Anyone that has done even a moderate amount of baking - either from a box or from scratch - has seen advisories giving baking time or ingredient adjustments for “high altitude.” What’s that all about?

#highaltitudebaking #bakingathighaltitude #altitudeadjustments

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I remember some of my early encounters with high altitude - and it wasn’t with baking! The first was hiking around in the mountains as a kid and wondering why I was winded so easily. The second reality check came later when I was an older teen and was riding my motorcycle. This was in the days of non-computerized carburetor days. When I gave it the throttle to get going up a long hill, my ride was SERIOUSLY lacking in power, due to the air/fuel mix being way off for where I was. When I got down to lower elevations, all was fine.

In baking, “high altitude” generally means over 3500 feet/1067meters above sea level. Well, that certainly covers a lot of us!

What’s the big deal about altitude changes when it comes to baking cookies, cakes, quick bread, and leavened bread? A lot, actually. Because there is less air pressure at higher altitudes, this affects moisture balance, baking speed, and how fast baking processes (like how fast batter rises) proceed.

Adjustments are generally in baking temperature, baking time, moisture ratio, and the amount of rising agent. High altitude baking usually requires a higher baking temp to avoid having the batter “over-rise” before the structure of the baked good is set. But this means that the item is baked for a shorter time because it bakes faster as the temp is higher.

To get a more complete picture, here are a couple of great resources that much of this episode is based on. As you can see, you need to make adjustments in your recipes, for your precise location, adjusting only one ingredient until you get the results you are aiming for. The adjustments outlined at these websites are great starting points and will get you desirable results faster.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/lear...

https://www.wheatmontana.com/content/...

These are both very helpful. The King Arthur Baking resource gives a great education and the “whys” of the adjustments. The WheatMontana.com site gives an abbreviated version of the adjustments AND includes a nice set of high-altitude recipes for chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, fluffy pancakes, biscuits, and bread.

No more cakes that have fallen in the middle, or breads with less than desirable texture when you bake in a high-altitude area. You got this. JUST DO IT YOURSELF!

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