Braising at altitude

[MelissaH]

I'm visiting my parents, staying in their house at 8600 feet. I haven't lived at altitude now for 8.5 years, so a lot of things that used to be second nature have since drizzled out of my brain.

We'd heard that it was going to snow today, so last night I started a batch of braised short ribs, thinking that they'd go nicely over pasta tonight. I browned the ribs in the oven; chopped carrot, celery, and onion and browned them on the stove; and put them in my mom's crock pot, which is very close to me in age. I heated up a little white wine (no red open here) to a boil and added that to the crockpot, along with a big can of crushed tomatoes and a little water too. I put the lid on the pot, turned it on to high to get it started and then turned it down to low for overnight because high bubbled like mad.

When I woke up this morning, I tested the ribs with a fork. Even though they'd been cooking all night, the bones were still not detaching. So I kicked the crockpot back up to high, and it's still there because the ribs aren't yet tender enough for the meat to shred nicely.

Here's what I think is going on: At this altitude, water boils at about 195 degrees F. But the melting point of most substances, including collagen, doesn't change much with altitude. So even though the stuff in the crockpot is bubbling like mad, it's just not all that hot.

Has anyone else been braising at altitude? Have you had similar problems with things not getting tender, and needing to be up to a full boil? Would it be a good idea to say uncle and just move everything to the pressure cooker for a bit? Is all lost for dinner tonight?

MelissaH

[Bill/SFNM]

I'm at 7000' and now use my pressure cooker for all braises involving tougher cuts of meat. You may get good results if you continue to cook the short ribs, but it is also possible that meat will be overcooked (perhaps stringy) by the time the collagen breaks down. Disadvantage of pressure cooker is that it isn't easy to check the progress of the braise. I usually open the cooker after about an hour to judge how much more cooking is necessary.

Bill/SFNM

[MelissaH]

Bill,

Thanks for the help. After an hour and a half with the crockpot on high, the bones finally fell out of the meat. (I'd intended to only let it go for an hour, but we took the dog out for a romp in the snow, and stayed out longer than I'd thought.) The ribs shredded nicely, and didn't taste overcooked. (Things cool off very quickly here!) The meat and liquid are now in the fridge in separate bowls, and once I skim the fat off, I'll recombine and heat through before adding to the cooked pasta, once that's ready.

Lesson learned: definitely a pressure cooker next time. Especially since the crockpot here is old enough that the bowl isn't removable for easy cleaning.

We're now at about four inches and counting....

MelissaH

[hathor]

Cooking at altitude is really a challenge.

How about baking potatoes? Any words of wisdom here....they just never taste 'done', still sort of cellulose-y.

[MelissaH]

I don't ever remember having a problem with baked potatoes. Rice, on the other hand, can be a disaster. Or beans.

The ragu turned out fine, most definitely not overcooked. I think it needed that hour and a half on high, even though it looked like it was boiling, to get hot enough to melt that collagen. The biggest challenge turned out to be separating the meat from the bones while things were still warm enough to be easy.

Tonight, I defatted the liquid and recombined it with the meat shreds. I heated it and let it simmer and reduce slightly while the pasta cooked. I'd hoped to serve it over penne or ziti or something like that, but EVERY SINGLE BOX of pasta in the house was whole wheat, not exactly what I had in mind because even in my own kitchen I have yet to find a brand that I can cook to be al dente but not chalky. I settled for fusilli, because that was the only shorter cut of pasta around, and cooked it a little softer than I would ordinarily do for normal noodles. The fusilli held the sauce nicely, and it got rave reviews, as in only a small serving left.

MelissaH

[hathor]

The ragu sounds wonderful, Melissa.

I did a double bake on some potatoes last night, and that worked like a charm. Of course on the second bake, they were combined with some shallots, garlic and creme fraiche, so what could be bad??

Every time I think that I've mastered cooking at altitude...it throws me a curve, or a pop...as in the cofffee can exploding. Such is the price you pay for mountain air.