High altitude, off grid baking

Hi all,

I've just moved to the high desert. I live in a mini bird skoolie and am completely off grid.
I'm planning to build myself a cob oven in the next few weeks, provided the ground is not frozen, and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for using it. I'm planning to acquire a hand mill and mill my own grains, but I have no idea what kind of tweaks need to be made to my recipes to account for the 5300 ft elevation, if any.

I'm sure I'll have similar questions about off grid, high altitude, high desert life on other forums. 😁 But I begin here, with bread.

Thank you!

Jodi

Hi Jodi,  

I do not have first hand experience with baking at other elevations but I remember first learning about the altitude baking tweaks.  

We were  visiting the bother-in-law of my brother-in-law who was a baker in Calgary, Alberta (elev 1047m / 3435feet) while I hailed from near Toronto, Ontario  (elev 209 m / 686 ft).  When looking through his recipe book, I noticed that he had scratched out and adjusted various parameters in each baking recipe and I had to ask why.

---
Today, I web searched for "elevation baking recipe changes".
https://engine.presearch.org/search?q=elevation+baking+recipe+changes

I like the three web links below because they each discuss how much to tweak based on your elevation and why for each of the following parameters in your recipes :
- oven temperature (increase)
- baking time (decrease)
- sugar (decrease)
- liquid (increase)
- flour (decrease)
- baking powder / baking soda / yeast (decrease)
These pages discuss differences for breads and cakes and cookies as well.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
https://www.wheatmontana.com/content/high-altitude-baking-how-make-your-recipes-work-mountains
https://bakingnaturally.org/high-altitude-baking-adjustments/
Looks like searching for "high altitude baking" is the common theme.

So Jodi, have fun tweaking as your baking.  Maybe chat up some neighbours/bakers and see if they agree.  They might have some fun stories to share.

Thank you! I have definitely searched the internet for high altitude baking, but most of the tips are from people who live in houses and have real ovens. 😊 I live in a bus and will have an outdoor, wood-fired oven. Some things translate well, others do not 😂Thank you for those direct links!!