Can I reuse cedar grilling planks?

Question

Since wooden cutting boards are safe for use with meat, I was wondering if I can reuse the cedar grilling planks.

Yossarian's answer to this question about how to prepare a plank says you can use one again depending on what you're cooking.

• So, what determines whether you can reuse the planks?
• How should I clean them after use?
• After too many uses, will they lose the ability to impart flavor to what's being grilled?

The ones I bought were fairly expensive, so I'd like to get as much use out of them as possible.

Answer 1

I will generally reuse a plank on two conditions:

1. The bottom isn't completely charred. Sometimes, the bottom ends up complete black. I find that this won't start to smoke a second time. It's also a mess to store anywhere.
2. The top isn't a mess of food. This is largely dependent on what you cook. Fish skin sometimes gets cooked on, glaze bubbles and chars, oil lights on fire and the top surface chars. Something like shrimp, tomato, or sausage will be fairly clean though, and nothing will cook on to the top.

In order to reuse the plank, I clean it with soap and water, the same way I'd clean a wooden chopping board. I've never managed to use a plank more than twice and I usually just toss them after a single use.

Keep in mind that a dried cedar plank is a dried cedar plank. Cost is generally more based on the store that you buy it in than the product you're buying. A hardware super store (like Home Depot) will generally have these quite cheap.

Answer 2

You can absolutely reuse wood planks if they are prepared and cared for properly. Unlike what yossarian says I would never use soap to clean them unless I absolutely had to. The soap will absorb into the wood which can alter its aroma when burned. Also I would be very careful when reusing to always use the same types of meat/fish. For instance if you are cooking salmon on the cedar plank I would always try to use a fish for that plank from then on. Typically I can get 3-4 uses out of my plank if I'm careful to soak it for a decent amount of time.

A good resource I've found for this: http://backyardprovisions.com/blogs/our-grill/11362737-soaking-your-planks-with-creativity

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I routinely reuse cedar planks 1 or 2 times. I use an indirect charcoal grilling method that tends to char the bottom less. I simply scrub with a brush under running hot water promptly after removing the cooked food. Let dry and resoak when needed again. Never had any problems. The likelihood of any bacteria surviving the grilling is quite remote.

Answer 4

let's keep this simple, never put your planks over the coals or directly under your grill's burners, light one side on high and always put off to the side away from the flames. you can also add tint foil wrap around the bottom of the plank. It's that easy. Or just use in your oven. With the big planks, you can't use a microwave, plus a microwave will not kill everything! Just scrub under hot running water and put it in your dishwasher....YES.....it safe. Soak for 2-8 hours, I do over night! you can soak them in wine if you want... You should get years of use from one board "I do" but I only use the high end 1" thick ones.

Answer 5

YES, definitely! I agree that thicker planks last longer. I got some longer/thicker ones from Harris Teeter when I lived in North Carolina and they lasted years. Here in Idaho all my planks are maybe 1/4" thick and they curve when you grill with them, but I still reuse them as long as I can. They still impart flavor pretty well... we like to soak ours for 2 hours, also with a weight on top. 15min just seems like the water doesn't really get in there and the plank is more likely to burn. For cleaning I run it under hot water and let it soak until all the gunk is soft. Then I take the BACK (dull) side of a butter knife and scrape the gunk off, rinse and rescrape until it looks visually clean. If the gunk starts looking less like fish and more like wood, you're done. Once they dry they will still smell like fish but that hasn't stopped us from reusing them over and over until they're really charred on the bottom. And none of us has gotten sick or anything either.

Answer 6

I believe I can reuse a plank for salmon cooking several times. Wash with hot water, not soapy. Then microwave if it will fit in. The microwaving will kill bacteria. Then bag and store frozen until thawing for next use, so it doesn't grow anything in the meantime. Microwave again before next use. If unable to microwave and freeze, discard and buy a new one.

Answer 7

I bought two planks from homedepot.I used them in my green egg, after soaking overnight. 20 mins at 400 degrees, using a ceramic deflector plate, not direct heat over coals. The planks' bottoms turned a light honey tone but no charring whatsoever. Washed off in the sink with hot water and kosher salt and microvaved.

Answer 8

Whether you can reuse the planks depends on how thick they are and how scorched it is after each use. I use 1 inch thick cedar planks and get four uses, sometime more out of each one. I'm basically roasting ( sometime with a deflector & sometimes without) rather than grilling in my Big Green Egg. I use very hot water, a scrub brush to clean. Sometimes I will use olive oil for "soap", and kosher salt for and abrasive.