Elevation check-in — did your braise take longer than the recipe said?
We're at 4,600 feet here and the air is dry, so things cook slower than the card says. Don't trust the clock over the food, trust the food. Did anyone's braise this week need extra time? How much longer did you end up going?
Ran the short rib braise 40 min longer than recipe said, which tracks, we're at like 4500 ft here. timed it with my phone same as I do sourdough proofing, low key treat every recipe like it's lying to me until proven otherwise. Coworker at Tanager grew up in Daybreak and said his mom just adds 15% to any braise/stew time as a rule of thumb for elevation, no science to it, just a heuristic. worked fine for me tonight, meat was falling apart right around the extra 40 min mark. Also found a youtube video from some guy in Denver doing elevation adjustments for braises specifically, not Korean food but the logic transfers - liquid evaporates faster up here so you either add more broth or cover tighter. i went tighter lid, less broth loss, seemed to work. anyone else adjusting liquid amounts too or just time.
Huh, mine actually went the other way. Did a big braise last weekend for the bulgogi-adjacent short rib thing and it was DONE like 15 min early, fork sliding through no problem. Got kinda worried I overcooked it. So I don't think it's a universal "altitude always adds time" deal, feels more like it depends on the cut/how much liquid you had going. Mine had a ton of liquid, lid on tight, maybe that sped things up idk. Anyway didn't want people to panic if theirs is done early and think they messed something up 💪
Mine took almost forty minutes longer than the card said, lol, and I nearly panicked!! But then I remembered what you said a couple weeks back about going by the meat and not the timer!! Once I stopped watching the clock and kept checking it with a fork it was fine..! Sooo glad, that tip saved my dinner!!
Forty minutes is a lot but that's normal at our altitude, especially with a bigger cut! Good on you for putting the fork in instead of staring at the timer, that's really the main thing. The card gives you a starting guess, the fork gives you the truth. Once the meat gives without fighting back, you're done, no matter what the clock says. Glad it saved dinner.