Apple Pie (and the Battle of the Pie Pans)

How to Bake and Apple Pie
(and the Battle of the Pie Pans) #becauseittastesgood
Update: Since publishing this video, I've learned that the reason my glass pan performed so badly was the pizza stone. Glass is a poor conductor, but it takes advantage of radiation. If the pizza stone is underneath, it blocks the radiation, which makes the glass perform very poorly. If you want to bake in a glass pan, set it directly on the rack with nothing underneath. Just be careful that it doesn't leak. I still prefer metal, but this explains why glass works well for some people.
Filling (make the day in advance):
5 Lb honeycrisp apples
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup granulated sugar (70g)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Peel the apples and cut the flesh off leaving the core. Slice thickly. Set a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbsp of oil and wait for it to get hot. Add about half of the apples and cook without disturbing until they brown. Stir and lightly brown the other side. Remove to a bowl. Repeat with more oil and apples until they are all brown. Take the pan off heat, return all the apples back to the pan and stir in all the other ingredients. Taste and adjust with more sugar and lemon juice to taste (how much you’ll need will depend on the apple variety). Cool to room temp and refrigerate overnight -- a warm filling will result in a soggy crust.
Assembly and Baking procedure:
1 recipe of pie dough divided into slightly bigger and slightly smaller halves
Dough by hand: • Pie Dough by Hand with...
Dough by food processor: • Pie Dough with a Food ...
Rolling out the dough: • Rolling Pie Dough, Bli...
1 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp sugar
Preheat the oven to 425F (220C) with a foil lined baking sheet in the bottom third of the oven for 30 min. Roll out the bigger piece of dough and place it on the bottom of a metal pie plate (disposable foil ones work great). Roll out the smaller piece of dough. Refrigerate both the top and bottom crust for 30 minutes. Put the filling into the bottom crust. Cover with the smaller piece of dough. Trim the edges and seal them together. Cut a few vents in the top crust. Brush the top crust with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake on the preheated baking sheet until deeply brown, about 1 hour. Check after 45 min and if the dough looks very brown, reduce the temperature to 375F. Cool at least 3 hours to let the filling set. Can be reheated.
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[@helenrennie]

Just saw Stella Park's pie pan experiment on seriouseats.com. www.seriouseats.com/2016/08/how-to-choose-the-best-pie-pan.html It's so good to know that I am not crazy. Her results are the same as mine. Disposable aluminum browns the best. I wish we spent more time testing each other's recipes and techniques and less time creating "my-very-own-best-evah" recipes. But just like in science, there is no glory in reproducing someone else's results.

[@mattg2k4]

Maybe not glory, but at least you increased the signal to noise ratio of the online cooking info world by a little bit :)

[@lindagardener855]

Helen, thank you for your very entertaining and informative videos. You are so fun to watch! I love cinnamon on almost everything, especially donuts 😋, but I agree with you that apple pie is better without it, or with just a tiny bit😉👍 In Australia I grew up having apple pie the English way, without a lot of spices. It’s probably just what we get used to. Best wishes to you and your family. P.S. My stepfather was Ukrainian, and he and his family always made borscht with cabbage, shin of beef and sometimes salami slices with a raw egg stirred in at the end- never with beetroot 🤷‍♀️. It was delicious! My Polish work mate said that is not borscht! Well, that’s what my pa called it.

[@lindaguerraxoxo]

This woman is my favorite cook and baker on YT. Her voice is like velvet with a shot of vodka. Lovely.

[@oksills]

Brilliant HONESTY!!! Finally soo many pie baking and pie crust questions answered. All have been asked of, and ignored by, other food professionals. I adore this lady and love her teaching! Thank you.

[@oscarmeyer516006]

Well done for putting in the research Helen, very interesting!

[@lindagardener855]

She’s brilliant isn’t she👍

[@dixierodman7815]

You are so full of good cooking tips ! Enjoy you. I will try your apple recipe great Fall pie.

[@AlejandraSierra12]

Loved it! You surely resolved all my Apple pies problems!!!

[@kzfingerprint]

This was Excellent! Thank YOU 😊

[@DaveK385]

I've always used glass pie plates and they work very well if you put the pie on the top oven rack and a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch drips. This allows the heat to circulate witout making a mess.

