Why This Recipe Works

To create the flavor of cedar planks in our Wood-Grilled Salmon, we settled on wood chips (available in most hardware stores) and made individual aluminum foil trays to hold the chips and salmon. To prevent the salmon from sticking to the wood chips, we left the skin on, as it easily separated from the cooked fish. Poking a few slits in the bottom of the foil allowed more heat to reach the wood chips, which caused them to release more of their woodsy—but not overly smoky—flavor.

Coating each fillet with a thin layer of olive oil and a light sprinkling of granulated sugar produced a golden, mildly sweet exterior.

Before You Begin

Aromatic woods such as cedar and alder give the best flavor.

Instructions

Combine sugar, salt, and pepper in small bowl. Pat salmon dry with paper towels. Brush flesh side of salmon with oil and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Following photos 1 and 2, use heavy-duty aluminum foil to make four 7- by 5-inch trays. Using tip of knife, perforate bottom of each tray. Divide wood chips among trays and place salmon skin-side down on top of wood chips.

Place trays with salmon over hot fire and grill, covered, until center of each fillet is still just translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove trays from grill. Following photo 3, slide metal spatula between skin and flesh of fish and transfer to platter. Serve.