Fully one-third of the population of the United States lives at high altitudes. Cooking at a high altitude requires some special considerations. The thin air — less oxygen and atmospheric pressure — affects both the time and the temperature of most everything that’s cooked. Where the altitude is above 3,000 feet, special cooking methods are needed for meat and poultry.
What is considered a high altitude?
Most cookbooks consider 3,000 feet above sea level to be high altitude, although at 2,000 feet above sea level the boiling temperature of water is
208 °F instead of 212 °F. Most of the western United States (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming) are wholly or partly at high altitude, however many other states contain mountainous areas that are also well above sea level.
