real Indians - as in from the subcontinent - but they're really made by Native Americans instead. Except that would make sense, minus either the political incorrectness or just plain stupidity. Take your pick as to which one would have been more likely.

But anyway, I expect better from you.

No one likes a smartass.

Amazing, this is a whole different group of wooters than the ones on the woot off that only want a bag of cedar. It's a pleasure to read these cooking and grilling discussions. My Weber should like these, it's getting old again and needs something new to interest me besides using the rotissiere or cooking in the snow a step out of the home.

Thanks fellow wooters! I'm learning things about cooking I was unfamiliar with getting ready to hit the buy key. 1, 2 or 3? Hmmmm.

Heck with grilling -- these are going in my drawers! Take that, moth-demons! In for 12!

greggarcia wrote:Not only does Man plant trees to use, but more importantly Humans CREATE resources.... not that long ago farmers in Texas lamented the black goop bubbling up in their planting fields.... until someone figured out how to use it for energy. Now, instead of lamenting it, it is a resource!

I bet you bought into the myth about over-population too... take a cross-country flight and look down... it's empty down there! Except for a few cities and towns there is almost nada down below. BTW, all 6.5 billion of us could fit in Texas and we would be no more crowded than San Francisco. Look it up, or do the math yourself!

If you still feel very strongly about Humans using up resources, I could make a suggestion about something YOU could do personally to reduce what you believe to be a problem....

When was the last time YOU flied 1960? When i fly i look down and all i can see is road and lights as far as the horizon.

kelliedn wrote:That's what we call 'em....slivers. We also call soft drinks Pop.

Interesting. I was brought up in Kansas and I always thought a sliver was something soft while a splinter was something rigid. I knew what you meant, though, so to each their own.
I also call soft drinks either "sodas" or "pop". Never "soda pop" nor "cola".

mackmitt wrote:Farmed tilapia is killer ! The inflammatory potential of hamburger and pork bacon is LOWER than the average serving of farmed tilapia!

Plus, they eat poop! Anyone else see that episode of Dirty Jobs?

Easy Planked Brie for 4

1 wheel Brie cheese (approx. 5 oz)
½ sliced fresh strawberries
1 Tbsp honey
1 thinly sliced ripe peach
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1 sliced French baguette
Black Pepper to taste

Soak plank as instructed

Preheat grill to medium heat. In a small bowl, combine peaches, strawberries, honey, thyme and season with black pepper to taste.

Place Brie on plank and top with peach mixture. Place plank on grill and close lid. Plank grill Brie for 15 to 18 minutes, until cheese is golden brown and slightly puffy. Remove plank from grill and allow cheese to cool for 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve immediately with sliced baguette.

kelliedn wrote:Is that what the bouncing ball means? I never knew that! good to know! thanks!

For you and all newbies alike: the ball starts bouncing when the inventory hits the 10% mark.

bsmith1 wrote:Plus, they eat poop! Anyone else see that episode of Dirty Jobs?

I have seen that episode and I haven't eaten tilapia since!
I switched it up to salmon, exclusively. Wild caught, of course.

flamespear wrote:When was the last time YOU flied 1960? When i fly i look down and all i can see is road and lights as far as the horizon.

Depends where you fly. Going from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas there's a hell of a lot of open area. I'm sure flying from LA to San Fran would be different..

One last one for Y'all


Lemon Herb Roast Chicken for four people:


One 4-5 lb Whole Chicken
4 tbsp soft unsalted butter
6 garlic cloves
5 fresh Thyme Springs
5 leaves of fresh Basil
3 thinly sliced Green Onions
Zest of 1 large Lemon
½ Lemon cut into 3 slices
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Soak plank according to instructions

Rinse the Chicken with cool water, inside and out and dry.

Herbed Butter :
Combine 2 tbsp butter, 2 finely minced garlic gloves, 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 leaves of chopped basil. 1 sliced green onion, and lemon zest. Spread will be thick. Generously rub the spread under the skin of the chicken.

Crush the remaining garlic cloves. Stuff the chicken cavity with crushed garlic, lemon slices, balance of thyme and basil, and 1 tbsp unsalted butter and season with Sea Salt and pepper to taste.

Place the chicken on a TrueFire Cedar Plank and grill for approximately 55 minutes with the grill lid closed. Meat should register 170 degrees F in the breast meat and 185 degrees F in the thigh meat.

