Pie bottom, I mean. I’ve made several pies this summer and I think I only shared one with you. They were delicious, of course, but the bottom pie crusts were soggy. We ate the pies anyway, but I wondered what I was doing wrong.
Then I took to the domain to find the answer, and it came from bon appetit. Do you watch their youtube shows? They are very informative but also quite funny. Bae and I will sometimes refer to the hosts by name when we are out and about or cooking. We (like everyone else) find Brad to be hilarious and know that Claire is a pastry whiz.
Anyways, this tip came from pastry whiz Claire. And it is pretty simple: cook the pie for longer! As soon as I read this, my childhood days came rushing back to me. My mom would always say “its not done yet,” until it was done. Apparently I get antsy, or just go by the recipes I follow. But now I know an hour for a pie is not enough.
The theory is that it is really hard to burn a pie crust. Even a nice brown crust takes a long time.
So I made two apple pies last week to test this theory and it worked. Both times I cooked the pie at 375 for nearly two hours. I started on the bottom oven shelf and covered the edges with foil after about a half hour or so. At the 1.5 hour mark, I removed the foil and put the pie closer to the top. Moving the pie was probably not necessary, but I do like to bake it near the bottom since thay is where the heat comes from.
The pros also recommend a glass pie plan. This is so you can peek up and see if the crust is done. I used glass, but it is colored glass so it defeats the purpose.
Patience is a virtue. So keep your pies in the oven longer!
Lessons with Loll 