Grill up something new that's packed full of smoky cedar and complex rum flavors! Our Grilled Cedar Rum Salmon uses one of our favorite dark rums to make an absolutely delicious marinade for your new favorite grilled salmon!
We're in the heart of grilling season over here and this is a recipe that I've wanted to share with you all for a while! It's one from my husband, the rum-loving grill master in the house, thrown together on a whim many years ago that has been loved, tweaked, and adjusted to deliciousness over the years. Our Grilled Cedar Rum Salmon combines the complex flavors of my husband's favorite dark rum with the strong smoky flavors from cedar planks to create a unique oh so flavorful, flaky, tender grilled salmon! Trust me, this isn't your normal cedar plank salmon recipe!
Ingredients Needed
- Salmon - Center-cut pieces, steaks, or skin-on fillets are best not only for this recipe but also for grilling in general. More on that below.
- Dark Rum - Zaya Rum is one of our absolute favorite rums. I don't normally drink rum, but this is the one I won't turn down! Note: This recipe contains alcohol. See our FAQs for notes about whether all of the alcohol content burns off.
- Olive Oil - When making any kind of fish marinade with citrus, a key ingredient you'll need is some kind of fat. And you want to make sure that it's at a 3:1 ratio, meaning 3x as much of the fat as the citrus, otherwise, the citrus will start to break down your tender fish.
- Lime Juice - Here's the citrus! For this recipe, with all of the other flavors, lime is our preferred. We have used lemon juice before and it's still good, but it's much better with lime.
- Ginger - Just a touch to compliment all of the other flavors. Plus, in case you haven't noticed by now, it's one of my favorite spices to use in everything from muffins to salads!
- Cilantro - Fresh is what we prefer to use, but you can of course use dried, too. See recipe notes.
- Brown Sugar - Just a little and use brown instead of white for the rich molasses flavor.
- Salt and Pepper - Just enough to season.
Best Cuts of Salmon for Grilling
Now to the best cuts of salmon for grilling. The best types of salmon for grilling are center-cut pieces cut into skin-on fillets or steaks. Center-cut is usually the best because they are more uniform in size and thicker, which holds up great to grilling. Also, be sure to leave the skin on because it will help not only keep the fish together but also help prevent it from sticking to the grill and drying out. Not necessarily a huge concern when using cedar planks, but also, removing the skin also removes some of the fat which makes the salmon more prone to drying out.
What's the difference between center-cut and tailpieces? The centerpieces of the salmon are the belly and backside of the fish while the tailpieces are, well, the tail. The biggest difference is the thickness of the fish in each of these cuts. Because the tailpiece is thinner and not as uniform, if you use that in this grilled salmon recipe you'll likely have more crispy bites of salmon, which can also be delicious if that's what you're going for, but we prefer the nice thick center-cut pieces. With that said, if you do choose to use a tailpiece, baste your salmon often because it'll make some delicious candied crispiness!
Easy to Make
Soak Your Cedar Planks
Cedar planks are exactly that, cedar. Wood. That you'll be putting over the fire on your grill, which means if you don't want that wood to burn, you need to soak them.
Always soak your cedar planks for at least an hour and as much as overnight, too! This will ensure that your wood doesn't burn while on the grill, but also it will help keep the salmon moist while it cooks. If you want to add even more rum flavor to this cedar plank salmon recipe, then add about a 1/2 a cup of rum to the water you soak the cedar planks in.
Note when buying cedar planks: Be sure to check the source of your cedar planks, especially when buying online! There are a lot of options out there, and many are not actually real cedar. Stay away from anything that's labeled "incense cedar boards" as they are not safe to grill on and there are others that may not be food safe. Here are the boards we love!
Create the Marinade
The marinade for this Grilled Cedar Rum Salmon recipe comes together in no time and it's great to make ahead. Throw it all together and set it aside until you're ready - or even make it up to a day in advance!
Note: If you're making it in advance, store it in the fridge, but be sure to take it out well before you want to use it to bring it back up to room temperature before adding your salmon.
Marinate
You only need to marinate salmon for about 20 -30 minutes. Marinating this tender fish for longer, the acidity in the lime juice will start to break down the salmon. Don't worry, that's all the time you need to impart a ton of flavor!
Plus, a good rule of grilling salmon is that you want to bring it up to room temp before grilling for at least 20 minutes anyway. So take that salmon out of the fridge, add it to the marinade, and let it come up to room temp and marinate at the same time.
Grill!
