High Altitudes and Your Bread Machine
My current home is at about sea level. However, I grew up in a totally different environment. My hometown is at 4,500 feet in elevation! So I understand the challenge of high-altitude baking.
Why Does Higher Altitude Affect Baking?
At elevations of 3,000 or more feet above sea level you’ll need to think about adjusting recipes for higher altitudes. Why? At that height the air pressure is lower. That makes the dough rise faster. It also means that moisture evaporates more quickly. That can translate into dry or misshapen loaves of bread.
Hints for High Altitude Baking When Using Bread Machines
As with any adjustments to a recipe, make one small change and document it. View the results and make more adjustments as needed.
- Decrease yeast by 1/4 teaspoon at a time
- Increase liquid by 1 to 2 Tablespoons
- Decrease sweetener by 1/2 teaspoon
- Increase the salt slightly
Have almost gone crazy trying to get a really good loaf out of my $300 bread machine at 4,900 ft. By far the most important changes I’ve made are reducing the yeast and lowering the proving temperature. You can also reduce the proving time, but lowering the temp allows for a slower proving over the normal period of time, which for me has produced a better texture.
I’d love to be able to change the temperature. There isn’t a way to do that on my machine. What sort of bread machine do you have?