Popular searches

    Flame-grilled salmon – a whole side of salmon on a plank by the fire

    A side of salmon, a plank and a fire that heats from the side

    • 6 servings
    • Time: 1 hour at home + 45 min fire + 40–60 min by the fire
    • Difficulty: Medium
    • 9 ingredients
    • 12 steps
    To the recipe
    A side of salmon with dill is nailed to a pale, untreated board leaning close to the flames of a fire by a lake on a summer's day.
    Photo: kallerna, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

    The fire is tall and wide, and you can feel the heat two metres away. At the edge, a pale plank leans against a couple of stones, with a whole side of salmon fixed to it with small wooden pegs. No pan, no grill. Just fish, wood and a wall of flames that slowly turns the salmon glossy and golden at the edges.

    This is Finnish loimulohi, flame-grilled salmon. The fish never sits over the fire – it stands beside it and is cooked by the radiant heat, a bit like in front of an open fireplace. It needs a bigger fire and more patience than a pan, but it's one of the simplest ways to cook a whole fish for a crowd. It all comes down to three things: the right plank, the right distance, and moving the plank rather than the fire.

    Method

    1. Salt the flesh side of the salmon with flaky salt and pepper at least an hour before it goes on, and keep it cold.
    2. Light the fire at a permanent fire pit or on gravel or sand, at least half an hour before the salmon goes on. Burn hardwood until you have a wide, tall and steady flame.
    3. Drill 6–8 holes in the plank around where the salmon will go: two or three along each long side and one at each end.
    4. Lay the salmon on the plank, skin side against the wood and the tail towards the top end of the plank. The thick part then ends up lower down and closer to the heat.
    5. Knock the pegs through the edge of the fish and into the holes, deep enough that they hold firm. Lift the plank and give it a gentle shake. If the fish slips, knock in another peg.
    6. Scatter dill over the salmon and brush with melted butter.
    7. Stand the plank against the stones or the log, almost upright, with the fish facing the fire and on a side where the flames aren't leaning towards it (see wind below). Start about half a metre from the flames.
    8. Do the hand test: hold your hand between the fish and the fire. If you have to pull it away after a couple of seconds, the plank is too close. If you can manage ten seconds or more, it's too far away. About five seconds is right. It's the hand test that sets the distance, not the tape measure.
    9. Allow about 40–60 minutes for a whole side and 25–35 minutes for a thinner fillet of rainbow trout or Arctic char. The time is a guideline: the size of the fire, the distance and the wind decide, and it's the thermometer that tells you when the fish is done. Add wood at a steady pace so the flame stays the same height the whole time.
    10. Check the fish every ten minutes and brush with butter. If one side gets darker than the other, move or angle the plank to the side. If the top part is still pale in the last quarter of an hour, turn the plank upside down for a while.
    11. Check the temperature in the thickest part. The fish should reach at least 60 degrees in the centre. Without a thermometer: the flesh should be opaque and flake when you press it with a fork, with a white film seeping out between the flakes.
    12. Lift the plank away with fire gloves and let the salmon rest for five minutes on the plank. Pull out the pegs and serve straight from the plank. The flesh comes away from the skin easily when it's done.

    Have you made this recipe? Rate it

    Be the first to rate this recipe.

    More recipes to try

    All recipes →
    • Slices of smoked reindeer meat on baking paper on a wooden tray, with green leaves, orange pieces of root vegetable, fine white strips and crispy breadsticks. 🔥 Over fire

      Suovas in flatbread – Sami smoked reindeer meat from the frying pan by the fire

      🍽️ 4 servings 🥕 8 ingredients 👣 7 steps

    • Two golden breakfast burritos filled with egg, potato and meat on a plate with cherry tomatoes. 🔥 Over fire

      Breakfast burrito over an open fire – egg, bacon and potato in a tortilla

      🍽️ 4 burritos 🥕 10 ingredients 👣 9 steps

    • Six round patties of mashed potato with a golden-brown, partly dark brown fried surface in a dark frying pan. 🔥 Over fire

      Potato and carrot patties over an open fire – shaped at home, fried by the embers

      🍽️ 4 servings 🥕 17 ingredients 👣 9 steps

    • A plate of fried slices of pork belly, boiled potatoes, swede mash and carrot sticks under fresh herbs, and beside it a sauce boat of pale sauce. 🔥 Over fire

      Stekt fläsk med löksås – crispy fried pork belly, smooth onion sauce and boiled potatoes over the fire

      🍽️ 4 servings 🥕 12 ingredients 👣 11 steps

    The plank, the pegs and the fire

    The plank. It must be untreated: no pressure-treated, painted, varnished, oiled or glued wood, and never offcuts from a building site where you don't know what has happened to them. Wood preservatives and paint give off substances that shouldn't get into food when the wood heats up. Alder is often considered the best, and birch, aspen and beech work well too. But an ordinary planed board of spruce or pine is also widely used in Finland, and you can buy ready-made spruce loimu planks. Choose a piece without large knots or resin pockets. A planed surface makes it easier to free the fish afterwards.

