![\"high](\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/high-altitude-675x450.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDriving through the Sacramento Mountains\nin my slightly underpowered RV, I am acutely aware of the extent to which heat\nand altitude affect my ability to gain speed or maintain it as I climb. I have\nfood with me I can microwave for dinner, but I begin to wonder how high I am\nand whether I\u2019ll need to adjust my cooking times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Altitude is stable and\npredictable. That means it can be adjusted for with relative consistency. If\nyour kitchen is located from sea level to 2000 feet above, you may not have to\nadjust at all or so slightly that you don\u2019t need to think twice about it. At\n3000 feet and above, there is a more noticeable need for adjustment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you ascend above sea level,\nthe air begins to contain less oxygen and atmospheric pressure. This is why\npilots who fly unpressurized aircraft are advised to use supplemental oxygen\nabove 10,000 ft. Less oxygen and atmospheric pressure mean water boils at a\nlower temperature and takes longer to boil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other foods also cook slower and take longer. In addition, baking<\/a> requires special attention to rapid evaporation and the fact that leavening expands more at high altitude. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Turning up the temperature on the\nstovetop doesn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s use boiling water as an\nexample. Water cannot exceed its boiling point unless you increase pressure\n(like in a pressure cooker). Since water boils at a lower temperature at higher\naltitude, turning up the heat will only make it evaporate faster. It won\u2019t make\nit hotter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re going to braise,\nsimmer, or stir-fry meat or poultry, you\u2019ll need to increase the cooking time\nand increase moisture to keep them from drying out. How much longer? At 5000\nfeet, it can take up to one-fourth longer for meat to cook. If you\u2019re at 3000\nfeet, a shorter extension is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When deep frying, the lower\nboiling point of the water content in the foods will require lowering the\ntemperature of the fat to prevent food from over browning on the outside while leaving\nthe inside under-cooked. The decrease will depend on the food being fried, but roughly\nexpect to lower the temperature of the oil about 3\u00b0 F for each increase of\n1,000 feet in elevation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be sure to have a meat\nthermometer on hand. In a high-altitude environment, it can be your best\nfriend. Using a thermometer increases safety and helps prevent over and under\ncooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eggs will need longer cooking\ntimes in high altitude as well. Again, don\u2019t worry about turning up the heat,\njust increase the duration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With slow cookers, the lower\nboiling point can make it difficult to get the food to reach a safe internal\ntemperature. Use the high temperature setting for at least the first hour and\nincrease cooking time. Be sure to keep the lid on. It takes longer than you\nimagine to regain the heat lost from opening the lid. It may also be helpful to\nput a piece of aluminum foil under the lid to keep the heat from dissipating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To keep things confusing, oven\ntemperatures are not affected by high altitude so baked meats can be prepared\nas if you are at sea level. Relying on the oven can be helpful if you\u2019re making\na transition to high altitude cooking. I won\u2019t have that luxury in the RV. I\u2019ll\nbe using the microwave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meat and poultry will require the full recommended microwave cooking time, but I may need to reduce time for other foods that dry out quickly. Now seems to be the time to add a meat thermometer to my RV kitchen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Winding through the mountains on a curvy two-lane highway is more interesting than weaving through trucks on the interstate. It also means my driving and my cooking rely on a long, slow simmer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.fsis.usda.gov\/food-safety\/safe-food-handling-and-preparation\/food-safety-basics\/high-altitude-cooking<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At high altitude, you\u2019ll need a slow simmer. The results you get when cooking any meal are affected by temperature, humidity, and altitude. That\u2019s why cooking is as much art as science. None of us have consistent atmospheric conditions in our kitchens so we have to use memory, senses, and perception to determine if a … Continue reading “A Long, Slow Simmer”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[792,9],"tags":[3445,3444,3443,3447,3446,3448],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5241"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5241"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5248,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5241\/revisions\/5248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}