[HN Gopher] Notes on Baking at the South Pole
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Notes on Baking at the South Pole
        
       Author : mitchbob
       Score  : 19 points
       Date   : 2026-03-09 19:12 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.newyorker.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.newyorker.com)
        
       | mitchbob wrote:
       | https://archive.ph/2026.03.07-110624/https://www.newyorker.c...
        
       | jmclnx wrote:
       | >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 wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | socalgal2 wrote:
       | 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.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2026-03-09 23:00 UTC)