    Put the plank in water an hour beforehand – in a lake, a stream or a bath at home. A wet plank doesn't char as easily at the edges. The same plank can be used several times if it's scrubbed and dried properly in between.

    The pegs. Wooden pegs are the traditional choice and the best. Metal nails conduct heat into the fish, cook the flesh around them and can make the fish come loose and fall into the ash as it softens. You whittle pegs from a dry hardwood stick about as thick as a pencil, with a pointed end. Drill the holes in advance so you don't split the plank. How to whittle safely and which wood is suitable is covered in whittling a roasting stick and a tripod. If you don't have time to whittle, stainless steel nails will do, but they also get hot and the fish around them cooks faster. Don't use galvanised building nails – they're made for timber, not for food.

    The fire. This method needs flames, not embers. Build a wide, tall fire that can burn steadily for an hour, and start at least half an hour before the fish goes on. Hardwood gives more even heat and less soot than softwood. The basics of building a fire and keeping it going are in lighting a fire, and choosing firewood in fire skills and tips.

    If you'd rather lay the plank over embers, fish side up, that's a different method. You'll find it in meat and fish on a plank over embers.

    At home and by the fire

    At home you do the things that take time: pull the pin bones out of the side of salmon with tweezers, soak the plank and whittle the pegs. Salt the salmon an hour before you set off, or the evening before if you're going far. The salt draws out a little liquid and gives firmer flesh that stays on the plank better. Put the salted side in a bag in the cool box with ice packs.

    Salmon is a chilled food and must be kept cold until the last minute. In summer heat it shouldn't sit out for more than two hours in total, and never in the sun. Only take it out once the fire is ready. How to keep raw fish and cooked food apart outdoors, and wash up afterwards, is covered in hygiene and washing up outdoors.

    Where to stand the plank

    The distance. There's no exact measurement, because it depends on how big the fire is. That's why the hand test is so useful. As a rough guide, a smaller fire may need 25–30 centimetres and a proper bonfire almost a metre. The important thing is that the flames never reach the fish. If they do, it gets sooty, the surface burns before the inside is done, and more of the substances that Livsmedelsverket (the Swedish Food Agency) advises us to avoid are formed.

    The angle. The plank should stand almost vertical, leaning only enough to stand steady. If it leans too much, the fish ends up over the fire instead of beside it, and the fat drips into the flames.

    The wind. The radiant heat from the flames goes straight out in all directions and barely cares about the wind. What the wind moves is the flames, the hot air and the smoke, which lean towards the downwind side. If the plank stands there, the flames lick the fish, the surface burns and the smoke hangs over it the whole time. It's better to stand it across the wind or on the upwind side, where the flames lean away from the fish. It's cooler there, so move the plank closer until the hand test is right. Watch the flames and move the plank if the wind shifts. If it's very windy, save it for another day – a big fire in a strong wind is hard to control and dangerous.

    Several planks. If you're cooking for a crowd, stand the planks in a semicircle around the fire and move them one step clockwise every ten minutes. That way everyone gets the same heat.

    Tips for flame-grilled salmon

    • Even thickness. The centre cut of a side of salmon is the most even. The thin belly dries out long before the back is done, so it's better to cut it off and use it for salmon burgers another day.
    • The butter. Brush with butter that has stood near the fire and melted. A small juniper sprig works as a brush and gives the salmon a faint resinous note.
    • Salt before, not after. Salt that has time to work gives firmer fish and a more even flavour. Salt sprinkled on cooked salmon just sits on top.
    • Don't turn it too early. The fish doesn't need turning. It's the plank that moves, not the salmon.
    • Potatoes in the embers. After half an hour the fire gives you a bed of embers at the edge. The potatoes can bake there at the same time, as in baked potatoes in the embers.

    Safety with a big fire

    Flame-grilled salmon needs a bigger fire than ordinary cooking. Always check whether there's a fire ban where you are – the decision of the county administrative board (länsstyrelsen) or the municipality applies. What the rules look like is covered in lighting fires outdoors – rules and responsibilities.

    • Make your fire at a permanent fire pit or on gravel or sand, never on bare rock, moss or peat, and not under branches.
    • Don't light a fire when it's very windy, and put it out if the wind picks up.
    • Keep a bucket of water and a spade close by the whole time. The edges of the plank can start to glow – splash on a little water.
    • Put it out completely afterwards: pour on water, rake through the ash with the spade and dig underneath, and feel that no heat remains.
    • If someone burns themselves: cool with cool water for about a quarter of an hour, no longer, and never with ice or snow.

