Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Holes Are Right

I have been experimenting with my sourdough bread for about a year now. The flavor of the loaves has been nice for a long time but I just couldn't get the holes right. By holes I mean the texture of the loaf. Gluten development traps water which turns to steam and makes the holes.

After trying what I thought was everything, at least everything I could find in online sourdough bread baking sites, I had given in to the no hole texture bread. It is very good, just not what I was looking for. I guess what I was looking for would be sourdough French bread style.

By accident I discovered the resolution. The main application I have been using was a San Francisco style sourdough style website. The author suggests using a covered stoneware bread baking dish. This has distinct advantages as it keeps the heat very uniform and traps moisture inside while baking. The trapped moisture makes for a nice glossy topped loaf. He also says not to preheat the oven. So, I didn't preheat...ever.

Come Alton Brown and his "Need Not Bread" application. Alton uses a dutch oven that is preheated to bake sourdough (which in my opinion is not true sourdough) bread. I tried it, burned it (too many briquettes) in my camp style dutch oven, and got perfect holes. Mary was happy and I was happy.

After experimenting with my "real" sourdough, cooking it in a preheated stoneware dish, in the gas oven I found, that was it. Very happy with my bread loaves now.


Saturday, December 10, 2011

Bird Shooting

Western Scrub Jay by Jim Arnold (jga154)
Western Scrub Jay, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.
Garry, Frank, and I spent the morning shooting birds from blinds at Franks preserve. We had some pretty elaborate perches going too. As of 10:00am, when I had to leave this Western Scrub Jay was the most cooperative bird we had.

White-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch

Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee are so hard to photograph without a lot of clutter as they don't get on perches much. They prefer the ground.

I also posted a California Towhee and House Finch on my Flicker site.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Short Notice Geocaching


Close to the top of Bohemotash Mountain with Mt. Shasta in the background.

At about 8:30 this morning Mary and I decided to go for a ride in the Samurai. We chose to take Route 1 from Shasta Dam to Trinity Mtn. Rd. since there is no snow yet. There are some fantastic views up there. We (I) also decided to pickup some geocaches on the way.


The Trinity Alps in the background.


Our last cache of the day. Also where I went down for the count.

A totally great day with my wife.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

North of Shasta Lake

_DSC0024 by Jim Arnold (jga154)
_DSC0024, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.
Garry and I took a drive today in the Samurai to the north of Shasta Lake. We photographed some mushrooms, found some geocaches, and did some mild wheeling. There is some very pretty country up there as well as at least one high place for a view. We found one of the geocaches at Hogback lookout.

Only saw one Forester and some bear hunters.

I posted more mushroom photos on my Flicker Photostream