High-Altitude Baking Adjustments
For High-Altitude Bakers: Altitude ranges may impact your baking; adjustments in ingredients, time, and temperature are often necessary. High altitude refers to baking at 3,500ft (1,067m) and above. It would be impractical to provide a recipe at, let’s say 5,000ft for Denver, when your kitchen is at sea level, such as London, or at Leadville’s 10,000ft. Mountaintop Kitchen is at 7,000ft. A better practice is to calibrate your recipes for your unique altitude when needed starting with sea-level recipes using a reliable source to estimate adjustments, such as this chart from King Arthur Baking Company. This way; if you’re baking in Detroit (my childhood hometown), Denver, Santa Fe (one of my adult hometowns), or in the Sierra Made Occidental mountains (our current location), you can make informed adjustments for successful bakes every time. A single recipe can’t do that for you. For more detailed information visit the Colorado State University Extension and the New Mexico State University pages on high-altitude considerations.
It’s best practice to consult these or similar resources to see if you need to make any adjustments for boiling point (important when making caramels, candies, etc.), ingredient quantities, time, or temperature. One recipe, even if written for a high altitude may still need adjustments: Denver’s elevation is different from Mexico City’s (higher), Toas’ (even higher elevation) and Pretoria’s (much lower).
These adjustments are particularly important for delicate cakes and breads (where leavening agents are key) and less important for cookies, bars/traybakes, and flatter fare. It all depends on the recipe. Unless a recipe is specifically written for your elevation, consider making altitude adjustments; your famous chocolate cake baked every year for the holidays in Portland might be a flop when visiting Aunt Gumersinda’s mountain chalet in Toluca, Mexico.
Also, when making candies, caramels, etc., it’s important to know the water boiling point for your elevation. Liquids boil at lower temperatures the further up the mountain, butte, or other land formation that you go. For example, the Mountaintop Kitchen is about 7,000ft above sea level. Therefore, for making caramel at any stage (soft boil, hard crack, etc.), the working temperature must be reduced by about 12 degrees Fahrenheit (212-200) from the standard sea-level recipe. Use the chart below to guide you in your adjustment decision-making. A candy or probe thermometer comes in handy when making candies, caramels, brittle, etc.
