Himalayan Salt Plates

I usually keep fairly tuned into the latest and greatest for BBQ's but I have to admit this one snuck up on me:
[img][/img]

Not only can you use one of these to cook on the BBQ: http://www.atthemeadow.com/shop/Resources/Cook-Steak-On-Himalayan-Salt-Block
but you can also prepare a cold platter to serve chilled foods on. From all that I have read, the block does impart a subtle flavor.

After my curiosity was triggered, I happened to be watching a food show on steaks and they showed the aging room at the Primehouse in Chicago. They have one wall lined with Himalayan Salt Bricks:

Received an 8" x 12" Himalayan Salt Plate for Christmas and have been doing a bit of studying before trying it out.  Right now, I am considering Alaskan Salmon and will probably follow this procedure:


The go lb salt company has produced a number of very interesting videos giving information on cooking various items using this interesting product:
https://www.youtube.com/user/golbsalt/videos

Anyone with any experience and wisdom of cooking this way?

dammit. carlos slime won't let me watch the salmon vid. if you cook on that salt plate,how do you generate smoke to the meat for flavour?

They've been more commonly used on raw food to salt cure and/or serve (nice presentation).
¡Buen provecho!

Finally got around to trying Steelhead on the Salt Plate tonight.  As recommended, I had previously "cured or seasoned" the plate by slowly cranking our oven up to full heat with the plate and then letting it slowly cool.  Since I was being very cautious on bringing it slowly up to full temp, it took about 80 minutes to get the surface temp to 535 degrees F measured with a laser infared thermometer.

" />

While the BBQ and salt plate was heating, I had sprinkled the Steelhead with some dill and applied a very light coating of Garlic Olive Oil.  Just before I was ready to put the Steelhead on the heated plate, I applied a conservative coating of Kirkland Parmesan & Herb Encrusting Blend. I put the Steelhead on the plate flesh side down for about 40 seconds to give it a light browning:
" />
And then flipped it over skin side down for about 5 to 6 minutes:
" />

Both of us decided that this was some of the finest salmon or trout we have had in our lives - extremely moist and full of flavor!  Now on to other things like steak, lamb, shrimp, scallops, chicken and veggies.



I must admit that I am a sucker for the latest and greatest cooking gadget or method but this is by far the best I have ever tried!

Nice report CG. Thanks for sharing, I must try this!

My second experiment with cooking on a salt plate - Ahi Tuna steaks.  Since I couldn't find a tuna specific recipe, came up with one of my own.  Coated the 1" steaks with garlic olive oil and used the same Parmesan & Herb Crusting Blend.  Plate was 510 degrees and I cooked about 4 minutes per side.  A bit more done than I like my tuna but still moist and tasty.

Our next addition to the Himalayan salt collection - Tequila Sipping Shots:

" />

Last night I cooked marinated boneless chicken thighs on the salt plate and really learned a lesson! Since Kathy was out of town and I was cooking for myself, I got lazy and used a commercial Lemon Pepper Marinade. While the chicken was really good - moist, tender and very tasty, I learned from the cleanup process that one shouldn't use a commercial preparation probably due to the additives? It took me over an hour to scour the plate and get the surface ready for the next experiment.

From now on, I will use various infused olive oils, natural juices and natural herbs and stay away from anything with sugar and cease being lazy. After I got done with the cleanup, it made me think just how much time I could have saved by making my own marinade!

Last Thursday, I cooked my own recipe marinated Arrachera on our salt plate and used the exact same recipe I have used in the past so that we could have a direct comparison to cooking on the BBQ. This was by far the juiciest and most tender Arrachera (using Costco choice flap steak) we have ever cooked here NOB. While you could definitely taste the salt from the plate, it wasn't extreme and really tasted about right for us. The rest of the spices that I included in the marinade came through in the cooking process with none of them too extreme.