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Did you know that elevation can affect Instant Pot cooking times? Here are some Instant Pot High Altitude Cooking time adjustments for you to save!
You all know how much I love my Instant Pot, and how I love to post healthy recipes for you to follow. After receiving a few emails from readers about their Instant Pot recipes not turning out I decided I needed to investigate a little.
Instant Pot High Altitude Cooking Time Adjustments
Did you know that pressure cookers are affected by altitude? I think I had a vague recognition that this could happen but I never really thought about it too much.
The truth of the matter is that the internet connects us all with no regards to altitude. So the recipes that I’m creating at 1, 516 ft might not actually work out quite right for you at a higher or lower altitude!
I try and help everyone get the best results from any of the recipes that I share here at My Crazy Good Life. Thanks to altitude differences, a recipe that worked perfectly for me in Arizona might not cook through if you’re remaking it in Colorado.
This is so stressful to me!
I decided to research and create a printable for you so that you could easily convert Instant Pot cooking times to whatever elevation you’re in! This might require you digging into recipe authors a little online and trying to determine what elevation their recipe was tested at.
Click here to download the Instant Pot High Altitude Cooking Time Adjustments Chart
Cooking with the Instant Pot is quick and easy. With these Instant Pot high altitude cooking time adjustments you can figure out exactly how much time you need to add in order to replicate the results in your home…no matter where you are (or how high up you might be)!
Did you know about these US cities that are at some staggering elevations? If you live near any of these places you might have an increased elevation and not even know about it!
Brian Head, UT | 9,800 feet
Bozeman, MT | 4,816 feet
Leadville, CO | 10,200 feet
Mammoth Lakes, CA | 7,920 feet
Fort Davis, TX | 4,900 feet
Davis, WV | 3,100 feet
Knapp Creek, NY | 2,349 feet
Steven Springs, PA | 2,530 feet
Mountain City, TN | 2,418 feet
Beech Mountain, NC | 5,506 feet
If you want to learn what the exact (or close to exact) elevation is of the place where you live, work, or do most of your Instant Pot cooking you can click this link right here and do a search!
These Instant Pot high altitude cooking adjustments might help you save some ‘dinners gone wrong’ and fix issues you might be having with recipes that you find online. Don’t be afraid to leave a comment asking what the altitude is for some of your favorite online recipe creators!
Give these Instant Pot high altitude cooking time adjustments a try and let me know how it works for you! Any of the delicious recipes in my Instant Pot Favorites eBook would be great for this experiment.
Hi I’m in Logan Utah and our elevation is around 4500…I’m not sure about adding more time because everything turns out burnt and curdled!! Do I need to add more water with the time??
Angela, What have you tried making? I am a new Instant Pot user (Christmas Gift) and live about an hour North of Denver (also about 4500 ft). I have had great luck with meats so far by sticking to the stated recipes. I made pulled pork tonight, chicken (for tikka masala) last night, salmon from mostly frozen and beef stew, all with great success. I will update you once I’ve had the chance to try this or other desserts. Is your burnt/curdled result after adding additional time or by using the stated time for things?
I cooked a frozen full chicken and had to add a little time but cooked it successfully in an hour and 40 minutes from start to finish. Im 20 miles north of Denver and closer to that 5200 elevation. Dry beans takes a little longer. Not noticing much else though.
I agree. I live at 5200 feet in Costa Rica
Thanks for sharing the detailed information regarding the cooking time adjustments.
I had no idea that pressure cookers are affected by altitude.
Hi,
I have read that altitude affect the pressure cooking times. I have just used my Instant Pot once to make pork chops in mushroom gravy and they came out perfect with no adjustment. But what I really want to comment on is in your article you state that you live in Arizona and give the impression that all of Arizona is at the same altitude. I live in Prescott, Arizona at 5000 ft and can state that even in this small city there are different altitudes from about 4000 ft to 5500 ft. I think everyone just needs to experiment with what works best for them. I do enjoy your recipes though, and thank you for them.
So I live in Macomb, MI, where the altitude is 604 ft above sea level. Does that mean I should reduce the cook time by 5%?
No, it starts at 3,000 :)
Thank you for this!! I got my IP last month and I’ve had a horrible time with things being undercooked when I’ve followed all of a recipe’s instructions. So frustrating! I live in Denver, and this chart is super helpful. I will now start adding the 15%!
I saw that they have a instant pot with a high altitude button on it. Has anyone use that one yet? I live in AZ . I have not bought one yet but thinking of getting that one.
I haven’t! ;)
The Ultra Instant Pot has the altitude adjustment. I have one. It only works for the preset programs. If you use manual, then you still have to figure out the adjustments.
What about hard-boiled eggs using the 6-quart not-Ultra Instant Pot at 7600 ft?
Has anyone tried this?
I live in Denver (abt 5400 elev.) And I use high pressure 8 to 9 mins. I don’t get the green rings. So try 9 to 10 mins where you are, if you want it more done, add time.
I’m at the same altitude and I just add an extra minute for eggs and potatoes. I haven’t figured five out yet.
I live in Denver and noticed that when I cook meet dishes, the time given in the recipe has worked out. When I make dishes that include cooking pasta, there is still too much water left (if I used the stated recipe time), so in the future may need to add time if I cook another pasta dish. I actually just tried making a dessert for the first time – making the mini chocolate lava cakes in ramekins – and noticed that I had to add over five minutes. Unfortunately I still don’t know the exact amount of time because while I had the cakes still cooking, I let them sit in there too long while I did all this altitude research and now I basically just have brownies, with no gooey chocolate in the middle. Work in progress.
Oh no! I hope you can figure it out–sometimes it’s a bit of a mystery.
Hi. I feel like I’m being really dense about this. I’m at 54 feet above sea level. Does that mean I have to reduce time? And by what percentage? I really want to try out your recipes…
You’re not being dense! You shouldn’t have a problem at all–it’s mainly above 3,000 ft :)
Some of those cities are pretty high, but did you know that Santa Fe, NM is the highest state capital at 7,000 feet. I am just two miles from the Plaza and am at 7,200 feet. Albuquerque is at 5,000 feet.
So if I take this in reverse, then I should be able to significantly reduce my cooking time by living in a home far below sea level!
I live at 9,768 ft. in the Colorado Mountains. South Park. It’s very cold & low humidity. I can see this just fine but the books that came with my Instant Pot Duo Nova 3 qt. have such small print I can’t even read them with a magnifying glass. Can you tell me how much time I need to add to pressure cook at this altitude. Can I change or do I need to change the boiling temp. on my Instant Pot?
You should increase the cook time by 5% for every 1,000 feet after 2,000 feet above sea level :)
I know that I am supposed to increase my cooking time by 25% as I live at 7,200 feet altitude. My question is, am I also supposed to increase the time when I Natural Pressure Release?
You shouldn’t have to do that. Worst case, if a meal still needs a few minutes you can close the lid and let it sit for 5-10 minutes or close the lid and set your pot to 0 (zero) minutes cook time. It’ll come to pressure and then release and allow a few more minutes of cook time :)
Wow! That is an excellent tip
Ok so I am trying to do hard boiled eggs and a friend of mine is at 1 mile above sea level and does 4 mins cook four mins natural release and ice bath6 mins and then straight to the fridge I am 1,130 and if I do my eggs for any less at all I have I have under cooked eggs. Does anyone live in the pittsburgh pa area and have timing for perfect no green eggs?