At 7,500 feet, a pressure cooker turns a three-hour pot of beans into 20 minutes

Beans at altitude: stovetop vs. pressure cooker

High-altitude cooking slows everything: water boils around 203°F at 5,000 feet, so stovetop beans that finish in 90 minutes at sea level can stretch past three hours. Pressure cookers restore the heat, pushing water to roughly 240–250°F. In tests from 5,000 to 8,000 feet, soaked black beans went from 95–120 minutes on the stove to 18–22 minutes under pressure. Soaking, salting early, and adding acid late matter just as much as the method.