What's Your Boiling Point?
Our artichokes took over an hour to cook. We cooked them the same way we always cook them, but it took so much longer! It was as if the water wasn't hot enough.
Water boils at 212 degrees F., right? (100 degrees C.)
Not exactly. I took my digital thermometer and measured the boiling water.
Our water boils at 199 degrees. The higher the altitude, the lower the boiling point. I knew that, I just didn't think about it.
You can't heat water above its boiling point. When water hits that point, it turns to steam and leaves the pot. You can't heat water above its boiling point, and ours is 199 deg., 13 degrees cooler than at sea level. That means food takes longer to cook. And I'm an impatient guy when I'm hungry.
What to do? What to do?
It's not like I can take our artichokes to the shore every time I want to cook them. Or can I?
We went to the store and bought ourselves a pressure cooker. Increase the pressure, and it's as if you're cooking at a lower altitude. The water can get so much hotter, and food cooks so much faster.
We tried it tonight, and the artichokes were done in less than 30 minutes!
What's your pressure? 
Blog Tag: Chatter
Posted 10/05/2006 06:20:00 PM
L
On 10/05/2006 6:54 PM, 
Melissa said...
On 10/06/2006 11:48 AM, 
said...
On 10/06/2006 9:55 PM, Melissa said...
On 10/06/2006 11:28 PM, dkgoodman said...
On 10/07/2006 8:14 PM, Alan said...
5 Comments:
I just use the microwave for cooking things like artichokes. Boiling point no longer matters, or does it?
Cake must come out a little strange when cooked in a pressure cooker. :)
Microwave cooking is about the same - maybe just a tad longer. I find that, when baking a cake, if I increase the temprature in the oven by about 25 degrees, it is enough to compensate for the higher altitude. Oddly enough, I did find a recipe for cake cooked in the pressure cooker. Maybe some day when I'm feeling brave, I'll give it a try. This move to higher altitude has been a real learning experience for both of us.
I bet that your red blood cell count is higher now.
I don't know, I've never counted. We don't cook our red blood cells. :)
I cook mine at 373 degrees Kelvin.
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