High Altitude Cooking? (Laramie, Sheridan: how much, living in, foods)

[teriehl]

Am I going to have to learn to cook all over again??LOL...I know the altitiude makes a difference. We live in south TX....what should I know about high altitude cooking? Gas/electric? Do microwaves work differently?

[shadowwalker]

When you cook things like bread,cake for sure I have a wife now so I don't remember what else.

[sunsprit]

Water boils at a much lower temperature at altitude, so you either must adjust your cooking times (longer) for boiled foods (spaghetti, beans, soups, rice, etc) or use a pressure cooker (which we do for beans/stews, artichokes, etc). The lower boiling temp will affect your coffee, too ... since it's brewed at a lower temperature.

The altitude affects how yeast foods (breads, doughs, pancakes, etc) rise. Your cookbook should have "high altitude adjustments" in it for how much sugar, yeast, salt, liquid, etc., may need to be changed to compensate for the altitude. Baking times and temperatures will vary, too, for the altitude. Some baked foods will never be quite right ... some you'll never notice the difference once you get the recipe adjusted.

It doesn't matter whether you use gas or electric, the recipes will change for both.

We don't use a microwave, so I can't advise you on how that cooking will change at altitude.

[NVDave]

As Sunsprit said, water boils at a lower temperature the higher you go.

You really don't notice the difference much until you get above about 4,000 feet. Yes, there is a difference in boiling temps from 0 to 4,000 feet, but (in general) we never really noticed a difference in cooking outcomes until above 4,000 feet.

At 6,000 feet, you really notice the difference.

Then you have to factor in your barometric pressure. On high pressure days (nice weather) your boiling temps will go up a bit, and on low pressure days, it will go down a bit more.

Another difference you'll notice at high altitudes is that cooked food, served on the table, cools off very quickly. As in "you'd better serve it on a blistering hot plate if you want it warm on the table" fast cool-offs.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by teriehl

Am I going to have to learn to cook all over again??LOL...I know the altitiude makes a difference. We live in south TX....what should I know about high altitude cooking? Gas/electric? Do microwaves work differently?

You will not have a problem. People say water boils at a different temp. Yeah, so what. If your going to boil water you don't wait exactly x number of minutes, you just slap it on the stove and check it every couple minutes til you see it bubbling.

Cake mixes and what not usually have high altitude cooking times. You'll just have to add a couple minutes here or there to get the desired results. But I've never seen a recipe that was right anyhow. You put the cake in the oven and when the timer goes off you check it. You don't just take it out because the box said so. haha You check it and then a couple minutes later, you check it again until you think the cake is done and then you take it out. So it's no big deal.

Ask the people in Laramie how they adjust (7000) ft and they'll tell you, "Adjust to what?"

[HighlandLady]

Elkhunter has stated it right - just check on the cake

That being said - after living in Wyoming at different altitudes for many a year, living and cooking in Alaska is a different thing altogether - it is maybe 100-150 ft altitude where I reside now. Repeatedly checking the cake indeed!

As far as gas or electric - I prefer gas stoves/ovens...not only do they cook quicker, it seems they cook more evenly. I know when I have made candy during the holiday season, gas ovens were more preferred and the high altitude did call for some adjusting.

As far as microwaves are concerned...I've never found a microwave that matches what is called for in the cooking directions!

[Kristynwy]

I thought when we moved to Sheridan, I would have to adjust a lot..

But I moved from 2000 ft elevation in Oregon to almost 4,000 here.. so not much difference. Water boils a little faster. But I have never had problem rising dough ect.

Now over 4,000 feet you may notice a difference...

[emeraldsky]

One nice thing is it doesn't take as long for your bread dough to rise (less air pressure smothering it).

[NVDave]

Where we used to live (about 6,000' even), you really start to notice it - even in fairly common things like cooking pasta. The temperature of boiling water is down to about 200F or slightly less, and now you start to notice boiling foods takes longer.

We've lived from sea level, then about 4,400, then about 6,000, now Sheridan (about 4,000). We really only had to adjust at the 6,000' elevation.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by emeraldsky

One nice thing is it doesn't take as long for your bread dough to rise (less air pressure smothering it).

No.....but that same thing means that it rises faster...higher...and falls harder.

I'm at a relatively low elevation in NM (4400 ft, moved from 2800+)...and I find that I have to reduce yeast (whether breads by hand or bread machine), increase liquids a bit, and bake at a higher/hotter temperature.

It's very weird to look in the oven at an old biscuit/bread/muffin recipe....at the time up...and it hasn't even browned at all.

It takes the middle longer to get done, too....so....increasing the temperature and watching it helps.

I know that I as I go higher, I'm going to have to adjust more, LOL!!