High - altitude cooking - wikipedia High - altitude cooking This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( September 2014 ) High - altitude cooking is the opposite of pressure cooking in that the boiling point of water is lower at higher altitudes due to the decreased atmospheric pressure. This may require an increase in cooking times or temperature and alterations of recipe ingredients. For home cooking, this effect becomes relevant at altitudes above approximately 2,000 feet ( 610 m ). At that altitude, water boils at approximately 208 ° F ( 98 ° C ) and adjustments sometimes need to be made to compensate for the reduced air pressure / water boiling point. Contents 1 Boiling 2 Methods used at high altitudes 3 Boiling point of pure water at elevated altitudes 4 References 5 External links Boiling At sea level water boils at 100 ° C. For each 500 ft ( ~ 150 m ) increase in elevation, the boiling point is lowered by 0.5 ° C. For 8,000 ft ( ~ 2500 m ) elevation, water boils at 92 ° C. Boiling as a cooking method must be adjusted or alternatives applied. Vegetables and some starches will simply take longer to cook while rice and legumes ( beans ) need a pressure cooker. Pasta will need a pressure cooker. Methods used at high altitudes From pressure cooking : A pressure cooker is often used to compensate for the low atmospheric pressure at a very high elevation. Under these circumstances water boils at temperatures significantly below 100 ° C ( 212 ° F ) and, without the use of a pressure cooker, may leave boiled foods undercooked, as described in Charles Darwin 's The Voyage of the Beagle ( chapter XV, March 21, 1835 ) : Having crossed the Peuquenes ( Piuquenes ), we descended into a mountainous country, intermediate between the two main ranges, and then took up our quarters for the night. We were now in the republic of Mendoza. The elevation was probably not under 11,000 feet (... ). At the place where we slept water necessarily boiled, from the diminished pressure of the atmosphere, at a lower temperature than it does in a less lofty country ; the case being the converse of that of a Papin 's digester. Hence the potatoes, after remaining for some hours in the boiling water, were nearly as hard as ever. The pot was left on the fire all night, and next morning it was boiled again, but yet the potatoes were not cooked. Lightweight pressure cookers as small as 1.5 liters weighing 1.28 kg are available for mountain climbers. Sherpas often use pressure cookers in base camp. Boiling point of pure water at elevated altitudes Based on standard sea - level atmospheric pressure ( courtesy, NOAA ) : Altitude, ft ( m ) Boiling point of water, ° F ( ° C ) 0 ( 0 m ) 212 ° F ( 100 ° C ) 500 ( 150 m ) 211.1 ° F ( 99.5 ° C ) 1,000 ( 305 m ) 210.2 ° F ( 99 ° C ) 2,000 ( 610 m ) 208.4 ° F ( 98 ° C ) 5,000 ( 1524 m ) 203 ° F ( 95 ° C ) 6,000 ( 1829 m ) 201.1 ° F ( 94 ° C ) 8,000 ( 2438 m ) 197.4 ° F ( 91.9 ° C ) 10,000 ( 3048 m ) 193.6 ° F ( 89.8 ° C ) 12,000 ( 3658 m ) 189.8 ° F ( 87.6 ° C ) 14,000 ( 4267 m ) 185.9 ° F ( 85.5 ° C ) Source : NASA References Jump up ^ USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service ( 2011 - 09 - 28 ). `` High Altitude Cooking and Food Safety '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 02. Jump up ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=UUWXjlu_JWQC&pg=PA396 ( Google Books ) Jump up ^ http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/1520-0426(1984)001%3C0321%3ARPSPEU%3E2.0.CO%3B2 External links Boiling point of water vs altitude Cooking at high altitudes Is it true that you ca n't make a decent cup of tea up a mountain ? physics.org, accessed 2012 - 11 - 02 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=High-altitude_cooking&oldid=807762899 '' Categories : Cooking techniques Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from September 2014 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 30 October 2017, at 00 : 33. About Wikipedia

Question: the reason behind decrease in the boiling point of water at higher altitudes is
Answer: due to the decreased atmospheric pressure