German Onion Pie

[Badmuthagoose]

Hello,
We just purchased a Dutch oven not too long ago and we are experimenting with different recipies. Some have turned out really well. One recipie we found online was a German onion pie (Can't show URL!). When I cook this in our kitchen oven the pie crust turns out nice and flaky. I tried the same recipie in our 12" Lodge Dutch oven (with trivet). I ended up baking the pie 15 minutes longer than the recipe called for, but the crust still turned out softer and chewy. What can I do to get a nice golden/flaky crust? Is it the steam in the Dutch oven?
Thank you,
Ian

[Andy M.]

Welcome to DC, Ian.

I'd try again with the lid off.

[Golfgar4]

Hi Ian, and welcome!

Were you using top heat when you cooked with the dutch oven? If you were, how many coals did you have on the lid? It sounds to me like you weren't getting good heat all around the dutch like you do in the regular oven.

[Badmuthagoose]

Thanks for the quick reply! The recipe called for 400 degrees. I had 19 coals on the lid and 10 on the bottom.

Ian

[Golfgar4]

Gee, it sounds like you had it figured out.

Maybe to get the crust flaky and golden brown, when the pie is about 2/3rds cooked, take off the bottom heat and leave the top heat. That should help reduce the amount of steam and drive the heat down through the pie to finish cooking it while browning the crust.

Just an idea, as I've not had this particular problem myself with anything I've prepared. Then again, I've never tried making a German Onion Pie. Maybe you could post the recipe for us.

[keltin]

What size DO are you using? One trick I’ve done for some extra browning that may help here is to drop an extra 6 – 8 coals on the top of the DO at the end of the cooking time. Say, about 20 minutes before it’s supposed to be done, drop 6 to 8 extra colas on top t up the heat, and even in presence of the steam, this should do it.

It sounds like a lot, but cast iron is slow to heat up, and these additional coals can give you what you're looking for, but keep an eye on it.

As Garry says, it’s a good idea to remove the bottom heat when you try this!

[Badmuthagoose]

My mother used to make it when I was growing up but unfortunately I can't get the recipe from her so I had to find one online (not the same as moms though!):

4 thick slices of bacon, diced
2 cups peeled and chopped yellow onion
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 tblsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 9-inch pie shell, unbaked

Preheat oven to 400 degrees f

Saute bacon. Drain most of the fat from the pan. Add the onions and saute until clear. Do not brown. Set aside to cool.

Beat the eggs and sour cream together in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the flour over the top and beat it in. Stir in the salt and pepper.

Prick the bottom of the pie shell several times with a fork. Spread theonions and bacon over the bottom of the pie shell. Pour the sour cream mixture over the top.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees f and bake for another 15 minutes or until pie is nicely browned. Serve hot!

[Insty-Grill]

Well Ian, I'd say your a little shy of the the prescribed 400 degrees.

Maybe you could add some more O2 by fanning the coals?

[Golfgar4]

Ian,

I think I saw this recipe when I did a search for onion pie recipes a little while ago. Looks good. Thanks for posting it.

The recipe calls for pre-heating the oven. Are you pre-heating the lid to your DO before you start cooking? That could make a big difference. If you're not, you should probably be pre-heating the lid for at least 10 minutes before you start actually cooking.

[Badmuthagoose]

Thanks Gary. I didn't pre-heat the lid. I'll try that next time.