I cook salmon in tin foil, skin side down, covered with pepper, onion slices and lemon...seal it up and cook it till it's done. It's amazing. I've had planked salmon, and it's good (and it was cedar, served in a restaurant). Almost if not all plants and trees have toxins..they vary from plant to plant and reactions vary person to person. A couple of years ago I was smoking like crazy in my little grill....coals on one side, a pan of water on the other, the meat over the water, and wood chips in the charcoal for flavored smoke. I made some amazing boston butts and chickens.