Grilling fish and vegetables on a wooden plank has grown into a very popular cooking technique, as it keeps direct heat away from the food, leaving it with delectable moisture and a much richer flavor. If you’re a fan of “planking” on the grill and typically cook a lot of food at the same time, you may want to check out the Sur La Table Three-Tier Plank Holder.
A rack designed to hold three grilling planks at different heights, the tool lets you cook three sets of items at the same time while arranging them in a tiered stepladder setup for a more efficient use of the space. This allows you to cook up to three sets of items on grilling planks while taking up minimal room on the grilling area, freeing up the rest of the grill for the steaks, wieners, and whatever else you’re serving at the party.
The Sur La Table Three-Tier Plank Holder consists of a rack and three grilling planks made from cedar wood. The rack is collapsible, so you can pack it down for storing in a drawer, while the planks should be reusable for several grilling sessions just like any standard cooking plank in the market. And, yes, the rack should work for most any cooking plank you can find at the stores, although you’ll have to make sure it’s around the same size and shape as the ones included here (which, fortunately, happens to be the most common one we’ve seen).
Granted, cooking dishes at different heights means the bottom one is a lot closer to the heat source, so we’re not sure if you can use this to cook three big chunks of salmon at the same time. Then again, maybe it can work if you put down the lid of the grill to better distribute heat inside. As with a lot of things, you might have to experiment with this one to flesh out what can actually be accomplished (and what can’t) using a three-tiered setup.
While designed for cooking, the rack should make for a fine-looking way to present food at the dinner table, too, so even if it proves futile in your own grilling endeavors, it can still serve as a great way to improve your table presentation. I mean, imagine putting all your fried chicken on one rack, French fries on the next, and onion rings on the last one – definitely can make fast food take out look a lot more enticing.
Construction is stainless steel for the rack, so it should hold up to many years of cooking or serving presentation, whichever the case might be. It’s constructed in China, although the planks are made in Canada, so you can be sure you’re getting real wood. The rack, by the way, is dishwasher-safe, so you can just throw it in with the rest of the dishes, although you’ll have to hand wash the planks quite rigorously in order to properly clean them.
Available now, the Sur La Table Three-Tier Plank Holder is priced at $17.99.