OT - What are you doing now? (2025)

Botch · October 25

First cold-smoke of the season: novalox, med cheddar, and monterey jack:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/3p/zqzi1s0foaw9.jpg

Was having trouble getting the pellets in my smoke tube lit; poured a shot of high-octane rubbing alcohol down on them and they lit right up.

zaphod · October 25

I know nothing about smoking cheese or cold smoking in general. And as a non-brisket zone, smoking on the egg is not something I do in general. But cheese .... hmm.

@botch can you point me at some good places/notes/threads/books to start my learning? I trust your recommendation for quality source material.

GrateEggspectations · October 25

Love it, @botch. I always wanted to do cold smoked salmon, but have always refrained because Meathead said it was too unsafe.

Did you use Nova Scotia salmon?

Botch · October 25

@zaphod, here's the recipe I use to make the gravlox, from a Bon Appetít video (I don't bother with the bay leaves):

Gravlox (Bon Appetit/Brad)

1 fillet Alaskan salmon (low fat)

2 bay leaves, ground

2 tsp black pepper, ground

2 tsp tumeric

1/4 cup salt

1/8 cup sugar

Pinch Gochugaru

Pink Peppercorns

Dill

Capers

Cream Cheese

Lemon juice

thin-sliced red onion

Sliced tomato

Bagels

Poke holes thru skin thoroughly

Mix items Two thru Seven

Spread rub on salmon, both sides

Wrap tightly in Saran Wrap

Set on perforated tray, weigh down

Refrigerate for 3-4 days, turning occasionally

Rinse/dry thoroughly, sprinkle with ground Pink Peppercorns

Slice diagonally as thin as possible

Assemble bagels

Will keep refrigerated 5 days, can be frozen

For Nova Lox:

Refrigerate Gravlox overnight uncovered, to develop pellicle

Cold-smoke for 2-3 hours, pecan or alder

Can't really tell you where I learned the cold-smoke technique; I just fill an A-Maze-N smoke tube with pellets, lay it in the bowl, put in the platesetter (not sure this is necessary) and leave the vents half-open. I don't do it in the summertime, the cheese can melt (it was 40º this morning).

@GrateEggspectations, I know it's ocean-caught (it wasn't the fattier, farm-raised stuff). Because it's coated with salt for four days I'm not worried about safety, and haven't gotten sick yet. ymmv.

zaphod · October 25

thanks @Botch

kl8ton · October 26

Last night putting the robot in the pool. I get to close it tomorrow night!

It was 27° F this morning. I keep pool at 84.

kl8ton · October 27

Now begins winterization week. Pool is off. I have a small weekend of activities for customers on the 31st/1st but it will be very low key. The weather looks fantastic this week so it's Go Time to get outdoor stuff wrapped up. I love October!

fishlessman · October 27

just scheduled a vet visit for this morning, my 14 yo britt faced off with a malumut gsd cross last night. he didnt have a good night

Gulfcoastguy · October 27

fishlessman said:

just scheduled a vet visit for this morning, my 14 yo britt faced off with a malumut gsd cross last night. he didnt have a good night

The pup didn’t pitch in? Anyhow it seems like the old boy still has it. Hopefully the mutt across the street makes good crab trap bait.

ColbyLang · October 27

Watching the coaching debacle carousel at LSU unfold…..gotta love them die hard SEC fans and backers

DoubleEgger · October 27

ColbyLang said:

Watching the coaching debacle carousel at LSU unfold…..gotta love them die hard SEC fans and backers

Hopefully this will be a tipping point with these ridiculous buyouts. The schools need to exert some control.

fishlessman · October 27

Gulfcoastguy said:

fishlessman said:

just scheduled a vet visit for this morning, my 14 yo britt faced off with a malumut gsd cross last night. he didnt have a good night

The pup didn’t pitch in? Anyhow it seems like the old boy still has it. Hopefully the mutt across the street makes good crab trap bait.

the pup thinks im the backup when i get close and blindly charges right in, not the best thing. the malumut was neutered 2 weeks ago and started training in some type of a gps type electric parameter with collar. the hair on those dogs is to thick and heavy that i doubt the collar will work nor that a stubborn malumut will learn......theres enough locals on the street with dogs that his time will probably be short lived anyways

Gulfcoastguy · October 27

Well I can see how that malamute is angry at the world in general. I always thought invisible fence was kind of ridiculous. It doesn’t keep other dogs or kids out of the “fenced” yard.

