Sunday, March 27, 2011

Adventures in BBQ'ing

The Wife and I recently purchased a barbecue from the fine people at Sears. The guy we were talking to tried to get us to take the floor model because it was "really complicated to put together" so I might as well take the one that's already assembled. If it's that complicated, why are you trying to give away the showpiece of your handiwork? It wouldn't have fit in our car and when I got it home, it didn't take that long to assemble anyway.

A couple of weeks later, I decided to try barbecueing some salmon.  The butcher at the grocery store recommended putting it on these cedar planks they also sell. Something about the wood bringing out some smokey flavor or some shit into the fish. It seemed like a good idea (that is, I misread the price tag) so I got those, too. The directions for the plank said to soak it in water for between 1-24 hours. It was already in the afternoon, so I threw that sucker in a pan of water for 2 hours before we started getting hungry. Remember, the thing said a minimum of 1 hour so 2 hours should have been good.

The barbecue of the salmon is going along fine until I start to see a lot of smoke pouring out of the top. I flip open the lid and the fucking plank is on fire. I grabbed it with tongs and pulled it off the heat, saved the salmon and dunked the fiery plank back into the water pan. Minimum of 1 hour my ass!!!

Sidebar: apparently the plank is supposed to catch fire but mine was engulfed.  D'oh!

1 comment:

addy said...

I've never really understood how to use those wooden planks! Sean usually cooks salmon on the grill with aluminum foil. :-)