Notes on Baking at the South Pole
newyorker.com

・

19 points

・

mitchbob

・

4 hours ago

4 comments

socalgal2 ・ an hour ago

If you've never seen it I highly recommend "A Place Further than the Universe".

It's an anime, serious (not a wacky comedy) about 4 high school students who manage to take a trip to Antartica by joining an expedition. One of the best things I've seen in a while. Only 13 episodes so under 4hrs total. Super inspiring and I learned several interesting facts about not just Antartica but what it takes to get there as well.

It's on Crunchyroll so if you aren't subscribed, sign up for 1 month for the price of 2 coffees. Watch, then cancel.

jmclnx ・ 3 hours ago

>At roughly nine thousand three hundred feet above sea level (~2800M)

I heard Antarctica on average very high above sea level. So I would think just the thinness of the air would make baking rather hard compared to sea level.

Sadly I will not be able go there. 40 years ago, when I when was at around 6000 feet above sea level on a trip, I was getting dizzy when moving around :) Sea level is were I was born and were I will stay.

  • joshvm ・ an hour ago

    The few times I've baked there, it's been a pretty good experience. There's a full height proving cabinet, yeast works really well at altitude, the ovens have steam injectors, there are good mixers, a commercial fryer. In many ways much easier than baking at home, but probably not a patch on a good bakery.

    We almost ran out of sugar in 2021 and Rothera sent us a bag of Tate and Lyle in break-glass-in-emerhency box on one of the early transit flights the following summer. That's still hanging in the galley. Cream also goes pretty quickly, and forget about eggs. But you only need "egg product" anyway.

    The foods that tend to be avoided are pasta and beans, or really anything which has to be boiled. There's a massive pressure cooker but it's a pain to use and clean. It's also hard to brew coffee if you tend to use off-the-boil. The best you'll get is about 93 C. Espresso is fine as its pressurised anyway.