Canugghead · October 27

Learned something new...with my tankless hot water recirculatory pump running, I get hot water at the manual bidet, not that cold water bothers me. When it gets too hot I can tell google to pause the pump

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/rg/aucn8y0g0cew.jpg

Ozzie_Isaac · October 28

Got back to the USA yesterday after a week of diving. 20 dives in 7 days, a lot of fun. Even did a planned decompression dive. Finished up a bunch of certifications and just had a general blast!

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/rq/at73gp15gn8r.jpeg

kl8ton · October 28

Love the sub shot! Great pics! Congrats on more certs.

Ozzie_Isaac · October 28

kl8ton said:

Love the sub shot! Great pics! Congrats on more certs.

Thank you, and that sub was bonkers, that’s a screenshot from a video a friend took of it. It was surprisingly loud and felt like a Bond villain was driving by 🤣

dbCooper · October 28

@Ozzie_Isaac - Beautiful pics, thanks for sharing and congrats on the certifications.

Sea2Ski · October 28

@Ozzie_Isaac maybe I missed it but what certs did you get?

Also, night dives are my favorite. I prefer to go to the dive location once during the day and then again at night. While no two dives are the same, the difference is that much greater at night. Curious, what dive light are you using?

Ozzie_Isaac · October 28

Sea2Ski said:

@Ozzie_Isaac maybe I missed it but what certs did you get?

Also, night dives are my favorite. I prefer to go to the dive location once during the day and then again at night. While no two dives are the same, the difference is that much greater at night. Curious, what dive light are you using?

Certs so far (all SSI):
Deep
Nitrox
Navigation
Night/Limited Vis
Wreck Diving
Perfect Buoyancy

Working on:
Stress & Rescue
React Right

Diving with Pros has really helped/forced me to get with the program as best I can. They are heavy into underwater photography and are very very good, so I try and model what/how they dive. So this week we did a bunch of deep dives, drift dives, night dives, a wreck dive with penetration, and a ton of "let's see if we can find this rare nudibranch" or "earlier this week so and so saw a frog fish off the end of this coral barrel, let's go find it!"

As far as lights I use a Dive Right CX3 as primary and a Dive Right BX2 as a secondary .... Not sold on the CX3 yet, the external magnetic charging pad corrodes and don't like the push button on/off setup. A few times I thought I turned it off before I stowed it, only to realize I hadn't. The BX2 is really good, but I ran into an issue with it and it gave me trouble.

My partner dives with a Genwiss GN-T42 which was like $39 on Amazon and that light has been great. Two things I do not like about it; LED color is a bit cold and the included battery charger is chintzy. However, I love the switch on, the price, and the fact it just works well with a good beam for daylight dives and not too bright for night dives. I plan to order one to use as my primary, LOL

My friends have some video and camera lights that light up most the ocean, haha, and some cool UV lights too.

kl8ton · October 29

Come on Blue Jays!

GrateEggspectations · October 29

Missed your earlier ask about cold smoking, @zaphod. You may wish to get yourself a pellet maze. Buy some pellets and you’re off to the races for simple, cold smoking. You can cold smoke on the Egg (no charcoal employed) or really in any enclosed space. https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=amazen+pellet+smoker+maze&crid=3E08PZIKQAVKB&sprefix=amazen+pellet+smoker+maze%2Caps%2C302&ref=nb_sb_noss

Lots of info on the forum.

Canugghead · October 29

kl8ton said:

Come on Blue Jays!

Thanks, they heard you!

What a series so far, stayed up till game 3 ended at almost 3am this morning. TBH I was surprised they hung on for so long with the depleted 'spring training' like lineup (sans Springer, Bichette, Barger, Kirk).

David 2, Goliath 2. Go Jays go!

alaskanassasin · October 29

I like the mailbox smoker that was tied to the top of an egg if I recall. Posted here years ago

alaskanassasin · October 29

I am not sure if it is considered a cold smoker but I use the Little Chief for salmon and jerky.

fishlessman · October 29

Making boards. About a third of the way in

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/39/deky1zve8gh2.jpg

alaskanassasin · October 29

Holee chit that’s a stack of dimensional!

Botch · October 29

What kind of wood?

fishlessman · October 29

alaskanassasin said:

Holee chit that’s a stack of dimensional!

The left stack is the 2/3/4inch thick x 4/8/12inch wide all cut 17 foot long plus. The rest is 1 inch thick and there will be a couple of tarp covered stacks outside. From just 4 trees. Then there's the burn pile for the next couple years......

fishlessman · October 29

Botch said:

What kind of wood?

White pine I had cut down this summer. Indoor flooring in the second floor of the garage, 28x38 foot. big roof over a 12x12platform, and an outdoor second floor deck, maybe close in the lean too I'm stacking in for fishing gear

OT - What are you doing now? (2025)

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