High altitude cooking with Stella restaurant’s chef Jacob Burton

“Cooking at altitude can be intimidating for the uninitiated, but once you understand the basic underlying science, you’ll never need another high altitude cook book again,” Chef Jacob Burton, chef at Stella restaurant at the Cedar House Sport Hotel in Truckee, writes on his blog.

“As most of you are already aware, cooking at altitude will effect the food you’re preparing, sometimes causing undesirable results.

“Food items that heavily rely on water’s boiling point, such as pasta, potatoes, and braising meat, will simply take longer to cook since the boiling point of water is reduced at altitude. Cakes, breads, and pastries also have a tendency to dry out, crack, and deflate starting at around 3,000 feet (914 meters).

“To understand why this happens, you must first grasp the science behind water.”

A three-part lecture series is here:

Part 2:

Part 3: