High-altitude cooking is
cooking
Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in vario ...
done at
altitude
Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
s that are considerably higher than
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...
. At elevated altitudes, any cooking that involves
boiling
Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapour pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding atmosphere. Th ...
or
steaming
Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American southwest, steam pits used for cooking ha ...
generally requires compensation for lower temperatures because the
boiling point
The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.
The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding env ...
of water is lower at higher altitudes due to the decreased
atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, ...
. The effect starts to become relevant at altitudes above approximately . Means of compensation include extending cooking times or using a
pressure cooker
Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures whic ...
to provide higher pressure inside the cooking vessel and hence higher temperatures.
Boiling
At sea level, water boils at . For every increase in elevation, water's boiling point is lowered by approximately 0.5 °C. At in elevation, water boils at just . Boiling as a cooking method must be adjusted or alternatives applied. Vegetables and some starches will simply take longer to cook, while rice and legumes (beans) usually require a pressure cooker. Pasta will also require a pressure cooker.
Methods used at high altitudes
A pressure cooker is often used to compensate for the low atmospheric pressure at very high elevations. Under these circumstances, water boils at temperatures significantly below 100 °c and, without the use of a pressure cooker, may leave boiled foods undercooked.
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
commented on this phenomenon in ''
The Voyage of the Beagle'':
Boiling point of pure water at elevated altitudes
Based on
standard sea-level atmospheric pressure (courtesy,
NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
):
Source: NASA.
References
{{reflist
External links
Is it true that you can't make a decent cup of tea up a mountain?physics.org, accessed 2012-11-02
Cooking techniques