purbeast

Hey so does anyone have any places in the DMV they recommend going to get SCUBA certified? I just got back from the Keys and didn't have time to dive or even snorkel since I was with my family and the seas didn't cooperate the day I was going to snorkel, but now I'm going to finally get certified for SCUBA. My plan is to do the pool and class work around here, and then do the checkout dives either in Grand Cayman in September or take a trip to the Keys over winter time and do them there. I did a bit of research and SPE Dive School (https://www.scubaedu.com/) had good reviews from yelp so for now that is my plan. I'm going to their free orientation tonight since that is a requirement anyways, plus it will help me get some questions answered. I've gone back/forth of doing the eLearning versus classroom setting, however I think for the way I learn best a classroom setting where I can ask questions and interact will be the best for it. I'd be curious though if anyone has any other recommendations for companies. And there's no chance I'm doing my checkout dives at the quarry in VA so no need to even mention those!

Back surgery as a rookie on your spine is not a good sign. When I was like 24 I was squatting all wrong and had a partially bulging disc (that still aggrivates me to this day and I'm 36) and I remember going to the docs and saying getting surgery at that age was a very very last resort. And back pain is no f'ing joke. That **** can put you out and make it hard for you to function and breathe.

I preheated for like 10-12 minutes. It was barely charred at that point it seemed like when I flipped it over.

I did preheat it for like 10 minutes when the grill was at 350 and I never saw any smoking from it. I did then flip it and put the fish on it.

The salmon came out pretty good and it was pretty easy to cook by not really having to do much. I don't really know what the cedar plank added as far as taste/aroma goes, it didn't seem to add much. But the salmon was very juicy and moist. The only upside I'd say this had over direct on the grate was that it was basically no maintenance - I just put it on and looked at my phone until it was around 130 degrees then took it off. It definitely took longer than grilling directly on the grill too but again, no flipping or anything. I think once I use my other plank I'll probably stick to just grilling directly on the grate. I also used a different type of seasoning so it's hard to do a 1:1 comparison of the two methods.

Giving the cedar plank method a shot tonight for salmon, hope it turns out good!

Crushed it again tonight!

I have so much damn meat lol. I'll try to snag some pics.

Found out like an hour ago that I'm going to be manning the grill tonight because my wife's family is about to come here with a bunch of costillas and chicken lol.

That police work is also with massive overtime, so it's an apples to oranges comparison with your salary to theirs. My brother is a DC firefighter and he makes more than his salary because he's constantly working overtime which I believe includes time and a half pay.

Oh wow okay I had no clue. I figured you could use em till they like wore away. Well **** I soaked them yesterday but did not use them, hope that didn't screw anything up with them! They didn't seem warped or anything.

How many times can you use the cedar planks before you have to toss them? I'm assuming you get more than 1 use out of them...

I actually did not cook the asparagus on the grill they were stove top in a sauce pan. I was focusing on not f'ing up the fish so I did those inside lol. The worst part about asparagus is when you go to take a piss like 3 hours later and are like 'WTF is that smell?? OOOOH YEAH!!!' I do still want to try the cedar plank method though. I could definitely smell the aroma coming off of them yesterday when I took them out of the packet, and even more so after I had soaked them. Next time I cook salmon on the grill I will give that a go, or maybe I will try another type of fish on the cedar plank. I plan to do go rockfishing this year at some point so if I get some nice pieces of meat from there, I'll definitely try those on the cedar plank too.

Yeah so I crushed those salmon filets on the grill they turned out SSSSSOOOO good. I got the grill to like 450 or so and put them on skin side down and kept the top open for like 5 minutes that way. Then I shut the top for about 3 minutes (these first 2 steps I saw from a recipe) and then it wasn't hot enough so I flipped them so that I could get some char on the non-skin side. I cooked them for about 3-4 more minutes that way and took them off. The temp when I took them off was about 125 and they both got up to 131 as the high temp. They were cooked just about perfect for the way we like it. And my wife loved the crisp skin. I am not a big fan of it so I ate just the fish. I was surprised I finished the whole 1.2lb piece lol, although the skin weighed more than I thought it did (as I felt it after I ate everything else). The marinade was very good too. All in all it turned out great. Also, the iGrill thermometer slipped out pretty easily of the salmon as I moved it around. I never had that problem with beef or pork but I feel a spot checking thermometer may be easier for salmon next time. My wife took a pic of her plate but I didn't get a pic of the inside or skin side. The skin side was pretty charred but it tasted pretty good when I had a piece of it. I dunno I just have this mental block eating fish skin lol. My wife only ate 1/2 of hers and as you can see, it nearly takes up the whole plate lol.

