Cooking at altitude

            It’s strange, but despite the fact that I do almost none of the cooking, in both cases I was the first to use the oven in the apartments (We had an apartment for 10 days in Peurto Ayora, Galapagos, and now have a different one in Cuenca.  It would have cost too much to ship the other apartment by boat). 

            In both cases, the ovens in question are small-by-U.S.-standards gas ovens, using a propane tank for the gas.  Now, I’ve heard on and on again from folks who do cook, and who have gas ovens, how much better they are, and I always accepted the part about the very quick heating time, at least (though I still prefer the electric as far less likely to explode).  But if this is true, it certainly is not universally true.  Both of these ovens took a very, very long time to heat up, and could not, under any circumstances, be coaxed above 350 degrees F.  Further, the dials are pretty much the “Low-Medium-High” variety, so it is a very good thing that Donna packed an oven thermometer. 

            The real fun came when we got to Cuenca.  This is the third largest city in Ecuador (After Quito and Guayaquil), and sits at about 8000 ft (around 2500 m, and I’ll try to discuss elevation physiology later).  I know enough about cooking to know that things change at elevation (I remember reading the high elevation instructions for cakes when I was growing up, and asking my mom about it), so I expected some issues. 

            One of the main issues is the effects of atmospheric pressure on the boiling temperature of water- higher elevation means lower boiling points, as seen in the accompanying graphs (This is the education portion of our episode):  

Figure 1:  Boiling point of water at altitudes, in U.S. units.  I only took this to 20,000 feet, so if you need to go higher (or below sea level for that matter), use the formula.  Source info from:  http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/boiling-points-water-altitude-d_1344.html

Figure 2:  The same info in rest-of-the-world-friendly SI units.

            For oven baking, I don’t think this is a huge issue, but I’ll be interested to see what it means for microwaving, since boiling water is how they work!

            (First impressions are that things take a while longer in the microwave.  But that may also be due to our microwave being a lower power model than the one at home)

Peanut Butter Cookies:  Making a simple job tough.

            First project- peanut butter cookies for Donna.  My peanut butter cookie recipe is absurdly simple- just three ingredients:  peanut butter, sugar, and an egg.  All three were easily obtained at the Supermaxi.  These seemed like a good first thing to try.

            Let’s outline the issues: 

            Firstly, elevation.  Donna’s research suggested altering the fluid volume slightly, and decreasing sugar a bit.  Sugar was easy, but fluids were few, so I skipped that part.

            Secondly, gas oven that won’t get to 375 deg F, my usual cooking temp.  Okay, since cooking times have to be adjusted at altitude anyway, I’ll just check frequently.

            Thirdly, peanut butter that is not like at home.  Other travelers, or connoisseurs of artisanal foods will recognize this- the peanut butter was substantially less viscous than what I am used to, and the oil separates out.  No biggie, stir well and proceed.

            Fourthly, apparently the eggs I bought were smaller than Donna thought they should be.  Per her suggestion, I used 2 instead of one. 

            But it all mixed together to about the right feel, and I popped a dozen into the oven.  The dough was a little softer than usual.

            Result:  the cookies took a little longer, but came out okay.  The lower viscosity of the dough meant that the fork marks disappeared, but that’s about it.  But, after cooling, they became rather tough.  I think the extra egg was a mistake.  They’re edible, but hard to chew. 

Oatmeal Cookies:  on the (non) importance of baking soda. 

            Next day, I needed to work up something for my breakfasts, and that meant oatmeal cookies.  I have a recipe I like, which is substantially more complicated than the peanut butter one.  Most of the ingredients were available, but pecans took an extra trip to a specialty store, craisins were unavailable (went with raisins), and baking soda- nonexistent (as a food item).  Apple sauce was also scarce, so I chopped up an apple and called it really coarse applesauce.

            Well, baking soda is supposed to help things rise, right?  And my oatmeal cookies never do that anyway, so caution to the wind, skip that part.

            These worked out very well- the chopped apples added a nice new feel to the cookies.  The raisins were a bit big and squishy, but worked fine (still prefer craisins).  But I’ve eaten 2 weeks worth of cookies in under a week, so they must have been okay.  The baking soda?  Totally unnecessary. For the future- skip it, use chopped apple instead of sauce, and find some craisins (which I have now done.)

Chocolate Chip cookies:  Requiring a visit to the pharmacy.

            Finally, I wanted chocolate chip cookies.  I use the standard  Toll House recipe for these.  Found the usual ingredients, though the chocolate chips were a little different (fully sweet instead of semi-sweet).  But I was certain that baking soda would be necessary.  Fortunately a trip to a pharmacy yielded bicarbonate of soda for treating upset stomach.  

            Chocolate chip cookies turned out well, though I’ve frozen most of the dough.  I find the dough makes for better cookies if let alone for several days.  No change in the recipe for elevation, just watch the cooking time, which is always a good idea with a new oven, right?

            We now have plenty of cookies, and that’s a good thing.  There are cookies available all around us, but none that satisfy.  Ecuador produces some wonderful chocolate, but apparently none of it ends up in the local cookies.  Looks like we’ll be making more.