Pie Crusts

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kaef156

Assistant Cook
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Messages
3
I'am attempting to make an apple pie for the first time. I read somewhere that you put something on the crust before adding the apples so that the crust doesn't become soggy. Has anyone heard of this or know what it is I should use? I'd appreciate the help. Thanks!
 
Brush the bottom crust with some egg white and bake it in a hot oven for a few minutes to set it.
 
A good thick layer of clay will seal the crust from moisture as well. Ha! You thought I was serious. :LOL:

Andy hit it on the head. After you have mastered the basic crust, try this little trick; Take the bottom pie crust and divide it in half. Roll each half so that they will each completely cover the pie pan. Place the first crust in the pan. Place a carmel wrap for apples onto the crust. Brush the crust (not the caramel) with beaten egg-white and place the second crust into the pan. Brush again with egg and add the filling. Make a latticework crust on top and dot with dollops of caramel. Back until the crust is done according to a regular apple pie recipe.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
My great grandmother always used a layer of plain, fresh breadcrumbs in the bottom (atop the crust) when making fruit pies. I learned that method from my Mom and aunts, and the breadcrumbs soak up all the yummy juices and you get a great crust!
 
Personally never had a problem with the crust as is. No, the bottom part of the crust isn't crisp, but as long as it's cooked rather than raw, why is that a problem? That's just the way bottom crusts are! And certainly so with an apple pie, a mixture which is fairly dry in any event. Whatever juices come out of apples may moisten the bottom crust, but they don't make it water-logged or soggy -- again, just not crisp. The differences in crust between the various bites is one of the nice variations of a pie IMHO. Anyhow, a fairly short (as in, high in fat content) crust will resist becoming soggy all on its own without any extra steps. If you put the crust in the oven prior to filling it, even for a few minutes, you risk the sides sagging (unless you've very carefully managed to anchor them to the upper rim).
 
Andy and chefjune
I didnt know there are things that could be done, to prevent the crust getting soggy. I am going to try them, next week, when i bake a pie.

Mel
 
These are such good ideas.
I never even considered doing them, before.
The advantages of being a member of a cookery forum....

Mel
 
Andy M. said:
Brush the bottom crust with some egg white and bake it in a hot oven for a few minutes to set it.
andy m. - what with you being a mod and having so many posts, etc. i'm a little leary of saying this, but do you actually do this? how does it come out?
popping the bottom crust into a hot oven for a few minutes will melt all the shortening, after which you're going to pull it out of the oven and let it cool again. and then attach the top crust to a partially baked bottom? how many is a few minutes. the crust by itself would be completely cooked in between 10 - 15 depending on how hot of an oven you're talking about. if you've done this and the results are good, then someday i may give it a shot with say a pumpkin pie.

actually, you can get a bottom crust that is actually crispy*(see below, where i 'fess up) by paying attention to a few details. unlike my cake pans, i keep my pie pans well seasoned: read quite dark. it conducts the heat faster. grease the pie pan before putting in the bottom crust. go ahead and slice your apples first if you want, but have your oven preheated by this point to about 400 or 425 degrees f. and have both the top and bottom crusts ready before you add the sugar, spices, flour or tapioca etc. if you do this first, the apples and sugar will start producing juices the whole time you're preparing your crust. when all is ready, add the sugar, spices, etc, to the apples, give a quick toss to just coat all the apples, get them into the pie, place top crust on, seal, flute, brush with an egg wash, cut a vent and pop it into the oven with alacrity. bake at high heat for about 10 minutes and then reduce the temp. to 350 or whatever you're recipe calls for and bake for another 40 minutes, either more or less depending on how many apples you've got packed in there and whether you like them crispy or well cooked and soft.

as for the crust, i go with the old-school 3-2-1 ratio, although i eyeball the water. 2 parts butter to 3 parts flour is rather high on the shortening side compared to many pie crust recipes i've seen posted, but for a flakey top and crispy bottom, lesser ratios are a compromise. the down-side to this ratio is oven clean up, because a certain amount of the butter will drip.

and now for the crispy* confession, for which i may get roasted (hee hee). well, of course there's no way to achieve a bottom crust every bit as flakey and crispy as the top. to qualify what i mean by crispy, on an apple pie, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the bottom crust can come out crispy; on a pumpkin or berry pie about only about 1/3 to 1/2.
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philso said:
andy m. - what with you being a mod and having so many posts, etc. i'm a little leary of saying this, but do you actually do this? how does it come out?
popping the bottom crust into a hot oven for a few minutes will melt all the shortening, after which you're going to pull it out of the oven and let it cool again. and then attach the top crust to a partially baked bottom? how many is a few minutes. the crust by itself would be completely cooked in between 10 - 15 depending on how hot of an oven you're talking about. if you've done this and the results are good, then someday i may give it a shot with say a pumpkin pie...
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What Andy suggested is called Blind Baking and is a valid and frequently used technique for preparing crusts for cream pies, or setting a graham cracker crust before adding the filling, or a host of other pies that require a pre-cooked crust before the filling is added.