[@Palladio-gu3dj]

This is so interesting! I have always baked with a glass pie pan. I like being able to see the bottom crust from beneath as I can better gauge how brown it is getting. I just set it on a preheated cookie sheet and I have never had a soggy crust. Thanks for the video!

[@helenrennie]

that could work really well as long as your temperature is high enough.

[@carlosorodriguezjr4242]

BRAVA! Kitchen science in action. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE!!

[@janabaiapvellasamy3737]

Very helpful tips..tq so much

[@JaiciLuvinIt]

Appreciate this video very much

[@danielvorto8906]

Hy Helen i just bake the apel pie. The dough was super hard to work with,i had to let it sit for a half hour outside. Was hard as a rock after a night in the fridge. The result was outstanding. Thx

[@obriens456]

Well done!! Thank you.

[@phibug6767]

It is the first time I did an apple pie in my life. In Switzerland we can find only in Starbucks or Mac Donald, And it works perfectly. I will have to adapt the time and temperature in the oven but it is already a success. All my family likes it. Thanks for all your advices

[@Whistlewalk]

It's a few years on (2021), but I am intrigued by this solution to pie crust. I'm going to try this in hopes that maybe, just maybe, I can create an acceptable version of my favourite pie. I would like to say though that the hands down best apple pie I have ever tasted was in a little local restaurante in Toronto years and years ago. Whoever made the crust did pre-cook the crust, but, as part of the fat content of the crust had used what appeared to be a fair bit of a reallly good roughly grated ceddar cheese, It was an open pie and there was also a bit of grated cheese on top. Also, this pie genious used a good quality maple syrup (but not too much) as the sweetener in the apple filling. A generous scoup of real vanilla ice cream on top and I was in pie heaven.

[@funzies9782]

Cool i love these experiments

[@wellivea1]

I haven't had any issue with my pyrex pie plate, but I haven't tried a metal one yet. I was eyeing a williams sonoma goldtouch pie plate since their other bakeware is great so I might consider getting it now.

[@mrkattm]

I feel your pain, I too struggle with RSBPC (raw soggy bottom pie crust), perhaps we could start a support group. For years I thought the secret was the specific type of glass pie pan, I inherited my polish grandmother's glass pie pans, who's pies were never soggy and very awesome, but unfortunately that was not the secret. I will try some of your techniques and I will let you know how it goes, as always great video and thanks for sharing.

[@helenrennie]

it's not just the pie plate. you need perfect dough :) but i had perfect dough. I bake A LOT of french tarts and desserts with it all the time. you can bake a great pie in a glass plate, but you'll probably need a much higher temperature. One of cook's illustrated recipes suggests preheating the oven to 500F and dropping to 425F after the pie goes in. does your dough produce good tarts and galettes? if your raw dough problem is limited to pies only, it's probably your pie plate.

[@Dalton325]

This looks great. I'll have to give it a try. I wonder if these apples still have some bite to them. I don't like an apple pie where the apples are mushy. Some apple pies, you can press an apple slice against the roof of your mouth with your tongue and it disintegrates. I like just a touch of firmness.

[@forabug594]

I agree, French Galettes are so much easier. Great advice and what interesting results from your experiments!

[@queenbee2414]

Thank you for the information. My pies taste great but I struggle with the bottom of the crust.

[@richardleesaner4382]

I always use cast iron for my skillet Apple pie

[@hpyrkh3]

Yes!! No cinnamon!! I agree

[@PunjabiFoodieZ]

wow nice pie...

[@RenBR]

Wow...Amazing video...Very interesting experiment...I love apple pie...Baking in glass pie plate can be tricky...Here in brazil we usually pre bake the dough first for about 15 minutes. After that we added the pre cooked filling and the top crust. This ensures that the dough will bake without getting too wet by filling.

[@helenrennie]

how do you attach the raw top crust to the partially baked bottom crust?

[@RenBR]

Here in Brazil we usually do a crumb topping with flour, melted butter, cinnamon and sugar.

[@mmthomas3729]

I use a heavy stoneware pie pan. I was thinking of buying my daughter a redware pie pan. Do those work well?

