The Art of Planking

I have three different wood cooking products in my kitchen : Roasting Planks, BBQ Planks and Wood Paper and I practice The Art of Planking ! I know that sounds a bit naff but it all about back-to-nature cooking and, what I love the most, about experimenting with the different combinations of wood and food.

That is what The Art of Planking is all about, you don't need intricate instructions of a recipe or be infinitely precise about measurements because it is all about experimenting and choice.

You choose what food you want to cook (meat, fish, seafood, vegetables and fruit), choose between oven or BBQ, choose the wood you want to cook with ( oak, cedar, beech, cherry), decide on the liquid you want to soak your plank or wood paper in ( water, beer, wine, cider, even whisky) and finally how to prepare your food ( marinate or not?). All this to create your own unique wood smoky recipes.

The secret of cooking with wood is the soaking. When wood is soaked it goes back to its fresh cut state and if meat, fish, seafood, vegetables or fruit is cooked on wood then the food is infused with the smoky taste of that wood. The food is gently steamed and is therefore always moist and tender. A great way to cook !

I have tried oak, cedar, beech and cherry wood in Roasting Planks, BBQ Planks and Wood Paper and tried different liquids to soak them and there is still a lot more experimenting to do. The cooking fun is endless.

Oak gives a heavier smoky flavour and is great for red meat, cedar is sweet and spicy and is perfect for fish and seafood, Beech has a subtle sweet flavour great for poultry and Cherry has a subtler sweet fruity flavour for all foods.

I have a lot of recipe ideas on my website, I have included one here, but would love to hear from other wood foodies who have tried cooking on wood to hear their smoky recipe ideas.

Wood Paper King Prawns

All seafood is fantastic on a Roasting Plank, BBQ Plank or Wood Paper because the food is gently steamed and the seafood stays amazingly moist and tender as well as infused with a wood smoky taste. My simple, but great, marinade for King Prawns is 3tbs olive oil, sliced dill and coriander, juice from half a lemon and finely chopped chilli. Let the King Prawns marinade for more than 1 hour, roll up in Wood Paper or cook on your BBQ Plank or Roasting Plank in the oven. Which wood would you choose ?

(Please see website for cooking instructions on the Roasting Planks, BBQ Planks and Wood Paper)

I have chestnut, olive, pear, apple and olive Wood Paper to try as well as an ash BBQ Plank. I'll be blogging soon about the results.