Why does it take longer for food to cook at higher elevations?!
Why does it take longer for food to cook at higher elevations?
Just wondering. I see this on a lot of packages, like Hamburger Helper.
Answers:
Cooking at high altitude:
All cooking processes are directly affected by atmospheric pressure.
At sea level, water boils at 212o F, but on mountaintops and other high-altitude regions, the boiling point is much lower.
For about every 500 feet of ascent, the boiling point is lowered 1oF.
At a 7,000 foot elevation, water would boil at about 198o F. Because the water is boiling at a lower temperature, it would take longer to cook food by boiling.
Baking at high altitude
Atmospheric pressure is less at high altitudes than at sea level or more normal elevations.
This lower pressure affects the baking of cakes in several ways.
Heat rises from the bottom of an oven, but since there isn't sufficient air pressure from above to balance this upward pressure, the cake tends to expand too rapidly.
Air cells in the cake can break and escape because of this too-rapid expansion, resulting in a cake that will dip or fall.
Batter may overflow the pan due to the too-rapid expansion of the cake.
Cakes can remain underdone if temperature is not raised to adjust for the lower boiling point at high altitudes.
Due to rapid evaporation of liquids at high altitudes, cakes must be carefully timed to avoid excess dryness.
Part of many directions is to boil the liquid in the pan. Water boils at lower temperatures as you gain elevation. So, the water boiling in your pan is at a lower temperature, and the food takes longer to cook at that lower temperature.
This is due to the atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure decreases with elevation. The higher the altitude (elevation), the lower the atmospheric pressure. The lower the altitude, the higher the atmospheric pressure. More pressure--faster cooking.