How do you adjust recipes for a 2000-foot change in elevation?
I've heard that elevation can affect how a recipe turns out. What adjustments would I need to make so that my recipes still turn out right?
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Answers ( 2 )
Elevation won't generally affect but baked items - other foods won't be affected as foods that require rising. And you'd really only need adjustments for altitudes over 5000-5500 feet.
So, breads, cakes and the like need to have adjustments made to the amount of leavening, to reduce so they don't rise too fast, and to adjust liquid and add a bit more so they don't dry out too quickly. Generally, reducing baking soda and/or yeast is to take a bit and reduce about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon, and to add about 1 or 2 tablespoons of liquid. Don't add more egg, that will increase the rising and you want to reduce that impact. Sugar can be reduced by a tablespoon or so. And you can increase oven temperature by about 25 degrees.
The higher the altitude, the more you can reduce - it really depends on the recipe and product you are baking. You might want to experiement before preparing something for a special meal.
To be honest, my first attempt at baking at high altitude in Lake Tahoe, altitude about 6500 feet, resulted in a lattice top pie crust that required a hammer to break. We ate the pie with spoons through the opening of the latticework. It dried too hard, thus the more moisture needed.
Always consult Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cooking#:~:text=At%20sea%20level%2C%20water%20boils,be%20adjusted%20or%20alternatives%20applied. Air pressure dcreases roughly exponentially with altitude (see http://jick.net/skept/Therm/node19.html). If the pressure at sea level is 1 atm, then at 2000 ft it is about 0.93 atm, assuming a constant temperature.
Because the boiling point of water decreases as atmospheric pressure decreases, your boiling water will be cooler at higher altitude. At 2000 ft, water will boil at about 98 C instead of 100 C. That's not a huge difference, but it has two effects: first, anything you cook by placing it in boiling water will cook a little slower; second, anyting you fry or broil or bake at a fixed temperature will lose water slightly faster (because the water in the food will be further above its boiling point), which may produce drier results.
My advice is to rely on your record of empirical results for your own specialties. Remember, "slow cooking" is generally considered a good thing!