Copyright 2006 Tony Buel

If you have ever cooked at a higher altitude, you will have noticed that something was strangely different.

The food you were working so hard to prepare didn't quite turn out as expected, did it? It also took longer to finish cooking than you had anticipated.

You have just learned that the cooking strategy you had perfected over time will need some 'adjustment'.

Here's why it happened. At higher altitudes, the air pressure in the atmosphere is lower than it is at lower altitudes. This difference in air pressure is quite evident when you are trying to catch your breath. It is this same difference in air pressure which affected how your food turned out.

You see, at sea level water boils at 212 degrees F. But at an altitude of 7500 feet however, it boils at about 198 degrees F. - Big difference when it comes to cooking!

This difference in the water boiling temperature has a great effect on food and food cooking processes. It will affect the flavor and taste of food.

Food will be underdone because the moisture in the food itself and the water in which it is being cooked boils off more quickly. Because of this, your food can easily cook dry.

Also, unless you make special adjustments to the temperature of cooking oil, deep fried foods will be over-brown on the outside and undercooked on the inside.

Another side-effect of high altitude cooking is that sugar syrups used in making candies, frostings and jellies will concentrate much more rapidly than at lower elevations.

One final important fact to be aware of: Canned fruits, tomatoes and pickled vegetables do not become thoroughly processed because of the lowered boiling point of water. And low-acid foods (vegetables, meat and poultry) can nurture heat-resistant bacteria unless processed longer and at higher poundage in a steam-pressure canner.

When it comes to the individual ingredients themselves, it opens up a whole new can of worms. Here's a statement which is complicated to understand at first, but here goes:

There is a complex inter-play between ingredients which bears a definite relationship to the others. And the quality of the finished product depends on a delicate balance of ingredients which can only be achieved through the proper adjusted quantity of each ingredient.

If you didn't understand that (as I also didn't), there is a book that you should know about which is loaded with information and strategies to offset the unique problems and complexities of high altitude baking and cooking. The book was first published in 1980 by Random House and is called 'The New High Altitude Cookbook' by Beverly M. Anderson and Donna M. Hamilton.

Now when it comes to your crockpot, be sure to allow for considerably more cooking and baking time at the higher elevations.

A quick tip: Aluminum foil on top of the foods being cooked or between the rim of the cooker and the cover will reflect the heat downward into the food. This will be especially helpful at higher elevations.

I hope you found this information useful and be sure to visit my website for more information and recipes!