Great post! We live at almost 10,000 ft in NM. Food has been an interesting struggle. One of my favorite thins has been a pressure cooker. They are really helpful at high altitude. Makes a lot of things much easier— pork loin with green chile, beans, etc. Oh and I make a lot of cornbread— it’s easy and a lot more robust than fussing with bread when that seems too much.
Chemistry nerd here - love this post! I live below 3,000 feet elevation, so I just give things like pasta an extra minute in the heavily salted boiling water or just taste test to check. I've heard the perfect HB egg is challenging to master in any elevation, so congrats! (I only ever eat them crumbled on a Cobb salad.) I've been wondering about how the dry air affects things too, like the weight of a measured cup of flour. I love that they challenged chefs at high altitude for TV!
Apr 18, 2022·edited Apr 18, 2022Liked by Kelton Wright
Best lead paragraph I've read in a long while—bravo :-). I am envious of your hard boiled eggs. Here in our home at 9K', we have tried every tip ever given, and it's still hit or miss whether the egg will peel well or whether the shells will stick. Boil vs. steam; add baking soda or not; older eggs vs. day-old eggs (our eggs are fresh from our chickens) ... tried them all. We've settled on steaming as the way to maximize our chances of having an egg that will peel as you described in your intro.
This was fun! You high altitude dwellers are champions. Also, I'd love a scoop of that pie and a few of Ben's homemade cinnamon rolls right about now, thank you very much!
An oscar for the funniest boiled egg description ! Hahaha that bit got me hooked and every word after that was more and more fascinating ! I live at 4000 feet and never thought much about this topic, but now I wonder if that may be the explanation to my string of failed soufflés.... Your writing is truly hot.
I used to bake cakes for local restaurants at 10,000 feet. I used exclusively egg white leavened French cakes with buttercream and meringue frostings. They turned out far better than they do when I try to duplicate the high altitude results in middle Tennessee.
My virtual pie baking workshops on Zoom have folks baking at various high altitudes and it’s fun for all participants to watch and learn as we troubleshoot and adjust. You may find Susan Purdy’s book “Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes” helpful. My trusty inherited 1963 GE fridge gave up after 58 years.
Great post! We live at almost 10,000 ft in NM. Food has been an interesting struggle. One of my favorite thins has been a pressure cooker. They are really helpful at high altitude. Makes a lot of things much easier— pork loin with green chile, beans, etc. Oh and I make a lot of cornbread— it’s easy and a lot more robust than fussing with bread when that seems too much.
Chemistry nerd here - love this post! I live below 3,000 feet elevation, so I just give things like pasta an extra minute in the heavily salted boiling water or just taste test to check. I've heard the perfect HB egg is challenging to master in any elevation, so congrats! (I only ever eat them crumbled on a Cobb salad.) I've been wondering about how the dry air affects things too, like the weight of a measured cup of flour. I love that they challenged chefs at high altitude for TV!
I know where the porks “chips” taste is from.
Best lead paragraph I've read in a long while—bravo :-). I am envious of your hard boiled eggs. Here in our home at 9K', we have tried every tip ever given, and it's still hit or miss whether the egg will peel well or whether the shells will stick. Boil vs. steam; add baking soda or not; older eggs vs. day-old eggs (our eggs are fresh from our chickens) ... tried them all. We've settled on steaming as the way to maximize our chances of having an egg that will peel as you described in your intro.
This was fun! You high altitude dwellers are champions. Also, I'd love a scoop of that pie and a few of Ben's homemade cinnamon rolls right about now, thank you very much!
Brave to leave Cali for this new life. I’m spoiled with 6 cool grocery stores within 2 mikes of me here in the Bay Area. At least you get Internet!
I love this post so much.
I loved this. You had me at egg hat and pants. 🥚⏲
An oscar for the funniest boiled egg description ! Hahaha that bit got me hooked and every word after that was more and more fascinating ! I live at 4000 feet and never thought much about this topic, but now I wonder if that may be the explanation to my string of failed soufflés.... Your writing is truly hot.
I used to bake cakes for local restaurants at 10,000 feet. I used exclusively egg white leavened French cakes with buttercream and meringue frostings. They turned out far better than they do when I try to duplicate the high altitude results in middle Tennessee.
My virtual pie baking workshops on Zoom have folks baking at various high altitudes and it’s fun for all participants to watch and learn as we troubleshoot and adjust. You may find Susan Purdy’s book “Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes” helpful. My trusty inherited 1963 GE fridge gave up after 58 years.
7000' in Utah. The flour dries out too. Everything cooks different.
This was fascinating! I do all the cooking in our house, but we’re in Los Angeles, so the altitude isn’t really a consideration.
Ha, I can't cook or bake at sea level, never mind at elevation. Fun post....