    More advice on fire and safety is in fire safety in nature.

    The fish. Salmon should reach at least 60 degrees in the centre, which kills any parasites. Wild-caught salmon from the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia can contain dioxins and PCBs. Livsmedelsverket advises children and young people, and anyone who is pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to get pregnant, to eat it no more than 2–3 times a year. Farmed salmon is not covered by that advice. Don't leave leftovers sitting out – put them in the cool box and then in the fridge at 4 degrees as soon as you get home.

    Allergens: fish and milk (butter, soured cream).

    Flame-grilled salmon with children

    A big fire is exciting and dangerous at the same time. Mark a clear boundary on the ground, for example a ring of sticks a little way out from the fire, and agree that only the adult tending the fire goes inside it. The children sit on the upwind side, where there's no smoke.

    There's plenty the children can do before and after. They can sprinkle salt and dill, count the pegs and help gather dry wood. Older children can whittle pegs with an adult beside them. They can also do the hand test together with an adult, well away from the flames, and feel how the heat changes as the plank is moved. An adult takes care of the plank, the butter brush near the fire and adding wood. More jobs to give the children by the fire are in cooking with children over a fire.

    Common mistakes

    • The fire is too small. A small fire gives too little radiant heat, and the salmon is grey and lukewarm after an hour. Build a wide fire from the start.
    • The plank is too close. The surface blackens while the middle is raw. Move the plank back and give it time.
    • The fish comes loose. The pegs are too shallow or too close to the edge. Knock in more, and place them a little further into the flesh.
    • The flames lick the fish. The plank is on the downwind side or leaning too much. Move it across the wind or to the upwind side, and stand it more upright.
    • The top is pale, the bottom dry. The heat is uneven. Turn the plank upside down for a short while, or move it so the top comes closer to the middle of the flames.
    • Uneven thickness. The thin belly dries out. Cut it off beforehand, or tuck it in under itself.

    Flame-grilled salmon variations

    • Arctic char, rainbow trout or whitefish. Oily fish works best. Lean fish such as zander dries out more easily. Small whole fish, gutted and scored along the sides, can be fixed the same way to a smaller plank.
    • Honey at the end. Brush a thin layer of runny honey over the salmon in the last few minutes for a sweet and salty surface.
    • Lemon and juniper berries. Scatter crushed juniper berries and grated lemon zest over the salmon before the pegs go in.
    • Cold the next day. Leftover flame-grilled salmon is lovely cold in a sandwich or in a salmon soup.
    • A smokier flavour. If you'd rather have the salmon smoked, see hot-smoking fish over a fire.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is loimulohi?

    Loimulohi is Finnish and means roughly flame-grilled salmon. The salmon is fixed to a plank with wooden pegs and stood at an angle at the edge of an open fire, where it's cooked by the radiant heat. In Finland it's part of summer, and it's also sold at markets.

    What wood should the plank be made of?

    Untreated and ideally planed wood. Alder is often considered the best, but spruce and pine are also used in Finland and work well if you choose a piece without large knots or resin pockets. Birch, aspen and beech work too. Never use pressure-treated, painted, varnished or glued wood.

    Can I use ordinary nails?

    Preferably not. Iron nails get hot, cook the flesh around them and can make the fish come loose. Wooden pegs in pre-drilled holes are best. Stainless steel nails will do if you don't have pegs. Galvanised building nails are made for timber and don't belong in food.

    How long should flame-grilled salmon stand by the fire?

    A whole side of salmon takes about 40–60 minutes, a thinner fillet about 25–35 minutes. The time depends on the size of the fire, the distance and the wind. The fish is done when it reaches at least 60 degrees in the thickest part.

    Should the plank be soaked?

    Yes, ideally for an hour. A wet plank doesn't char as easily at the edges and lasts for more uses.

    What's the difference from plank salmon on the grill?

    On the grill the plank lies flat over the embers, often with a lid, and the fish is cooked by heat from below and smoke from the plank. Flame-grilled salmon stands beside the flames and is cooked from the side. That method is described in the guide to meat and fish on a plank over embers.

    More guides and recipes to read

    More for an evening by the big fire

    A fire that burns evenly for an hour

    Flame-grilled salmon needs a tall, steady flame for a long time. Here's how to build the fire, choose wood and keep it going without it collapsing.

    Read about lighting a fire

    Whittle the pegs yourself

    The knife, the grips and which wood is suitable. The same know-how covers pegs for the plank, a roasting stick and a tripod.

    To the whittling guide

    Potatoes in the embers while the salmon stands

    The fire for the salmon gives you a bed of embers at the edge. The potatoes bake there during the same hour, and everything is ready at the same time.

    Bake potatoes in the embers