[@maraleab8999]

I prefer a glass pie pan, my mother favors metal. Mom uses all shortening, I sub in some butter. But we both bake our pies at 350-375F. And no cookie sheets or pizza stones!

[@JA-gx4hb]

Great job Helen. So many bakers scoff at disposable pie pans but I wonder if they even tried them. In any case, my pumpkin pies always came out good in the pans with the preformed dough, but this year I tried to up my game with homemade dough in glass pans. Results have been disappointing. Any tips for custard pies in disposable pans?

[@helenrennie]

for custard pies, you just need to blind back the dough completely before putting in the custard. google for my quiche video.

[@gerardjones7881]

retired baker here. Get rid of the tray, bake pie on the rack directly. Pre-roast apple filling. apples, sugar, butter. make apple filling in big batches use a roasting pan, roast it in the oven, stir after 30 minutes, 425F. Crisco makes the best pie crust, mouth feel is superior to butter, very tender crust. Butter flavor comes from the apple filling. Metal pie tins beat glass any day.

[@byd5801]

I started cooking apples for my turnovers, now will have to try browning apples in oil, this is wild!

[@FaceMyAlterEgo]

Looks great! Regarding the raw bottom crust - why not pre bake it without the filling?

[@LBrobie]

because it has a top crust and you have to be able to pinch (or whatever) the two crusts together.

[@sahej6939]

Ok, how about the French ceramic fancy pie plates? (Emile Henry)

[@googo151]

Such a heavy accent, but so articulate. Thanks for the tips. Great job.

[@janedoe805]

googo151 “Heavy accent”? 😳🙄🤦🏻‍♀️

[@dberry99]

Oh no Helen! Card carrying southerner here and olive oil does not go into an apple pie. Butter is the correct response. I'm putting you in the time-out corner for 15 minutes.

[@beckystevens3506]

This pie looks so delicious. I was born and raised in the central U.S. and have never seen anyone cook pie apples in olive oil. I have only seen them pre cooked or cooked in butter. How interesting? Do the apples taste like olive oil?

[@helenrennie]

No, you can't taste olive oil at all and you are welcome to use butter too

[@beckystevens3506]

@@helenrennie Thanks for the quick reply. Common sense should tell me that you wouldn't be able to taste the oil. Anyway, I just recently found your channel and am totally obsessed. I have binge watched for 2 days. You are so skilled and full of knowledge, not to mention beautiful.

[@tbc27Z]

That background though 😵

[@minniesaab7255]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@skaalfort]

[@Bekindtopeople]

Why don’t you try first baking your pie blind, meaning without filling. Then after your pie crust cools, fill with your apple pie filling and cover your pie with the top layer of pie crust. You only need to bake until top layer is completely cooked, because you already cooked the apples and the bottom pie crust. Voila!

[@helenrennie]

how do you attach a top crust to the bottom crust? blind baking is always best, but it doesn't work for double crusted pies. there is no way to glue baked and unbaked dough together that I know of, but i am open to suggestions :)

[@wateradept88]

did you preheat the baking stone for 1 hour at 500 degrees first? if you just put a cold stone beneath then it will undoubtedly make the crust undercooked

[@helenrennie]

the stone was preheated for a very long time. but with glass pans, stones actually hurt rather than help. Glass cooks primarily by letting radiation pass through it and the stone blocks it.

[@TheCookastic]

did you say 'preheated baking shit'? LOL! I do love your accent! And your adorable videos are so much better than mine! i want more!

[@kevoramma]

i use steel pie pans, never had a problem.

[@NickiMoon]

Perfect recipe. I hate baking with glass. I use aluminum plate pie crust came in and it’s more tasteful and perfectly crusty. Too much negative ppl opinions. Why are you on here watching since u think u can bake better.

[@lovelylaola]

You should really go to MasterChef

[@Hummingbirds2023]

I have never used a pizza stone, I don't own one, I always make my pies in glass pie plate, start with a hotter oven 425 for 20 mins then reduce heat to 375 for 45 mins..

[@kayo5291]

I'm not a fan of cinnamon either, and we are definitely in the minority! I craved cinnamon toast one day ten years ago; that's when I knew I was pregnant. 😄 Just a pinch in a pie is nice.

[@tasnimtabassum785]

I hate cinnamon too but cinnamon rolls look so good. 😋 I don't get why people like it it smells bad and kinda burns my throat.

