I currently live at altitude (5,280 ft/1609 m), but I grew up and learned to cook at sea level, so my recipes are written with sea level temperatures and cooking times in mind. This isn't particularly high altitude -- you definitely don't need to do the crazy stuff necessary for 10,000 ft -- but it starts to get noticeable here. Water boils at about 200 degrees instead of 212, for example, which simplifies making certain kinds of tea. You do need to do slight adjustments when baking or making griddlecakes/pancakes.
I have a specific problem, where when I make bean soups using the same recipes I used at sea level, I find that I need to greatly extend the cooking time in order to get the beans to the correct consistency and not crunchy. Short of using a pressure cooker, I'm wondering if there are specific ways I need to change my technique or adjust the recipe to deal with altitude.
A specific recipe I've made at both altitudes goes like this:
- soak dry beans
- drain beans and put in a soup pot along with a ham hock and 7 cups cold water
- bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer until beans are tender
There are additional steps, but this is where things are getting tricksy. The recipe I'm following suggests that you simmer approximately 1.25 hours -- and this is just about accurate for sea level. Following the same steps, at altitude, however, the beans are crunchy and not tender at all at this same point in time. I made this soup a few days ago and ended up having to simmer for nearly double the time (2h 20m roughly) in order to get the beans to the desired consistency. Even though there's 30 minutes of additional simmering after the addition of carrots, celery, onion, garlic, potatoes, the recipe as originally written leaves the beans under-done and unpleasantly firm or crunchy.
Other than doubling the cooking time, are there other ways to adjust this recipe so that the beans get tender? I don't have a pressure cooker and really am not looking to increase my collection of kitchen gadgetry. Otherwise, will increasing temperature help? For example, cooking at a low boil rather than a simmer? I don't think the addition of salt will help since depressing the boiling point further doesn't seem like a good idea.