Add those cedar planks to your grill and then gently add the salmon. When done, you'll have our Grilled Cedar Rum Salmon which is so incredibly flavorful, flaky, and moist, and will be one of your new favorite grilled salmon recipes!
Recipe Tips
Dark Rum is better to use in a marinade like this rather than light rum because it has much more depth of flavor. That's because dark rum is aged for longer which is what gives it its color and different flavor than light rum.
Typically, no. Most of the time, the cedar plank will have too much char to reuse, however, if yours doesn't, then some say that you can reuse them. Just wash with hot water (no soap), and store in the freezer. Also, do not reuse it for anything else other than salmon.
Yes! Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking rack with foil and add the salmon to the center of the foil (so you can fold the foil over) and spoon the glaze over it. Use only about 1/4 of the marinade. Bake for 14-15 mins. Uncover and broil for 2 mins. By baking though you will lose that cedar flavor and instead will have a much stronger rum flavor. Still delicious, just in a less smoky way.
Yup! You'll lose some of the smoky cedar flavors, but you can absolutely make this grilled salmon recipe without them and you will need to be a bit more careful about flare-ups because of the alcohol in the marinade. See recipe notes.
While most people think that just applying some heat to a dish with alcohol is enough to cook off all of the alcohol content, that's not entirely true. There's a lot of information out there that references the USDA Alcohol Bun-off chart when stating that it takes X amount of time to burn of X % of the alcohol content. However, I tried to find the original of that chart and went straight to the source (the USDA website) and it does not exist anywhere on that site. You can find the chart in a quick Google search, however, with all good research and fact-finding - always check your sources. Since the USDA no longer publishes this alcohol burn-off chart that indicates that's likely outdated information that they have since deleted, but these other sites referencing it still have articles up. I could not find any food safety with cooking with alcohol anywhere on the USDA site.
Per the Food Network website, "The longer you cook, the more alcohol cooks out, but you have to cook food for about 3 hours to fully erase all traces of alcohol." Therefore, while you certainly won't get a buzz from this salmon, there will still be some alcohol content left in this dish. Serve it with that in mind.
The best way to know when this cedar plank salmon recipe (and all other meat and fish!) is done is to use a food thermometer. Put it in the thickest part of the salmon and for medium rare salmon, it should read at least 120. For medium salmon, 125 - 130 degrees F. For full safety, the FDA states that it should be 145 degrees, or well done.
So flaky. So moist. Sooo flavorful. So get your grill on with this unique and oh-so-delicious Grilled Cedar Rum Salmon recipe and add something new to your summer grilling rotation!
More Grilling Inspiration
- Mexican Corn Ribs
- Grilled Garlic Parmesan Tomatoes
- Grilled Romaine
- 10 Min Spicy Shrimp Skewers
- Grilled Boneless Pork Chops
- Asian Grilled Chicken
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
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Grilled Cedar Rum Salmon
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lbs center cut salmon fillets
Marinade
- 1/4 cup dark rum
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped and packed
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Prep Cedar Plank: Add cedar plank (or planks) to a baking dish deep/wide enough to fit the plank or a sink filled with cool water and let soak for at least 1 hour and up to 12.
- Prep Marinade: Add all marinade ingredients to a small bowl and whisk. Set aside until you're ready to use, or add to a ziplock bag. Marinade can be made up to a day in advance.
- Marinate Salmon: Gently add the salmon to the zip lock bag with the marinade, skin side up so that the flesh of the salmon rests in the marinade. Remove as much air as possible from the ziplock bag and seal. Let marinate for 20 - 30 (max) minutes, at room temperature. This will allow the salmon to come up to room temp before grilling.
- Prepare Grill: Preheat the grill over medium-high.
- Grill: Add the planks to the hot grill and then gently add the salmon to the cedar planks. Brush one last time with the marinade before closing the grill. Allow the planks to smolder, but not burn and let your salmon cook for 12-16 minutes. The salmon will be done when the salmon flesh is firm when you touch it and has turned to an opaque pink color. To ensure doneness, it's always best to use a food thermometer. Test the thickest part of the salmon and it will be medium rare if it reads 125 - 130 degrees F.
Love the combination of flavors in this recipe. SO delicious
This was everything a gourmet meal should be, and then some! Turned out light, juicy and delicious! Easily, a new favorite recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Sara! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
My husband and I are huge fans of grilled salmon for week night dinners. Need to try this recipe since it looks so yum and easy to put together.
I just love this and this was such a pleasing experience!
I learned a new technique from you and I'm super excited to try grilling the salmon on cedar planks. Thanks for the detailed instructions.