If your raw crust is made properly, the flour starches will set before the shortening has a chance to melt and the crust will retain the proper shape. If the sides fall in, then you have too much shortening in your crust.

On other thing, when blind baking your crusts, you must either use some sort of weight to keep the crust bottom from bubbling (pie beads, dried beans, etc.), or perforate the crust every few inches with a fork to allow steam and hot air to escape.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
philso said:
andy m. - what with you being a mod and having so many posts, etc. i'm a little leary of saying this, but do you actually do this? how does it come out?...

What does my position here or the number of posts have to do with this? You can ask me anything about a post I have made. I hardly ever retaliate...:angel:

I've used this method once and it worked for me. I got the tip online somewhere kept it on file for future use. I don't usually need it to keep crusts from getting soggy.

BTW, I use both dark and clear glass pie plates.
 
Goodweed of the North said:
If your raw crust is made properly, the flour starches will set before the shortening has a chance to melt and the crust will retain the proper shape. If the sides fall in, then you have too much shortening in your crust.
A crust made in a way to expressly stay upright during blind baking might be "proper" in that sense ... but it won't be as tender as a truly delicious crust should be! I still vote for "anchoring" the crust on the rim of the pie plate if and when you have to blind bake. That's accomplished by letting it flop over the edge. You can add a fancy fluted edge on top of that flopped-over section and trim the excess once out of the oven.

Goodweed of the North said:
On other thing, when blind baking your crusts, you must either use some sort of weight to keep the crust bottom from bubbling (pie beads, dried beans, etc.), or perforate the crust every few inches with a fork to allow steam and hot air to escape.
One continues to hear about the beans, but I really have to wonder why this idea hasn't died a natural death: I tried it once and only once, having to throw both the crust and the beans out thereafter. The crust had taken on a nasty bean flavor that would hardly have enhanced the lemon meringue! Perforating works just fine.
 
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Ayrton said:
...The crust had taken on a nasty bean flavor that would hardly have enhanced the lemon meringue! Perforating works just fine.

You're supposed to use DRIED beans! :ohmy:
 
ChefJune said:
Philso, I've never seen a two-crusted pumpkin pie! :ohmy:
that's right. if the egg wash works on a bottom crust crust, then i might try it on a two crust pie.

by the way, there is a two-crust pumpkin pie... of sorts. in early colonial cookery, pumpkins were sliced thinly and layered with apple slices in pies. try it some time. it's fairly good.
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Andy M. said:
You're supposed to use DRIED beans! :ohmy:
Ah, Andy, I can only hope you're being facetious. I assure you, they were dried beans as we all know them. Are you picturing me smearing the crust with refritos?!
 
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I use this pie crust recipe and never have a soggy bottom.
3 cups flour
1/2 lb lard
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 Tlb. vinegar
5 Tlb. water
Mix your flour and lard until blended, I usually put this in a bowl and use a fork to mix. Will look crumbly.
Mix the egg with the vinegar and water and add to dry mixture.
Mix well and work dough until you can form into a ball.
Chill dough for about 1/2 hr.
This makes enough for 2 double crust.
Roll out between 2 pieces of wax paper that has some flour on the wax paper. Roll into a small circle and then turn dough over and continue rolling out to size you want.
Peel wax paper off slowly and put dough into pie pan. Add your fruit and roll out second crust.
 
kaef156 said:
thanks all who answered. I made an apple pie and is still was soggy.

Kaef, are you expecting the bottom crust to be the same as the top crust? You know that's just not possible, right?

I wonder if you're really talking about "soggy" or if you're just talking about a crust that isn't crunchy and isn't browned and is moist. If so, that's just normal bottom crust in my world.

Soggy, on the other hand, is really wet. I'd still say that if it's wet with really nice juices but otherwise cooked through, it's a matter of taste. Either you like it or you don't, but it's still succesful. My mom makes a blueberries and cream pie to knock your socks off but necessarily, because the cream is added in so it's a fairly wet berry mixture to start with, the bottom crust does become wetter than, say, an apple pie (but what a wet crust it is!!).

To make sure your bottom crust is cooked through, you might want to bake the pie more toward the bottom of the oven.
 
kaef156 said:
thanks all who answered. I made an apple pie and is still was soggy.

Can you post what you did? What apples you used, how much flour you put in with them, that sort of thing? We are really good at troubleshooting a recipe here if we have all the information. We could help to make sure your next pie is more to your liking.

Also, just to reiterate what Ayrton said, the bottom crust of a pie is never going to be flaky like a top crust, that just isn't possible. It can however remain intact through the serving process and be quite solid.

Please post what you did and we will help you out.
 
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