Another quick question about cooking salmon - do you let it sit out for like 30 minutes before cooking to get to room temp like you do with other meats? Or just go straight to grill?

I have the planks soaking right now just in case she wants to try that method. I can't believe how big these pieces of salmon are though, I should have just gotten one lol. I didn't realize there was more folded under. They are like 1.2lbs each.

Wife made the executive decision that she wants it skin side down on the grill lol so I will let you all know how they turn out! I just prepared the marinade so we'll see how it goes. I think I'm going to use the iGrill with these though so that I know when to take them off. When doing directly on the grill everything I read said to have it 'med-high' so I think I'll get it up to like 425 or so.

On my old grill I have made some salmon where it goes directly onto the grates and I kept it all intact so I'm hoping if I go that route that it will turn out okay lol. Still waiting to hear back on what the wife prefers. I also did flip it when doing it that way. I personally am not a fan of eating the skin but if it's crispy I will have some of it, but when it's soggy, not a chance, so the worst case is the skin is ruined that I wouldn't have really eaten anyways lol. But I do like possibly going the route on the plank and not flipping it, and that way I can cook it with some sliced onions on it.

This is the recipe I was talking about which has a lot of good feedback. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12720/grilled-salmon-i/ I also just ran to Lowes and got some cedar planks so I may try that out. I'm going to just ask my wife if she wants me to do it directly on the grill or on the plank, but I'm leaning towards the plank after doing a little bit more research. It also seems easier since you're basically baking it at 350 as oppose to trying to get the skin hot/crispy and risking it falling apart as you mention. I also plan to use the iGrill thermometer to make sure that I do not overcook it. @skinsfan1311 thanks for your reply as well.

Thanks for the tips. I was looking at a recipe that called for soy sauce, brown sugar, oil (was going to use olive oil), and water. And that was after you put some lemon pepper, garlic, and salt on the salmon before putting into marinade. I was going to try that. I plan on getting home around 4pm today and was going to start preparing the marinade and put the salmon in it until around 7. Is that too long to marinade salmon? As for the cedar planks, what is the actual benefit of that over putting right on the grill? Is it just basically to save the skin from getting stuck and ruined? When using a cedar plank does the skin come out crispy? That is one of the best parts about putting it directly on the grill. Also, what temperature do you put the grill to when cooking salmon? Every recipe I've seen says "medium" but that could mean a lot of different temps. One I saw did say 350 though so maybe that's considered "medium"? The midpoint on the thermometer on my grill is 425 so that would be "medium" in my eyes lol.

A Quiet Place - 8/10 - I really liked the atmosphere in this movie a lot. It was very well done and the acting was great. There was like 1 or 2 stupid things in it that I was like "really?" and didn't expect from a more serious movie like this one and I may have thought higher of it without those parts, but overall it was great. The soundtrack is incredible in this movie, even though so much of it is pretty quiet. I also like how they don't spoonfeed you everything about what is going on and why things are the way they are.

I don't have one of those. I have a recipe I'm going to try tomorrow though and just throw on the grill like I've done before and hope for the best!

So tomorrow is my wife's birthday and she has requested salmon for her birthday dinner. I'm looking for people's favorite salmon on the grill recipes as far as seasoning and stuff goes. Also, do you recommend cooking salmon directly on the grill or wrapped in foil? I have done both with my older grill and definitely preferred the taste of right on the grill, however most of the skin would be stuck and was a pain to try and get off intact.

Rented A Quiet Place from Redbox last night but the one weeknight in the past year I rented a movie my toddler son decided he didn't want to go to sleep so we had to cut it off like 30 minutes in. I plan to finish it tonight but so far I like what I've seen.

I agree with Waterworld being pretty decent. It's entertaining and to think about how much money they wasted on that movie back in the 90's is pretty damn impressive.