Customer Reviews

Plank Cooking: The Essence of Natural Wood

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We have been plank cooking salmon for years. The Haugen's book on plank cooking has opened up a new world for us. WE have used recipes from every chapter both on the grill and in the oven and they are all wonderful! The easy to follow instructions and recipes will make it easy for anyone to become an expert at plank cooking!

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and have always enjoyed the flavor of salmon cooked over alder. After some friends treated us to alder "planked" salmon on a camping trip, we searched Amazon and discovered this book. We've tried a number of the basic recipes with great success. Perhaps more significantly, those recipes have encouraged me to experiment with a variety of woods for some of my more "traditional" recipes, every time with great success. (For example, spareribs, a Texas-style dry rub, and either an alder or hickory plank make a fantastic taste combination.) The recipes include a wide range of spice and flavor combinations, from simple to what I would call "nouveau cuisine," which should meet most people's taste preferences. And the range of possible combinations, based on wood types, additional spices, or flavors in the soaking process, leaves room for almost limitless experimentation.

We have enjoyed the book so much that we've given it as gifts to several friends. Their responses have also been enthusiastic.

Plank Cooking: The Essence Of Natural Wood is introduced by directions for preparing a plank of alder, hickory, maple, oak, or other wood. Simple pieces of beef, pork, poultry, or fish as well as all kinds of fruits and vegetables can be cooked on a plank over a grill or in an oven to give it a delicious, smoky flavor picked up from the plank. But the one hundred recipes by the much-traveled authors are for more involved recipes that are more flavorful using spices, cheeses, sauces, and other ingredients. Grilled Peaches with Vanilla Topping; Aciote Pork Roast; Whitetail Tenderloin with Blue Cheese; Snapper with Creamed Vegetables; and Oyster Bacon bites are only a few of the appetizing recipes that can be done with plank cooking. Plank cooking is not difficult. But you want to learn how to do it right by going to this simple instructional guide including the numerous exceptional recipes.

I have to agree with a previous reviewer: The layout and pictures are well done and really interesting to leaf through/look at. The recipes however, are quite bad. Really bad sometimes. I personally think that it is really hard to ruin a nice salmon fillet, but this book achieves this in 2 of their 3-4 salmon recipes - the Xmas salmon and the one right before that (haven't tried the other two). Then there are all these other recipes that are just plain weird.

I am not going to burn this book as another reviewer suggested, but I will certainly keep it as a prime example of when a picture IS NOT worth a 1000 words. The authors here should really stick to photography for now and not subject anybody to their cooking until they have had more practice. A lot more.

I really enjoyed this book...different ideas and lots of great ideas to try...well worth the money

Good book on the art of plank cooking. The author describes a detailed and somewhat more advanced approach to plank cooking as found in other books on the subject. The recipes are also excellent and demonstrate there is nothing that can't benefit from being cooked on planks.

Looking forward to experimenting with different woods this spring. The book has alot of ideas and recipes that I will be trying out.

Plank Cooking opened my eyes to a new concept with the grill. My husband and I had never tried plank cooking. This book gave very clear instructions for preparing the plank and the different types of wood to use. My father ofen shares salmon with our family and I hate to admit it, but the fish is too "fishy" to savor. Using the plank created a whole new experience with older salmon. We savored each bite and our three boys couldn't get enough. This is an excellent book for people like me who need new ideas with the grill. Who knew you could carmalize onions with a plank on the grill? I look forward to more adventures with various types of planks. Dad, bring on the extra salmon.

Plank BBQ is a wonderful way to enhance the flavor of food. This book gives you many good ideas and the required knowledge to be successful. Buy your planks at a lumber warehouse, a six foot cedar fence board is under $3.00. Cut to one foot lengths and sand down the cooking side.

This book is well written and includes what types of planks to use, how to prep the planks, and cook with them. The recepies are very easy and good, especially the salmon ones. The flavors the planks add are wonderful. We have cooked with them both on the BBQ and in the oven.