Recipe: Adapting Bread Machine Recipes for High Altitude - Hello Barb! Here is an excellent posting by our dear Betsy on the subject.

Hello,

Here are tips for adapting bread machine recipes for high altitude and a link to a book that I think you'll find very helpful.

Happy Bread Baking,

Betsy at recipelink.com

Adjustments for High-altitude Bread Machine Baking
From: The Bread Machine Magic Book of Helpful Hints (1993 Edition)
by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway; St. Martin's Press
Click here to view info and reviews of the 1999 edition of this book; Griffin Trade Paperback

If you're a bread machine owner and live 7,000 feet or more above sea level, you may be experiencing some sunken loaves. At higher elevations, the dough "overproofs." Due to the lower barometric pressure at high altitudes, the carbon dioxide gas bubbles created by the yeast expand more rapidly. Therefore, the bread rises too high, the gluten loses its strength, and the bread collapses during baking. Take heart, it's an easy problem to correct. No need to pack up your bread machine and move down to the flatlands. Try the following combination of suggestions:

- Reduce the amount of yeast by about 1/3. This will create less carbon dioxide and the bread will not rise as quickly.

- Increase the salt by 25 percent. This will have the same effect as decreasing the yeast. The bread will rise slower and be less likely to sink during baking.

- Add from 1/2 to 1 tablespoon gluten per cup of flour. Increasing the gluten will give added strength to your bread.

- Watch your dough as it mixes. You may need to add at least I to 3 tablespoons more liquid since flour stored at high altitudes tends to be drier than that stored below 7,000 feet. (These recommended alterations were shared by Irwin Franzel, a friend and very knowledgeable bread machine baker. With his "Zoji" S-15 under one arm and bread-baking supplies under the other, he took off for a Colorado vacation and baked up numerous loaves of "high-altitude" bread. By adjusting the salt, gluten, yeast, and liquid, he was finally able to produce consistently well-shaped breads.)

- Two other options: Because of the rapid-rising nature of high-altitude breads, try baking them on the Rapid Bake cycle of your machine to reduce the rising time. If your machine has a programmable mode, watch the loaf as it rises; when it nears the top of the bread pan, switch to the Bake cycle manually.