It’s summertime, and the grilling is easy. Wait. Is it easy? If it were, then everyone could do it. It would take little skill, little wisdom, little panache. We at G@H would sound silly heralding ourselves as “grill masters.” That would be like someone bragging about excelling at bumper bowling, which—for the record—we do crush. No gutterballs. Like ever.

Grilling isn’t child’s play. Firstly, you can burn yourself. Kids shouldn’t play with fire. Secondly, it requires genuine talent and knowhow. Most of the time. Grilling salmon on a plank, however, is rather foolproof. More importantly, it delivers a juicy, smoky, perfectly done piece of salmon. If you screw this up, you might as well surrender your grill tongs because all hope is lost.

Grilled Plank Salmon with a Mustard Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients

• Salmon fillets (skin on)
• white sugar (for brine)
• salt and pepper
• Dijon mustard
• dark brown sugar

Directions

We brine our salmon for an hour or two in a liquid mixture. For each cup of water, we add one tablespoon of salt and one tablespoon of sugar.

Buy a couple of cedar planks. You can find them on Amazon or at your local hardware store. Soak them in water for at least an hour; two is better.

After you’ve brined the salmon and your cedar is soaked, lay your salmon skin side down on the plank. Salt and pepper the top. Smear on a layer of Dijon mustard. Sprinkle a layer of brown sugar onto the layer of Dijon mustard.

Place the planks on indirect heat (325°F or so) and cook for about 30 minutes. Internal temperature is key. Use a meat thermometer, and remove the planks when the salmon reaches and internal temperature of 135°F.

For inspiration, we thank Food Network, The Everyday Hostess, and Wildwood Grilling.