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For bakers at high altitudes, the quest for perfectly baked goods can be challenging. Many home bakers and professionals who meticulously follow standard recipes often encounter issues such as sunken cakes, flat cookies, or dry muffins when baking in mountain regions. Achieving successful high-altitude baking requires understanding and adjusting for the unique atmospheric conditions.
Mastering Mountain Baking: Time-Tested Techniques
Seasoned mountain bakers have long relied on specific techniques to replicate the results achieved at sea level. These methods, rooted in early 20th-century research, are more than just anecdotal tips. They stem from the pioneering work of Inga Allison, a former professor at Colorado State University (CSU). Her scientific approach and experimentation paved the way for consistent high-altitude baking outcomes.
Inga Allison: A Pioneer in Home Economics Research
Inga Allison’s groundbreaking research in high-altitude baking originated from her dedication to home economics and scientific inquiry. Born in 1876, Allison’s rigorous “science course” at the University of Chicago significantly shaped her career. Her academic background instilled in her the belief that women’s education extended beyond domestic duties.
Joining Colorado Agricultural College (now CSU) in 1908, Allison became part of a faculty exploring altitude’s impact on baking and agriculture. Despite limited resources in Guggenheim Hall, then home to the home economics department, Allison pursued her research ambitions.
Expanding Home Economics Beyond Domesticity
Allison championed the university’s land-grant mission, emphasizing teaching, research, and community outreach. She encouraged students to view home economics through a wider lens, integrating physical, biological, and social sciences. According to CSU historian James E. Hansen, Allison’s vision broadened the scope of home economics for women in the early 20th century, encompassing fields like dietetics, research, and child development.
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Historical news reports indicate Allison’s active engagement in public education, delivering lectures on topics ranging from “The Economic Side of Natural Living” to domestic science practices at various clubs and schools throughout Colorado. Notably, in 1910, she presented a talk on the often-overlooked art of dishwashing.
Overcoming Obstacles in Early Research
Ascending to department chair in 1910 and later dean, Allison advocated for essential laboratory equipment. Facing funding delays, she creatively collaborated with CSU President Charles Lory, utilizing physics department resources. Allison improvised experimental setups to investigate the relationship between cooking with water and atmospheric pressure. However, achieving precise control over heat, temperature, and pressure remained a challenge with the available makeshift equipment.
Undeterred, Allison sought alternative research methods, conducting experiments across Colorado with her students. These field tests, sometimes conducted at elevations as high as 11,797 feet near Estes Park, revealed that standard recipes failed at higher elevations.
Significant progress in baking techniques was made in 1927 with the establishment of the first altitude baking lab in the nation at CSU, a direct result of Allison’s persistent research. This dedicated facility yielded tangible results, leading to the public dissemination of altitude-specific baking guidelines.
A comprehensive 1932 bulletin on baking at altitude, authored by Marjorie Peterson of the Colorado Experiment Station, provided numerous recipes tailored for elevations from 4,000 to over 11,000 feet. Peterson credited Allison’s crucial guidance and support in the booklet’s development.
The Science Behind High-Altitude Baking Adjustments
Today, food scientists like Caitlin Clark at CSU continue to build upon Allison’s legacy, advising bakers on recipe modifications for high-altitude conditions. Allison’s research provides a fundamental understanding of how reduced air pressure affects baking.
A key principle is that air pressure decreases with altitude. This lower pressure directly impacts the chemistry and physics of baking. Air pressure normally restrains molecules, preventing their escape. Conversely, heat provides energy, encouraging molecules to disperse.
During boiling, water molecules escape as steam. Lower air pressure reduces the energy needed for this transformation. Consequently, water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes – approximately 200°F in Denver compared to 212°F at sea level.
In high-altitude baking, steam forms at a lower temperature earlier in the baking process. Leavening agents release carbon dioxide, which expands more rapidly in thinner air. This accelerated expansion causes doughs and batters to rise prematurely, before their structure is set, resulting in collapsed cakes or sunken muffins. Furthermore, rapid water evaporation concentrates sugars and fats, potentially leading to a gummy texture in baked goods.
Allison’s research demonstrated that high-altitude baking success hinges on adjustments such as reducing sugar, increasing liquid content to counteract over-concentration, and decreasing leavening agents to control rapid rising.
Allison’s Broader Impact and Legacy
Inga Allison was part of a cohort of pioneering women in the early 20th century who advocated for women’s higher education and advanced research across diverse fields in Colorado. Her contemporaries included Grace Espy-Patton, an early feminist and CSU professor, and Miriam Palmer, renowned for her entomological illustration work.
Upon retiring in 1945 as professor emerita and dean emerita at CSU, Allison continued her pursuit of knowledge, enrolling in classes in Russian and biochemistry. In 1958, CSU honored her legacy by naming a new women’s dormitory Allison Hall.
Reflecting on this recognition at the dedication, Allison remarked to reporters, “I had supposed that such a thing happened only to the very rich or the very dead.”