To cover or not to cover

[bdevidal]

Water takes longer to boil at 7,000'+.  I now keep the pasta pot partly covered to maintain the boil.  Sometimes it boils over, but not as a rule.  Pasta that cooked in 9 minutes in NJ takes 14 minutes in this part of NM.

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You're half right. Water takes *less* time to boil (visually) at higher altitudes (i.e. lower atmospheric pressure) but the things being boiled take longer to finish, since the boiling temp of the water is lower at higher altitudes/lower pressures.

This link will not only tell you the boiling point of water at your altitude, it also includes a correction for current barometric pressure.

-B

[bdevidal]

I think it has to do with the fact that things will evaporate uncovered, frequently a desired result when you want flavors to concentrate, or certain ingredients to dry out, balanced by the fact that many things (like things with bones) will "cloud" if you cook them covered, at least while the bones are in there.  Those are usually my starting points.

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...I'm still trying to figure out if I have the guts to run chicken stock through a still...

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Do it, man!! Do it!!

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I'm certainly thinking about it. If it works like other distillation/concentration processes, in theory you could capture everything before the boiling point of water, then boil of the water to concentrate the remaining flavors. Combine the former with the later and you should have something approaching Ultimate Demi Glace.

-B

[birder53]

Water takes longer to boil at 7,000'+.  I now keep the pasta pot partly covered to maintain the boil.  Sometimes it boils over, but not as a rule.  Pasta that cooked in 9 minutes in NJ takes 14 minutes in this part of NM.

←

You're half right. Water takes *less* time to boil (visually) at higher altitudes (i.e. lower atmospheric pressure) but the things being boiled take longer to finish, since the boiling temp of the water is lower at higher altitudes/lower pressures.

This link will not only tell you the boiling point of water at your altitude, it also includes a correction for current barometric pressure.

-B

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Cool!

[Kouign Aman]

I think it has to do with the fact that things will evaporate uncovered, frequently a desired result when you want flavors to concentrate, or certain ingredients to dry out, balanced by the fact that many things (like things with bones) will "cloud" if you cook them covered, at least while the bones are in there.  Those are usually my starting points.

←

...I'm still trying to figure out if I have the guts to run chicken stock through a still...

←

Do it, man!! Do it!!

←

I'm certainly thinking about it. If it works like other distillation/concentration processes, in theory you could capture everything before the boiling point of water, then boil of the water to concentrate the remaining flavors. Combine the former with the later and you should have something approaching Ultimate Demi Glace.

-B

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I have this image of pure essence of chicken, intense enough to work magic with, produced via sealed bag stock production followed by careful distillation.

One drop, enough to perfume an entire room with the essence of chicken. Done with turkey stock, it leads to creation of the Thanksgiving Dinner cocktail - cranberry juice, booze, and that one essential drop of essential turkey.

I really hope you do try the still. What a fun idea.