Smoking Salmon with Flower Pots

Earlier this summer this was my smoker setup. Salmon was the flavor of the day here with apple wood chunks for smoke. I have an electric burner in the bottom with stainless steel wood pan. Over that I place a smaller grill and an aluminum pot with water in it. I used too large a grill to allow more heat to escape. The smoker only needed to be around 170 degrees.

This flower pot smoker does a nice job but is restricted by size. The grill size is 13 inches diameter. Not too sure if a whole beef brisket will fit on it, but tri-tips and a pork butt roast do fit.

After building it I'm sure I could have bought a cheaper smoker but it wouldn't have been stoneware.

Lesser Goldfinch

Lesser Goldfinch, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.

Either sipping for nectar or pecking at an undeveloped seed. We tried all morning to get several species of birds on these flowers, but only two goldfinches came. Could have been the same one twice also.

Orange-crowned Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.

Frank and I spent the morning shooting birds from blinds at his pond. I believe this is an Orange-crowned Warbler. It also resembles a Warbling Vireo. I mostly photograph them then look them up and lots of them look alike to me in the book. If you can confirm yea or nay on my identification please leave me a comment.

I changed the name of this bird after receiving input from a bird ID group on Flickr. Without doing a hands-on exam, I don't think anyone can tell for sure which warbler it is though.

Mt. Lassen and Chaos Grags

Mt. Lassen and Chaos Grags, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.

I took this in July while on a solo camping trip near Old Station. Solo camping is rather solitary and gets old after three nights out. At least it did for me. Doesn't mean I won't do it again.

I towed the Samurai up and slept in the back of the truck...on a mattress...in a truck bed tent. The Samurai and I went exploring during the day.

Mary won't go tent camping any more. So, if I can't find someone else, I go alone.

It's empty!

It's empty!, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.

A Lesser Goldfinch staging on a spent sunflower, waiting for a turn at the feeder. Mary wanted a photo of one on a beautiful gallon pot of Rudbekias she bought. I put them right next to the feeder and salted the flowers with seeds only to find out they preferred the dead sunflowers with no seeds.

Thanks Frank for the use of your spot.

A High Spot

A High Spot, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.

This is looking north along the Lost Coast near Shelter Cove. Actually we could see Shelter Cove about two miles down as the crow flies behind the Samurai. It is about a hour long, ten mile drive though. This view is from the Paradise Ridge Rd.

The ocean and beaches were foggy all day this day.

Common Murre, Shelter Cove, CA

Common Murre, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.

This little guy was either very docile or sick. I took this shot with my 100mm macro lens from around eight or ten feet away. Most of the time it's eyes were closed. About fifty feet behind me was the remnants of a boat. Post to arrive soon.

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker, a photo by Jim Arnold (jga154) on Flickr.

Just a couple hours in a photo blind at Frank's refuge. We saw a Western Tanager and Black-headed Grosbeak, but they did not come down in range. Thanks Frank. Visit my Flicker photostream for a few more shots.

Dutch Oven Sourdough Biscuits

Yes that is my old satellite dish. I tried to give it away, nobody wanted it. Let's see if it makes a good redneck cook-top.

I was up by 5:30 this morning to make a batch of biscuits for breakfast in my new Dutch Oven. I have never cooked with this method before so I wanted to try it on Mary and me first. They were done much quicker than the directions I had said to cook them. That was OK because I checked them at just the right time.

Some of the recipes I read said you figure briquettes at 25 degrees each, others said to use another formula. It is to use the number of briquettes equal to your oven diameter plus three for the top and minus three for the bottom, ie; 10" oven = 13 on top and 7 under. My calculations showed that to be 500 degrees, 20 briquettes x 25 degrees each. Maybe that is why they cooked quicker.

They still came out good. The recipes warn they will not be light and fluffy as it is a cowboy method. Anyway I'll try some meat another time. For more photos take a look at the previous blog: Dutch Oven Cooking

Dutch Oven Cooking