[@beethovenjunkie]

I had always wondered why people have so many problems with soggy bottomed pies. I don't really have that problem, ever, not even with raw filling. But we don't really have pie dishes here so I've alway used a metal spring form. Maybe that's what makes the difference!

[@helenrennie]

If you don't mind me asking, where are you from? Sorry, it's the question I made a whole video about saying how annoying it is. But you mentioned that you don't have pie dishes "here," so I was wondering where "here" is :)

[@alexmoffat]

I've not had problems with soggy bottomed pies in glass dishes. I go with the pizza stone, preheat to 500 and turn down as soon as you put the pie in the oven. Basically the cooks illustrated temperature schedule. I do like the idea of pre-cooking the filling. I'm going to try that this weekend.

[@beethovenjunkie]

"Here" is Germany. They're starting to sell them now in specialty stores, I think, but they are freaking expensive.

[@helenrennie]

I don't think you are missing much :)

[@helenrennie]

This sounds like a good idea. If I was baking in glass, I'd start at 500F. Though I have a feeling that would be a bit high for a metal pan. I've never seen a pie recipe that gives different temperatures for different pan types. But I think they should. That probably explains the discrepancy between the recipes of fairly reliable sources (seriouseat, cook's illustrated, rose beranbaum, and king arthur). I know king arthur likes metal and cook's illustrated likes glass, so they are probably testing in those pie pans and optimizing their recipe for them.

[@BlackWolf6420]

Hate cinnamon?! How’s that even possible 🤤 Blasphemy! 🤣🤣🤣😘

[@RowlandGosling]

I started learning to cook because I love pie and hate most cakes - especially the dry ones where I inhale a cup of crumbs and choke for 20 minutes! I focused on making the best pie, using the best techniques and ingredients. Much of my education has come by way of old cook books, America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated and numerous YT videos. I think I'm able to make a decent pie these days. Last year, I wanted to make our son's favorite pie - a peanut butter thing involving pre-baking a graham cracker crust which used brown sugar to bind everything. Well, it bound the crust right to the glass and the pie was pretty much ruined. Along with other issues (like soggy bottom), it was time for a change. I switched to these from USA Pan and I haven't looked back! They're aluminized steel and non-stick. The corrugated bottom is an interesting twist. It's supposed to help with air circulation, but I doubt that since it is the bottom of the pan. It would, however, make the surface area much larger than it would otherwise be and perhaps that helps in some way. www.amazon.com/s?k=usa+pie+pan+9+inch&crid=2OXCKAXMBFEOO&sprefix=usa+pan+pie%2Caps%2C257&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_11 Now that I had these fantastic replacement pans, I kept digging into pie pan mysteries and came to find out that antique metal ones are the rage! At one time, you could buy a pie to take home and in the price you paid a deposit for these. Returning them to the store (hopefully clean!), you could presumably skip the deposit like we used to do with soda/pop bottles. EBay has many of these. I bought several including ones from Blue Bird, and Table Talk.

[@n.y1096]

why olive oil and not butter?

[@susanshaffer3411]

425* is so high! Why not 350* for 50 minutes?

[@helenrennie]

the exact temperature depends on the pie pan, but 350F won't give you a crispy crust in any pan. That's a great temperature for baking the crust blind (empty filled with weights, beans, etc), but in an apple pie you are putting a ton of fruit on a raw crust, so you need a much higher temperature.

[@susanshaffer3411]

Mine worked. Pierced bottom crust multiple times. Put pie plate on metal cookie sheet.

[@felixwoke8299]

sho

[@NotAfraidofColor]

OMG! I hate cinnamon in my apple pie as well! Please don't ever mix it with any fruits! Cinnamon is good, to me, in a cinnamon roll or cinnamon sugar on hot buttered toast or on churros!

[@SimonSverige]

Most of the "Cinnamon" on sale is Cassia, not Cinnamon. Many people have never even tried real Cinnamon. You need to buy "Ceylon Cinnamon" or "Real Cinnamon". Then say you do not like it.

[@kimberlyb1180]

Seriously, there is no reason to add oil to your pie crust. Completely unnecessary. I have never had problems with MacIntosh apples. It is the only apple I use for pies.