When done, let the chicken set for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the juices to settle prior to carving.

imagreshsdaddy wrote:I will have you folks know Gresh is an NFL employee, A WSOP Champion, owns $80.00 socks, Has beat Tiger Woods in golf, drives one of a kind cars, owns the best golf clubs money can buy and is my personal FRIEND. I love you Gresh.

WOW! He's all that AND a grillmaster? I wonder how much propane he burns through a month... must be 4-5 tanks at least.

kelliedn wrote:That's what we call 'em....slivers. We also call soft drinks Pop.

I do the same, im from canada tho, so probably why I do it i suppose, eh?

jiqueman wrote:I have a bunch of scrap MDF I can cut to size, that way I get a potpourri of wood flavors while the rest of you stiffs are stuck with only cedar.

AHAHA. Made my day.

GMR1337 wrote:wow...Ok so space is NOT the limiting factor of sustainability. ......
Please don't be offended, just be aware that more and more resources are being used and the planet can't give much more.

[edit] and your example of planting trees is manipulation.

No offense taken... discussion is how we learn. This is not the proper venue for a subject that takes time (and resources), which is why I gave only one small example to illustrate. Breifly however, it has also been shown that enough food can be produced for all of us in a surprisingly small area, and minerals... we have barely scratched the surface (of the Earth)! If one looks at the best scientific data from each decade re: resources, for most, we find there is more and more each time. Did these minerals and resources magically appear? Of course not, but it demonstrates that Man is able to find more by either digging deeper, or using new technology to find them, or extract better, or find replacements. We do not need to use up a billion acres for grapes to get resveratrol because it can be made cheaply, en masse, from the root of knotwood, for example, or the transformation of used tetra-pak boxes (which are transported empty ~1 million per single semi truck as opposed to about 16 trucks to haul the same in glass, along with the wearing out of more tires, brakes, driver's backs, etc) into "fake" wood for decks and docks, etc.

Compare the resources needed to produce a Sansa Clip as opposed to a reel-to-reel tape deck of a few decades ago. Or the PC you are using now compared to the vast resources needed to produce a single computer of decades past. Man's mind is The Ultimate Resource. In fact check out (as a starting point) the paper by that name by Julian Simon, who refuted the Malthusian POV quite well.

Bottom line, you can live the way you believe and not buy these planks, and be consistent at least, and I admire that, and I will live based on my extensive research, study and thought on the matter, and I too will be consistent and enjoy cooking on these planks. I hope you are not going to huddle and shiver in some primitive third world hut to "save the resources", but I would never try to stop you, and expect the same from you.

haveabigjohnson wrote:This is a bit of a technical question, but will the planks get hot?

Not if you don't light the barbecue grill. Gonna take forever to grill your fish, though. Of course if you have plenty of cold beer around, you won't really mind too much.

imagreshsdaddy wrote:I will have you folks know Gresh is an NFL employee, A WSOP Champion, owns $80.00 socks, Has beat Tiger Woods in golf, drives one of a kind cars, owns the best golf clubs money can buy and is my personal FRIEND. I love you Gresh.

Really? That's pretty cool. I thought I just did IT work for a Danish company. This sounds much better. So can I borrow 50 bucks, friend?

lbenz wrote:Easy Planked Brie for 4

1 wheel Brie cheese (approx. 5 oz)
½ sliced fresh strawberries
1 Tbsp honey
1 thinly sliced ripe peach
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1 sliced French baguette
Black Pepper to taste

Soak plank as instructed

Preheat grill to medium heat. In a small bowl, combine peaches, strawberries, honey, thyme and season with black pepper to taste.

Place Brie on plank and top with peach mixture. Place plank on grill and close lid. Plank grill Brie for 15 to 18 minutes, until cheese is golden brown and slightly puffy. Remove plank from grill and allow cheese to cool for 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve immediately with sliced baguette.

I bet some of that 30 year aged balsamic they sell on wine.woot would go well with this. I do believe I shall try this.

Mrken46 wrote:They get hot very slowly as the water evaporates. Depending upon what you are grilling, the fire temperature and the length of time, they can get charred and actually catch fire. So, yes, they eventually get quite hot. Also, contrary to some suggestions on here, I would never reuse them because the aromatic oils have been driven out by the heat and the second time around your food is more likely to taste like charcoal than the wonderful smoke.

The funny thing is you gave me a real answer. The question was not a real one. I read in the description that the planks get hot, and I thought to myself, REALLY?

I'm in for two!!!