I generally shoot for 1/4” thick and maybe an inch past the dimensions of your food. If your salmon steak is 2x4”, then 3x5. The real key is to soak the shit out of it and try to use indirect heat. You don’t want it to burn/char, you want it to steam.
do some bbq chicken breasts on cedar plank. Your mouth will orgasm. also, for any flare ups, I keep apple cider vinegar in a squirt bottle. You can use water (in theory, if you soak the shit out of them they shouldn’t happen, but they still do), but might as well add some flavor if you’re squirting liquid around your food anyway.
I used cedar planks a few times and didn’t feel like it added much. I suspect that “fresh” planks instead of the store-bought gimmicks I used will be better.
In a perfect world, you'd steam the planks until they are re-saturated (as in making them able to be bent, for steam bending lamination, etc). If you don't happen to have such a setup, put the planks in boiling water for 5-10 minutes and then soak them for a day or 2... this helps get the moisture back into the board, which is what will carry the flavour out of the board when it's steamed/smoked. At that point it shouldn't taste any different than a freshly cut new plank.
A green RV owner’s guide to not fucking things up: If you are like Nett or myself and think of buying a trailer or RV, it turns out there’s things you need to constantly keep in mind while living in it, largely revolver around maintenance. -If your water heater is propane-heated, you have to make sure it’s properly opened up snd filled BEFORE you open the propane tanks and turn the RV heater switch on. Otherwise you could blow your pump. - you must remember, you have to buy “RV RATED TOILET PAPER”. Important, because you’ll clog your toilet line with the normal stuff. - buy a water filter for the outside connection to cut down chlorine and freshen it’s taste. Consider hose splitters so you can have a hose mop AND plumbing without having to disconnect each time. A water regulator can also help increase water pressure, most RV/trailer showers are (like ours) barely qualified to be a useable shower. -Make sure you have a functioning smoke alarm, AND gas alarm to detect propane leaks from the stove or heater connections. -There are two drain pipes coming out of the trailer. The smaller one is grey water (drains) and the larger one is the black water (toilet). While you’re living in the RV, the grey is always kept open and the black is kept shut. Every week or two you fill the black water tank with flushed water then drain it all out into the sewer at once to prevent clogs and odour. -Buy lots of those dollar store beaded moisture collectors. Put them in every cupboard, storage area, closet snd under every piece of furniture in the RV. Replace them before they run out. Stay on top of this. -Hammock. Have one. No matter what, this I know. -Examine your fuse/breaker panel. Chances are it will require those little plastic coloured fuses, so buy a bunch in the appropriate size. -Awnings are usually pretty easy to figure out but always watch them to make sure you aren’t forcing/jamming any of the joints, bars or hinges. Also, buy two hurricane/wratchet straps for guaranteed hold-down from bad weather and wind, like so: Remember also: if you are leaving your RV for more than a day, shut off your heater and water connection to avoid floods. Your propane regulators are safe to stay open. -Learn about anti-freezing your lines before winter, and flushing the lines when you comes back. Both easy.
All really good tips, there. There is an adapter that hooks a quick connect air hose to your water inlet on the trailer. A small portable compressor is enough to blow everything out of the lines. That's what I use to remove water from the system, rather than chemical antifreeze. Or you could fill the system with vodka.
If you were to exclude the “fun factor” of a mosquito zapper, is it still more effective than a mosquito trap?
We're taking our kid tent camping for the first time in his life. Just so he gets the experience of roughing it. It's been forever since I slept in a tent. We're going to a campground on the same lake we live on, about 40 minutes away by road, about 20 minutes by pontoon. I think the kid is going to like it. I think the wife is going to give up at some point and drive the truck or boat home to sleep in our bed. We'll see.