I love trying new products, even though I know some will disappoint me. It’s a bit like dating when you’re young and willing to wait for a new guy who promises to call to actually do so. Sometimes he calls in two or three days, other times you’re sitting by the phone a week later, checking to make sure there’s still a dial tone and eating malted milk balls to soothe the disappointment.
This isn’t malted milk ball time, but I don’t hear anything ringing.
I spotted this product in the supermarket fish department, displayed with cedar planks for grilling. They’re made by the same company, North American Cedar, and having had delicious food grilled à la plank, I figured it was worth a try. They seemed expensive — $4.99 for a pack of ten wraps — but I felt if they could lift me from the doldrums of an unusually snowy, long New England winter then it would be a justifiable treat.
These are thin pieces of cedar, thinner than cardboard, 6″ x 7″. The idea is simple: soak the cedar and some provided string for 15 – 30 minutes, wrap the food, tie it and bake or grill.
The first one out of the pack had small splits along one edge. I soaked it anyway to see if it would be sufficiently pliable after half an hour. Meanwhile, I tried untying the knotted ball of string and nearly resorted to calling a Scout before I realized it is one long piece of string, not ten already cut. Okay, operator error. When string and wrap were sufficiently waterlogged, I put a chicken breast on the wrap, lifted the split edge and watched it split inch after inch to unusability. I broiled the chicken.
Yesterday, as it snowed some more, I decided to try again. This time I had a strip steak and an unsplit wrap. The “recipes” that accompany the wraps are little help. The one for beef said to cook it at 350 until done. Thank you. So in it went, without any seasoning at all so I could fairly determine how much flavor the wrap imparted:
I set the timer for 30 minutes but it smelled done before that.
A touch test told me it was probably overdone for my liking so I cut the string.
Hardly looks appealing, but taste matters most. And it tasted like almost nothing. I did detect the faint flavor of what I imagine wet cardboard (also made of wood, let’s not forget) to taste like. Even with seasoning I could taste it and, worse, there was an after taste.
But I haven’t thrown away the rest of the pack. I’m willing to wait until summer and try again with a charcoal grill, which will at least infuse some flavor into the food. Till then, when I want a taste of summer during a snowfall, I’ll stick with my grill pan.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This seems like kind of a weird product. People come up with the darndest things.
I appreciate your willingness to try it and report on it!
I’m a total sucker for kitchen toys and new products. Toss in my love of grilled food and this product had my name written all over it. What a disappointment so far!
Mmm…wet cardboard. I’m sold!
Seriously, though? I’m sure these sounded really great in theory, during new product meetings or something, but I can’t see how this would ever work out in actual execution. Too much of a shortcut to produce real flavor…
Hi! I really am a sucker for this sort of thing, but when winter has already brought more than 100″ of snow, several ice storms and plenty of sub-zero days, the thought of a summertime flavor is irresistable. Oh, well.
Cedar wraps are fantastic!! It sounds like you haven’t given it half a chance.
Logically, I would’t have used a chicken breast (especially with bone-in) or a piece of steak like the one in your picture. I don’t know whose product you’ve used, but seafood, vegies and fruits are the preferred choice to cook with wraps. That being said… you need to use seasonings and flavours for this product just as you would if you were cooking any type of food. The wraps enhance flavour and give you a subtle cedar flavour but not adding anything else would almost be like cooking anything without seasoning. You just need it! A little salt, lemon, dill, a little olive oil, pepper (throw a fresh sprig of dill in with the salmon or scallops and insert a thin little wedge of lemon) and you’re away to the races.
These are fabulous for dinners with guest that you want to really impress. You slip the wrap on each plate with some wild rice and asparagus or green beans tossed with slivered almonds and butter and you are definitely going to impress. You are right about the bbq though… it is absolutely the best way to experience this gourmet delicacy.
DJ’s last blog post..Cold chicken adobo salad