Cedar Planked Steelhead- A Northwest Classic

For centuries, native tribes of the Pacific Northwest hung their fresh-caught fish over open fires, fastened to hand-split pieces of Western Red Cedar.

Fast forward a bit and the backyard grill was invented. Shortly thereafter, Outdoor Gourmet started producing more manageably-sized pieces of Western Red Cedar to cook with and blam! The modern-day grilling plank was born and we've been planking ever since.

What we're planking this weekend- Fall Steelhead.

Steelhead (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) are rainbow trout that migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to spawn-fish that do this are called anadromous fish. In Idaho, the Fall Steelhead run (the A-Run) is on right now. The Spring (B-Run) starts sometime in June and traditionally boasts much larger fish than the A-run. The Spring runners have spent two years in the ocean, opposed to the Fall fish, which only spent one year out at sea.

So, how are Steelhead different than Salmon? Well, for our purposes, they aren't that different. Salmon and Steelhead both migrate up river to spawn and rely mostly on krill as their food source, which gives them that nice pink-orange coloring. Once filleted, the two are almost identical in color, taste, and texture. If put to a blind taste test, I would struggle to tell the two apart.

The major difference is once you get to the cold case. Steelhead is much less expensive than Coho, Chinook, or Sockeye Salmon, and in my opinion, just as good.

Here’s how it works:

First - soak your cedar grilling plank in water. An hour or two prior to grilling will work just fine, but a longer soak time permits the plank to absorb more moisture. This allows for more cedar-infused water vapor to be released during the grilling process.

Next - season your Steelhead fillet, if you please. I used this brown sugar, paprika, chili rub for the first time and it was great! I find that using a maple syrup, agave, honey, or brown sugar lightly caramelizes the outside of the fish, which aids in moisture retention. That, and it's delicious!
Then- get your grill up to medium heat (350-400 degrees). Place the wet plank on the pre-heated grill and heat plank for another 5 minutes before adding your fillet. This allows the plank to begin to smolder and smoke. Place your fillet skin side down on the plank and close grill lid. No flipping, turning, or tweeking is needed.

Finally- Cook to your liking, carefully remove, and enjoy. It's just that simple.

Happy Steelhead Season! Welcome to your weekend. -KB