High Altitude Cooking... or not (Santa Fe, Hope: refrigerator, suite, eat)

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by SoggyInSeattle

'Course it won't be as exiting as boiling cakes but not as messy!!

HAHAHAHA!

Okay. I just took my rolls out of the oven -- they rose but just right, not too much. They are golden brown and look perfect.

However.....what are they like on the inside?

I am tempted to break one open to see if it is perfect .... or raw.

[Towanda]

I found a couple of web pages that have some good tips on high-altitude cooking:

High Altitude Cooking

Chillin' and Grillin'

The second link has a biscuit recipe that I might try.

[WasSoggyInSeattle]

Thanks - I'll try the biscuit recipe too. I might even try sending him my boiled cake and see if he can adjust the recipe for me. Thanks Towanda! How were the insides of your rolls??? The rest of my dinner turned out fine (but I didn't make bread).

[Towanda]

The rolls were perfect. And I didn't make any high-altitude adjustments. THAT is the part that drives me crazy -- some things turn out and some do not.

[lisdol]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Tina:

After I don't know how many bread failures, I resorted to a bread recipe our cousin in Santa Fe gave me 38 years ago when I was learning to make bread.

I decided last week if that bread always worked for her, maybe it would work for me too.

The result ---- PERFECT bread.

It rose very big and didn't collapse and it was baked all the way through.

I was rejoicing -- I will be using that recipe from now on!

Can I have your recipe?

I am working on bread this winter. I have a 25 lb bag of bread flour and a bulk bag of yeast from Costco and am determined to get breadmaking at 6600 ft down pat.

[WasSoggyInSeattle]

Me too, me too... well not the 25lbs of bread flour & yeast, but I would like the recipe!!

[Towanda]

I'm not trying to avoid the question ... I'm trying to find the time to type the recipe out for this thread -- too much going on here this weekend -- I will try to get it done tonight or tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

[Zemindar1]

I am in Albuquerque and can relate the cooking problems...we just moved here and managed to serve what seemed to resemble turkey jerky for Thanksgiving (started as a boneless breast), soupy dressing, strange green beans!! Everything takes sooo long to cook and I swear the seasoning issues are different. I have always been known to be a very good cook but here I would rate in the low numbers!!!

[Towanda]

Hi Zemindar1 --

Have no fear.

We are all going to figure this thing out together.

Today I made a batch of those peanut butter cookies that you put a Hershey's kiss on top. I made the changes I found online for high altitude baking -- added about 1/3 cup more flour, decreased the baking soda to 1 3/4 teaspoons from the 2 teaspoons the recipe called for....and the cookies were perfect. This is the first batch of cookies I have made since we lived here that did not flatten out.

There IS hope!

[Trkstp Tina]

It's good to ask the "locals"--people who have lived in ABQ their whole lives--for recipes.The "Pie in the Sky" cookbook author believes that there are no set rules for cooking at high-altitude--each recipe has to be tinkered with individually. Meaning just increasing the flour, decreasing the baking soda and adding extra liquid may help--or may not, or maybe you have to do something else. Very discouraging. Who has time or inclination to test a recipe multiple times?