High-Altitude Cooking

High-altitude cooking is cooking carried out at elevations considerably above sea level, where reduced atmospheric pressure lowers the boiling point of water; the effect becomes noticeable starting around 2,000 feet, roughly 610 meters, of elevation, and for every 500 feet gained the boiling point drops by about 1 degree Fahrenheit, so that water boiling at 100 degrees Celsius at sea level boils at only about 92 degrees Celsius at 8,000 feet. Because water-based cooking methods reach a lower maximum temperature at altitude, food generally needs a longer cooking time to reach the same result, and cooks at altitude sometimes turn to a pressure cooker, which raises internal pressure and lets water reach a higher boiling temperature, to shorten that time back down.